gifts — Beating Broke

Restrain Holiday Eating and Spending for a Happier New Year

November 23, 2015 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Have you been in this situation before?

You want to start a diet and shed a few pounds, but you decide, since it’s November already, you should just wait until after the holidays. You tell yourself you’ll have a fresh start January 1^st. New year, new life, all that.

This plan may sound good to you, but since you keep thinking about the diet you’re going to start in January, you indulge more than you normally would over the holidays and gain 10 pounds. Now, you have an even bigger job ahead of you come January 1^st.

If you had instead started your new eating plan at the beginning of the holiday season, you would have had better control over your eating. You likely wouldn’t have gained weight. If you were doing great and were motivated, you may have even lost weight, but let’s be honest—even remaining the same weight during the holidays is an accomplishment.

We’re in November, which is when most people are at risk of two negatives—eating too much and spending too much.

Just like the decision to lose weight, many people may decide to start focusing on managing their money better after the holidays. After all, there are so many presents to buy and parties to host. Getting on a budget isn’t possible during the holidays, they think. And then, because they’re not keeping an eye on their finances, they spend lavishly and find themselves facing an exorbitant credit card bill that they can’t pay in full.

Sound familiar?

Why not make this year different?

Yes, the holidays are right around the corner, but it’s not too late to keep your finances in check. Here are some simple strategies:

Don’t give gifts to everyone. If you don’t have a lot of money saved up for gifts, don’t go into debt to buy them. Think about it. Do you remember what gifts you received for Christmas last year? Do you remember who gave them to you?

Yeah, I thought so.

I remember only one gift from last Christmas, even though I got several.

Give a gift that you can pay for later. I love this strategy! If you don’t have a lot of money for holiday gifts but still want to give something, consider offering a gift at a later date. For instance, you could offer a close friend a present of dinner and a movie at a time of her choosing. Maybe she decides in March that she’d like to take you up on the offer. You’ve had three months to save the money for that gift.

Don’t give in to peer pressure. There is an enormous amount of peer pressure during the holiday season to go to parties, bring food, buy gifts for everyone. . .It’s okay to step off this spendthrift merry-go-round and simply say no. You don’t have to go to every party. You don’t have to buy a present for everyone you have contact with in your life.

Just say no.

The next four to six weeks can have a significant impact on the first few months of 2016.

Are you going to indulge occasionally in sweet treats but mostly eat healthy, or are you going to let loose and gain 10 pounds?

Are you going to be financially responsible and only give gifts that you have the means to give, or are you going to charge everything and create a hole that will take you three or four months to dig out of, if not more?

Haven’t you had enough of overindulgent holidays? Wouldn’t you like to start 2016 with a truly fresh start and no extra weight or bills?

How to Handle Someone Who Gives Too Many Gifts

January 5, 2015 By MelissaB 7 Comments

First world problems, right? How can you complain about someone who gives too many gifts?

Believe it or not, that’s something I’ve struggled with this holiday season. I have one relative who, simply put, is buying too many gifts for me, my husband and my kids.

If this relative was independently wealthy, that would be one thing, but I know that she’s also trying to save money for some home repairs and a trip of a lifetime to Europe. I wish she would buy each of us just one gift and put the rest of the money in her vacation fund.

Do you also have problems with someone in your life who buys too many presents?

If so, there are things you can do. (Though you’ll probably want to implement most of these suggestions AFTER this holiday season.)

Set a gift giving limit. Most people buy gifts because they want to be nice, and they want to do something special for you. However, people can overstep their bounds. This year between all of my relatives who like to give gifts to our kids, the kids are getting more than enough presents. Combined with the gifts my husband and I were going to give, my kids were going to have way too many gifts.

I set aside some of the gifts I was going to give; I’ll use them next year. I also had my mom set aside some of her gifts for birthdays. I’ve also asked some of the relatives to set a limit of one or two gifts in future years so that our children are not drowning in presents.

Accept and be appreciative. Another idea is to simply accept the many gifts and be appreciative. After all, as Trent Hamm, guest blogger on The Christian Science Monitor, points out, “These gifts are given out of love.” Hamm, who struggles with his family members giving his kids too many gifts, explains, “People give our kids gifts because they love them so much and it’s their way of expressing it. For me, telling them not to do so is akin to saying, ‘Please don’t express your love and caring for our children.’”

If someone like a grandparent routinely goes overboard with the gift giving, you can reduce the number of presents that you get your kids and save money. You can just reap the benefits of saving money, or you can take the cash that you saved by not buying so many gifts and instead give the cash as a present to the prodigious gift giver. Everything comes full circle this way.

Direct the gift giver’s generosity. I remember when I was little, my mom’s friend wanted to get me a Christmas present. I was a prolific reader, and she got me Green Eggs and Ham. I was well beyond that book. Too often, people try to be generous by giving a present, but the gift they give is not necessarily what the recipient needs or wants.

You can direct the gift giver’s generosity by steering her to a wish list. You could create it on Amazon, and then you would be able to keep track of what has been bought, and you could also have some say in the plethora of presents coming into your house.

Do you struggle with well-meaning relatives buying too many gifts? If so, how do you handle the situation?

Creative, Frugal Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for Kids and Adults

May 6, 2013 By MelissaB 13 Comments

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. If you’re scrambling to find ways to show mom how much you love and care for her, don’t worry. There are many ways you can do just that without breaking the bank or relying on the same old boring gift of breakfast in bed or dinner out.

Projects for Younger Children

I have one word for you–Pinterest! Seriously, head over to Pinterest and just search “Mother’s Day Crafts.” There are so many creative, frugal ideas to choose from. Here are some of my favorites:

Hand print flower–Paint your little one’s palm, then press their palm down on paper. Either paint or add flowers to the tip of each finger. Your child’s hand makes the stem of the “flowers.” Then, cut out paper to make a flower pot and glue that to the bottom of the hand print. On the paper pot, write a message stating something your child loves about mom such as, “You make the best chocolate chip cookies,” etc.

Book mark–Does mom love to read? Cut out a rectangular strip of construction paper, and then glue a small picture of each of your children on the front. Laminate it; use a paper hole punch to make a hole in the top, and hang some yarn through the top.

Gift Ideas for Adult Children

If you’re an adult, your mother probably has every consumer item she could want or need. Instead of shopping and spending money on something she may or may not enjoy, why not go the non-consumer route. Why not give mom a gift from the heart?

A letter–If you haven’t told mom lately how much she means to you, now is the time. For instance, when I was in high school, my friend and I spray painted our biology teacher’s rocks in his front yard in the middle of the night. Not the best idea, I know. I felt so guilty, I woke my mom up at 2 a.m. to tell her. She didn’t freak out or lecture me; she just told me that we’d need to clean it up in the morning. I appreciate that she could stay so calm, but I’ve never told her that. I’d include that in my letter and also all the ways she has helped me grow into the woman I’ve become. (The spray painting days are long behind me!)

A gift of experience–If you do want to spend some money on mom, why not give her a gift of experience? My grandma always wanted to ride a hot air balloon. However, she was a child of the Great Depression and was extremely frugal. Even in retirement, when she knew she’d have enough money for life, she couldn’t justify spending money on what she viewed as an extravagance. Instead, her kids chipped in and got her a hot air balloon ride for Mother’s Day. She talked about that gift for years. It was one of her favorite experiences.

This Mother’s Day, take the time to plan something special for mom to show her how much you love and appreciate her. Often, you just need to use some creativity, not money, to show mom how much she means to you.

What’s the best gift you ever gave your mom for Mother’s Day?