Don’t Overspend This Christmas

The Spirit of Giving Should Not Produce Bankruptcies!

The holidays are the giving season, and all of us enjoy spreading holiday joy by supplying loved ones with gifts.  However, it is important to approach your holiday shopping with a firm budget in mind—and to abide by it.

Overspending can lead to a great deal of holiday stress and concern—as well as even more stress down the line when the credit card bills come due.  One of the most important things you can do to minimize the stress (and potential adverse financial impact) of the holidays is to develop a firm budget for gifts.  Even Santa Claus is careful enough to check his list twice!  You should do the same, making sure you have established a budget that fits your financial needs.

Don’t let holiday spending ruin the Christmas experience.  The holiday season should end with a rendition of Auld Lang Syne, not with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition!  Reduce your holiday stress by budgeting.

If you use Facebook and/or Instagram, you will probably appreciate these wonderful Christmas graphics 

Take a Break from the Holidays in Order to Enjoy Them

The holiday season can become all-encompassing.  Everywhere we turn, we encounter mistletoe, shiny wrapped gifts, decorated cookies and Christmas trees.  Sometimes, it just gets to be too much!

One of the best ways to reduce holiday stress is to simply “turn off” the holidays for a few hours.  Read a book that doesn’t feature reindeer.  Watch a movie in which no one wears a red suit.  Find a few quiet hours without a single caroler’s voice audible in the background.  Use whatever common stress-busters work best for you. Just make sure you set aside some time away from the holidays during the holidays!  Take some time to just relax.

Taking a break from the holidays can allow you to rejuvenate yourself.  When you emerge from your break, you will be able to approach the holiday season with a pleasant, less stressful disposition!

Essential oils can make a lovely Christmas gift and you can get 40% off with the coupon code Dec 2019.  Click here to find out more.

Here are some simple crafts you can do with your family.

4 Fun And Easy To Make Homemade Christmas Decorations
by: Rosie Fletcher
Homemade Christmas decorations are some of the most unique. They are also a lot of fun because you can enjoy them with your family. Below are 4 fun and easy to make homemade Christmas decorations:

Popcorn Stringing If you like strung popcorn, it’s really simple to make. Start with a big bowl of popcorn (unbuttered, of course) and string it piece by piece using a standard sewing needle and thread. Make sure there’s plenty of popcorn because, if you’re stringing it for garland, you’re going to need a lot.

Cranberry Stringing Much like the popcorn stringing method, many people used to string cranberries using a standard needle and thread. Again, make sure there’s plenty to go around if you’re going to use it as garland. Most importantly, and I know it’s tempting, don’t eat all the decorations. Save some for the Christmas tree.

Paper Chains One of the greatest memories of decorating for Christmas, as a child, has to be the traditional paper chains. Using green and red construction paper, cut horizontal strips of each color. Fold them into a circle and seal with tape. Scotch tape is recommended and, if you use this when your child is young, the smell will always remind them of Christmas. It will likely become “Christmas tape” to them. Once you have a complete circle, take another strip in an alternating color and run it through the first circle. Next, fold it around and seal with tape. Complete this step until you have a big strand of paper garland in red and green. You and your child will enjoy doing this together and it will create wonderful memories for you both.

Lighted Wreath If you love the look of a lighted wreath, but don’t quite have a budget for one of the more expensive ones, consider another option. You can purchase a plain green wreath very inexpensively. A small strand of lights can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00. But, put them together and you have the look of a professionally lighted Christmas wreath. For this project, you could use either clear or multi-colored Christmas lights. Simply take the plain green wreath and wrap the lights around in a design similar to the stripes on a candy cane. Once you’ve gone all the way around, tuck the last light into the green of the wreath. Make sure that you place it near an electric outlet because there won’t be a lot of extra cord. Now that you’re ready, plug it in and see your very own design. A red bow is a nice touch, but not necessary. As people drive by, they will see a beautifully lit wreath in your window and they will have no idea that you saved a few bucks by wrapping the lights yourself.

Enjoy this Christmas season

Fran Watson

P.S.  Click below for a copy of the Christmas Preparation Timeline

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