Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Restrain Holiday Eating and Spending for a Happier New Year

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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 1st.  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 1st.

Restrain Holiday spending and eatingIf 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?

 

 

 

 

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

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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.

Creative Frugal Mothers Day Gift IdeasGift 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?

What Christmas Expectations Are You Setting for Your Children?

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What are your children’s expectations for Christmas presents?  Do they expect many Christmas presents under the tree and their every wish to be met?  Do they expect a modest Christmas?

Believe it or not, the answer to this question doesn’t really depend on your kids; it depends on you.  From the time your children are small, you set their expectations, and what you set by example is what they come to know as “normal” (until they get married and find that their partner has a different “normal” than they do, but that is another post).

If you have small children, think carefully about what expectations you want to give your children.  Yes, retailers would prefer that you shop ’til you drop and give your credit card a work out, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Here are what some people do who have chosen to have a different Christmas celebration than retailers would prefer you have:

1.  Give some new gifts, some used, and some homemade.

Amy Dacyczyn, the original Frugal Zealot and author of The Tightwad Gazette had six children to buy for.  Each child got one new gift.  Then, they got a few gifts that were used items that she had purchased at garage sales and thrift stores.  She also made her children a few gifts.  If I remember correctly, she spent $50 or under for each child.  (Of course, this was 20 years ago, so accounting for inflation, she spent no more than $82 for each child in 2012 dollars.

While you might balk at the idea of giving garage sale gifts for presents, I can tell you that I followed Dacyczyn’s practices when I had my own kids, and some of our kids’ presents are nice finds that we got at garage sales.  My oldest is 8, and he has yet to complain about it because it is what he expects.  He still does get new presents, but there are used ones in the mix.  (I like the term recycled better, though.)

2.  Give a charitable donation instead of gifts.

Ann Voskamp, the blogger behind A Holy Experience, recounts that one Christmas Eve 10 years ago, her son asked her, “Why don’t we give up things so we can give to Jesus for his birthday?”  The question radically changed Voskamp’s way of thinking, and from that year on, her family has foregone giving Christmas gifts to one another.  Instead, each day during Advent they make a charitable donation using the money they would have spent on gifts.

This is a radical idea, to be sure, but it is the norm now for her family.

3.  Only give 3 gifts.

Another idea based in Christian roots is to only give your children three gifts.  Some do this because the Wise Men brought Jesus 3 gifts.  Others take a spin on this and give their children three gifts–something they want, something they need, and something they can experience.

4.  Meet needs as gifts.

Gifts don’t have to be all luxuries and things you want.  When I was growing up, my parents’ money was extremely tight.  I got some new clothes during the back to school season, but my winter clothes and sometimes even my uniform clothing or new backpack were all given as Christmas presents.  I was always excited to get these things and never felt deprived.  My mom told me a few years ago that she had to give gifts this way because money was so tight, but I never knew.  This practice was normal for me.

Christmas gift giving was not always the extravaganza it is now.  As an adult, I reread the Little House in the Prairie books, and I was struck by how happy Laura was to get her very own handmade tin cup and an orange for Christmas one year.

If you are a parent of small children, you can start your Christmas gift giving traditions now, and they don’t have to involve credit card debt you can’t pay off until March or April.

What is your favorite way to give gifts at Christmas?

img credit: South Granville Live on Flickr