OT-frugality?

[LauraP]

This year has been an interesting and introspective period for us, and while we are financially and physically healthy, not caught in a subprime mortgage, and otherwise doing okay (exhaling now), I'm becoming much more interested in living a frugal and simpler life. The kids don't need a bunch more junk for Christmas. I've been decluttering for a year and a half, so I don't want anymore either :) WE've pretty much decided to just give small gifts to people this year, and spend more time enjoying the season and preparing homemade things, reflecting on philosophical and spiritual concerns, and volunteering.

I've recently been reading a couple of really good blogs: www.thesimpledollar.com, and wisebread.com, which have great advice. I was wondering if anyone else here was thinking of the same things? Wisebread had a thread on making your own dog food (holy cow, that's a little TOO frugal); I might not go that far, but I do make my own soup stock in the crockpot, and am even thinking of hauling out the breadmaker we got 5 years ago for Christmas that is still in the box, and making my own bread. Good whole-grain bread is really expensive!

Also, I would like to make some of those gift in a jar type presents (Russian tea, soup mix, etc.)--any suggestions on these?

[Isabelle]

excellent ideas ! more spirituality less materialism !
since we moved from a large country house to a small one in a small town we have been decluttering like there is no tomorrow, simple life, it took me a long time to get unattached to sentimental memories that mean nothing to my children....feeling better and unburdened :) :)

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

I'm thinking the same thing...only have a second to comment right now, I'll come back to check the sites!!!!!

Thanks for posting!

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy! Homemade bread...you don't even have to fret about my Christmas present anymore...I'll take a nice loaf of homemade sourdough please! :p

[MomOTwins]

Frugal....isn't that what you are when you try to spend within your means and think sensibly as to whether you need something or want something? I've always been the Mistress of Delayed Gratification (must be my Catholic childhood), so this concept is not really foreign to me. However, living out in the country, far away from the mall, where canning and gardening are pretty much routine, makes it even more "normal".

We are spending this Christmas reminding ourselves what other people don't have, not what we'd like to have. The boys are hitting every Salvation Army kettle in the area (Mom is emptying her wallet to support their "red kettle habit"), we donated a pile of money to our local food pantry (always in need, and they are now supporting an energy fund because home heating fuel is so expensive this year), DH and I bought two LeapPads (one for each of our sons to donate) for the Toys for Tots collection in town. I usually send nice goodie gifts or cards to my clients each year, but this year I'm thanking my biggest client by writing a check in their name to "Doctors without Borders". One of my writing friends helped me to get a really great job this year, so I've sent her a thank you note and a check for her to spend on her favorite local charity.

Grandma and Grandpa will still get a great gift sent to FL (along with their wedding anniversary gift for Dec. 26), but I and my sisters (there are 4 of us) decided to give up on the family gift exchange this year.

My DH's siblings will all get Christmas cookie platters that our family will make over the next few weeks (baking and freezing, so we won't be tempted to snack them all away :rolleyes: ).

This will be a much less expensive holiday for us, we are getting a Wii for the boys (if we can ever find one....probably in late January?) as their big gift, so their other gifts are just stocking stuffers. DH and I will probably splurge on a new mattress (Such a romantic gift, right? Hmmm....well, it could be....:p ).

Happy holidays to everyone!

[The Pogue]

I've scaled way back. Thanks to the age of plastics, kids today have everything and value nothing. Ok, I'm overgeneralizing a bit, but we are a throw-away society. Even what used to be expensive items are now cheaper to replace than repair - tvs, printers, dvd players, etc.

I've been stuck in a monotonous rut of giving fudge and spiced nuts for years. I make well over 100 pounds of the stuff each year. I keep vowing to branch out and do more creative things like the premixed brownies etc, but never quite manage. I don't see it happening this year either...maybe next. RIght now I just want the season to be OVER!!

[frogmama]

Stick with the fudge Pogue, and exactly how do I get on your Christmas list?:D I think everybody is feeling the same way this year, just too much STUFF.

MomO' - The Wii is a good idea - we got ours a Toys r Us it was a "group present", all 3 kids like it and it gets them up and moving. I heard a story on NPR about how nursing and rehab homes are using it to get patients to be more active. Plus, it's the only time I can beat my DH at golf!!

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

The Wii is a good idea - we got ours a Toys r Us it was a "group present", all 3 kids like it and it gets them up and moving. I heard a story on NPR about how nursing and rehab homes are using it to get patients to be more active. Plus, it's the only time I can beat my DH at golf!

ok, I am a totally adverse to electronic games...to the point that I barely know what anything is...

But I'm intregued!

Can someone tell me something about this. Coley's b-day is in february...DH's in June, although by June I'll be looking for outside stuff...

is it a small fortune?

PS - we went shopping last night...although we had every intention of keeping things to a minimum we spent $1000! EEEK, and I thought we did pretty good with the choices too...most things were on sale or just an inexpensive choice.

For Coley: 2 leapster game catriages, 1 movie, flanel PJs & big boy slippers like Daddy's, play dough, a mini digital camera (a $20 kid one - he's showing interest, as photography is one of Daddy's hobbies), a mini etcher scetch (great for car rides), a yo-yo, and a puzzle.

For Audrey: a Leap frog activity table, blocks, a radio for lulliby's, and 3 outfits

For me: a MUCH needed pair of shoes, and slippers

For DH: new slippers

For us: a new small (20") TV for the bedroom and a mini stereo (our others crapped out)

I guess now that I type it all out, we did get a lot for the money...but I still have others and I NEED to get some more advanced building things for Coley... Holy crap this is a small fortune!

[AKF]

The Wii is a lot of fun. It has the movie themed games and stuff, but it also has sports games that you have to really act like you're playing. You swing the bat, you bowl the ball, etc. For a video game system, it is really good. It's also something the whole family can enjoy doing together!!

We bought it last year when it came out and it was $250. Don't know what they run this year.

[MomOTwins]

Basis system is still $250, but they are IMPOSSIBLE to find, as Nintendo underestimated how popular they'd be a Christmas time and didn't make enough --- GRRRRR.....

The basic system comes with 5 sports games (boxing, tennis, golf, bowling, and baseball, I think), then you buy additional games for it (costing $30-$50, depending on the game.

We played with my sister's kids' system last Christmas, loved it, and thought we'd splurge for this holiday. Too bad there aren't any available for a normal price. Looks like lots of folks bought them and are now selling them (auctioning them, really) on EBAY for huge piles of money.

[LauraP]

The Wii should be available at lower prices in a year or two, if trends continue (the "Next Big Thing" will knock it out of the top slot). Rhi wanted one last year, this year, not interested (is doing yoga now), so I'm kind of glad we didn't blow the wad on that.

Having just spent $4500 to redo the main sewer line in our front yard, it's definitely going to be a FRUGAL Christmas this year. Seriously--people are getting homemade gifts, and I'm giving gifts to the entire family, rather than to each person in it. With my sisters' expanding broods I can't afford it.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

WOW! That does sound cool...but expensive.

Maybe when Coley is a bit older though...I mean he's only turning 5 in Feb. But I bet DH would LOVE it! ;)

Didn't nintendo (or some other game co) do something like this a while back...and some guy got shot in line in RI or something...lord it sounds like things are so F'd up these days!

I'm sure they 'underestimated'...my arse...the calculated exactly how many they would need to keep the hype & the price up! What jerks!

If I were you MomO, I'd wait til Easter or something like that...which from the sounds of it seems like you really don't have a choice...but I'd be inclined to admit defeat just to eliminate the stress, ya know

[frogmama]

Some people will fight over anything, given half-a-chance! We got our Wii in July, no shortage then ;). The "neatest" part is making your "Mii" you can make a character that looks like you to play the games with. And the characters in some of the games use the Mii's you've made. So even if your're playing baseball all alone - the whole family is there on the field with you! You can also download old nintendo/capcom and some Sega games (Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Asteroids, etc) from the web directly to the console and play them. Good for us old fogey's who remember Atari :D This year for Christmas we'll be getting some more 4-person games as "family presents". Walmart gets more at least once a week, you just have to find out what time their truck comes and call the service desk and ask if the got any that day. Toys r US too, you can get them if you're willing to make a few calls.

[The Pogue]

When our families kept growing, there quickly became too many nieces and nephews to buy expensive presents for. For the children under 18, we decided to have them draw names. So, each of our children would "buy" a nice present for one cousin (actually the parents paying), and just give little token gifts ($5 max) for others. I unilaterally decided to stop giving gifts to nieces and nephews once they turn 18, UNLESS they're in college.

Around the same time we started cutting back on gifts to nieces/nephews, my siblings and I mutally agreed to stop exchanging gifts with each other. That was quite a relief. One sibling is so bad at managing money that I feared his gift to me meant the phone bill was going unpaid or kids unshod, etc. The other sib has everything, so what do you give someone like that?

Frogmama - message me your addy, and I'll send a fudge sample. :)

[The Pogue]

Thoroughly clean your spouses car for him/her.

Buy YOURSELF a naughty nighty. Wearing it can be your gift to your spouse.

Put together a scrap book or photo album for a relative. Aging parents really appreciate this one.

Your slow old parents have a slow old computer? But more memory in it, to speed it up.

ASsemble your own fruit basket. Always amazes me how grocery stores will charge $30 for $10 worth of fruit in a $1 basket.

Mix together mulling spices for cider, put it in a mug, cover with colored cellophane or saran wrap, and tye on a bow.

Token pressie for office mates - candy cane with a bow, Christmas card with an Andes mint...or bring in a crock pot to mull some cider in the office.

Fudge, fudge, fudge.

This makes a 9x12 pan, OR 3 pie-tins, or 4-5 5" square gladware containers:

1 can plus 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
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3 1/2 ounces chopped, crisped walnuts

16 oz milk chocolate
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate (bittersweet)

16 marshmallows

1/3 cup rum OR Kahluha OR 5 teaspoons vanilla
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Prepare the pans by buttering or spraying with nonstick spray. If you use gladware containers (great for mailing), line them with aluminium foil, and spray the foil with nonstick spray
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To crisp the nuts, turn oven to 200, put nuts on a cookie sheet. As soon as you put them in, turn the oven off, and let them sit there 15 minutes.

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Tear or cut the marshmallows into quarters. If you cut, spray your kitchen sheers with nonstick cooking spray first.
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Put the sugar, butter, and milk in a 5 quart pan, put on medium heat, mixing. Once it starts to boil, lower heat slightly and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Turn stove off. Put in the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and whichever flavoring you decide to use. Rum is the best by far. WHen the marshmallows are pretty well blended in, add the nuts and stir. Poor into pan or pans. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

[peglem]

Shucks, I thought the rum was for drinking while your waiting for the candy to cook. Thanks for the recipe tho, I love fudge.

[AKF]

That sounds like some great fudge. I'm going to leave out the walnuts because I prefer fudge (and cookies) without them.

What if you use mini-marshmallows? Then you wouldn't have to cut them up. Now I'm hungry and might have to make some fudge tonight!!!

[MomOTwins]

Oh yum!!!! Now I've got fudge on the brain....augh, no chocolate in the house at all....what can I do? Oh, I know, think about the huge pile of money I'm saving by not buying the Wii until February (when they are back in stock). That should make me feel a little better than thinking about standing in line outside Toys R Us at 4:00 a.m. (which is when our Toys R Us told me folks were waiting this week for the few Wiis they did get in) when it is 10 degrees outside.

The boys are cool with the idea of waiting for the BIG gift, Patrick just noted that we'd need to put some packages under the tree if THAT gift didn't show up...otherwise he knew that Andrew would be really sad.....very subtle, right?

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

Maybe this is just what Coley & I need tonight!

I have a fudge recipe that I haven't tried yet (fructose free)...maybe tonight would be a good night!

It probably wouldn't taste very good with beer though, and I'm cracking one the second DH walks through the door! Maybe I'll get lucky and...get your mind out of the gutter...he'll come home with wine or egg nog (mmmmm).