Frugal Intuition

Cut Christmas trees are big business this time of year.  In our house we always get a cut tree.  This isn’t a decision based on frugality (if you want to be frugal, wait until after Christmas when the nice pre-lit artificial ones are on sale for 80% off), but it’s one of the accepted expenses of the season, one we’re not willing to skimp on.  We usually spend around $30 on a tree each year.  One of the reasons we insist on real trees is the scent.  Pine or fir or cedar or spruce–that unmistakable scent of evergreen is part of what gets us in the holiday mood.

If you’re looking for a last minute way to spruce up your home for the holidays, take a trip to your local Christmas tree lot.  Not to buy a tree (unless that’s what you want to do) but to see about picking up some boughs that have been cut off all the trees sold.  Part of having a live tree is that the lower limbs get cut off to allow the trunk to fit into a stand.  It’s not like the tree places are doing anything with all that greenery.  Whenever we get a tree, I always have them save the branches they cut off our tree and add in some the others.  Most places are happy to do this.  I then use the greenery to make garland, add a festive touch to the top of tall pieces of furniture like china cabinets or the entertainment center, even a little holiday terrarium with a teddy bear and leftover ornaments that wouldn’t fit on the tree.  This is a great way to add a little touch of the holidays to a space and get that sought after scent of evergreen.

Tis the season of office Christmas parties.  There are presently sausage balls and pigs in a blanket calling my name from down the hall. Did someone say homemade cinnamon rolls?

Since someone is inevitably going to beat you to putting rotel on the list of who’s bringing what, you need some other alternatives.   If you don’t want to show up with store bought goodies (and given that I live in the South, that’s a major social faux pas), you want to cook something yourself.  My default Christmas party dish that’s always a crowd pleaser and doesn’t break the bank is taco soup.  It totally saved my butt this morning, as when I came to work, I was convinced the office party is tomorrow.  I was able to race home (I live 2 miles up the road) and throw it together in the crock pot in 20 minutes.  This is a soup that’s made with staples (at least in our house).    It’s a lot of flavor without a lot of time and effort.  It can totally be made the night before or at the last minute.  Buy the store brand sour cream, cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips, and you haven’t exceeded your budget on garnishments either.

In my kitchen that is.  I am officially in holiday baking mode after picking up the last of my baking supplies at the grocery last night.  This is probably the only time of year I ever buy brown sugar, baker’s chocolate, or chocolate chips.  I’ve already been baking my holiday batches of sourdough bread , but now it’s time for cookies.  I found these great little Chinese food style boxes with holiday themes (Santa and snowmen) for $1 apiece to use for my work gifts.  $1 is a bit more than I prefer to pay for packaging but these require no wrapping or bows or tape, so it’s an all in one deal.  They’ll probably only hold 6-8 cookies, which is just fine for saying “hey I’m thinking of you this holiday season” without going overboard.  So the winners of this year’s holiday recipes are (drumroll please….)

Peanut Butter Rudolph Reindeer from Ladies Home Journal.  Seriously, how cute are they?  And how simple?  Kids or non-culinary inclined husbands could totally help with this project.  Better make at least a double batch, as helping hands are going to taste while packing.

The other recipe we’re going to use to wow friends and family are these Simply Sensational Truffles from Kraft.  Easy peasy and totally decadent.  I’m making these for the family get together.  I found mini muffin cups at Target recently for $1.50 (for 100), and I’m going to top them with chopped pecans.

What are your favorite holiday gift recipes?

Do you have someone in your life who loves to cook?  Here’s the ideal (and inexpensive) perfect gift.  See, there’s nothing that we foodies love more than trying new flavors.  My current latest obsession is sweet smoked paprika.  To my husband’s chagrin, I’ve been trying it on everything :D  But here’s the scoop…whether you check out the spice aisles of somewhere fancy like Whole Foods or Fresh Market or only have access to your local Kroger or Walmart, groceries are becoming more and more sophisticated in their selection of spices.  So if you get the chance, scope out your favorite cook’s spice rack and see what they don’t have.  Then pick up a jar or packet of something new.  Chances are you’ll find something wonderful for less than $5.  Then let your fingers do the walking and scope out an assortment of recipes online that incorporate that new spice.  There are plenty of online recipe card template s that you can use.  Put all the recipes you collect in the same template for a consistent presentation and wrap it up.  Voila.  If you’re lucky, the receiver will invite you over to dinner!

I made a realization this weekend.  Of all the ornaments I’ve made over the years for friends–I’ve kept almost none for myself.  SO, for this post, I’m going to round up the instructions for various ornaments I’ve made.  Today I’ll focus on the myriad of Christmas cuties you can make with clothespins.  Why?  Because wooden clothespins are cheap, readily available at The Dollar Tree or your other favorite dollar store, and can be made into all sorts of cute stuff.

First up, Clothespin Snowmen.  This one was probably my favorite of all the ornaments I’ve made (as evidenced by the fact that I still actually HAVE some of these).  Instructions can be found here.  These call for spools and wood circles, but when I went to Hobby Lobby to find them, I actually found some sort of wooden beats that by themselves looked like hats, so I got those instead.

Next, the classic Clothespin Reindeer.  You gotta love the googly eyes!

Instructions can be found here.

  These clothespin Santas are sure to please and are easy to make with readily available materials.  Instructions can be found here .

These clothespin soldiers are always cheerful additions to the tree.  And for those of you with family members in the military overseas, you could easily change the paint job to fatigues to make something more personally meaningful.  Instructions can be found here.  I have used this same concept to make little martial artists for my aikido class (yeah, I was the only girl).

If you’re feeling more adventurous and crafty, you could try these clothespin dolls made by Martha Stewart.  I’ve not yet tried these, but they look really cute.  Instructions can be found here.

And finally, for the little angel in your life, a clothespin angel.  Instructions can be found here. 

You can be as simple or as complicated as you like.   Whatever your budget there are clothespin ornaments to fit it and they are always popular gifts.

So my mother in law has requested The List.  As she is the official shopper for most everyone on her side (herself, my father in law, the grandmothers…), each year she requests a Christmas list from us.  My mother, queen of Christmas surprises, is horrified by this practice, but it saves my MIL a lot of stress by providing her with a whole bunch of stuff we want or need instead of leaving her to flounder blindly to figure it out.  Obviously, we don’t get everything on it.  That’s not the point.  But in my years with this family, I have grown to appreciate this tradition, though historically I love surprises.

The thing is, we have a small house.  And as an adult, I’d rather get the practical stuff that I want or need than some other surprise that I probably don’t and will only have to find a place to store (my office is full of junk my mother “surprised” me with that I would never have bought myself and have yet to find a way to get rid of.  What’s on my list this year?  Well for me, I really want another smaller crock pot and these particular shoes from Lands End, some sweaters or fleeces, and some books.  Boring?  Some might say so.  But these are things I want and/or need and will have to buy myself.  Given the state of our budget, it’s a great gift to me not to have to spend the money.

My mom has a hard time with this concept.  She shops throughout the year and picks up stuff she thinks we’ll like.  She asked me last month what my husband would like, and I pointed her to some shoes he loves (he’s already killed one pair).  She said, “But they’re so ugly!”  Mom falls into the classic gift giving blunder–she often won’t buy what someone truly wants because SHE doesn’t like it.  Remember that when you’re shopping, y’all.  Your friends and family members are not necessarily going to want the same thing you do.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t take it personally if the recipient returns it.  My mother got me a truly hideous shirt last year in an effort to add something “hip” to my wardrobe.  It looked like the 70s threw up.  I returned it, bought 3 other plain button down shirts that I wear often.  She had a fit that I didn’t like it and that I bought stuff exactly like what I already had.  Well yeah, I like what I already had.  I hated that shirt.   I promise, it will mean more to the recipient if you think about what they want than what you like.

There are certainly merits to the Surprise! method of Christmas shopping.  If you know your recipient really well and can truly give them something they’ll love–go for it.  But don’t abhor the prospect of a list.  It’s still a surprise to see what you got FROM the list.  And even if it’s not…that’s not all bad either.  I asked for a programmable crock pot last year.  I knew I was getting it.  And you know what?  I absolutely LOVE the thing.  I use it at least twice a week.

What does your family do?  List or surprises?

The post about handmade ornaments is forthcoming after this weekend when I pull all our decorations down and can take pictures of the ones I’ve made in the past.  In it’s stead I offer another inexpensive Christmas gift for those on your list.

Remember back in the day before CDs when mix tapes were a serious sign of love?  If you’re too young to remember that, don’t tell me.  And please, no cracks about the 80s.  Anyway, in our current age of ditigal music, when all computers pretty much come standard with a CD or DVD burner, mix CDs are a fantastic gift.  Two of my alltime favorite CDs were gifts from a close friend of mine–one is a Christmas mix she made me back in college and the other she made for my wedding.  CD-Rs can be bought relatively cheaply at Walmart, and you can easily rip music from your own CDs with Windows Media Player or other free players such as Winamp or GOM .

Then it’s a simple matter of choosing your theme (or artist) and going to town.  The mixes that are the most fun really suit the personality of the recipient, so give it some thought.  Make a list of that person’s favorite songs or songs that make you think of them.  You can fit nearly 80 minutes of audio on a single CD-R, so you’ve got plenty of room to express yourself.

Then play around and make yourself an insert for the case.  There are templates online for the proper size.

Wrap and add a bow or pop it in a gift bag and voila!  You’ve got a personalized and very inexpensive gift that’s going to bring your friend or family member pleasure for years to come.

Today is December 2nd.  That means we have T-minus 22 days to get our Christmas shopping and gift preparation completed before the big day.  If you’ve already finished your shopping, good for you (and go away–you make the rest of us feel inferior).  If you’re like me and only have a couple of gifts picked up or haven’t even started, well, I’m here to help you make it through sane and no further in debt.  The key to not going into debt at Christmas is planning.  From a long term standpoint, come January you ought to be starting a Christmas contingency fund and add $5 or $10 per paycheck to it all year so that you’ve already got your little Christmas nest egg ready.  I plan to do that for next year.  But for this year, I’m keenly interested in making sure no one is forgotten while not stressing myself out further over how much money I have to spend.

First up, sit down and make your list of people to give gifts to.  Start with your immediate family, closest friends, and work your way out to those you aren’t as close to but whom you may need to give something to (such as coworkers).  Okay now check your list again and prioritize everybody on there.  Put a star by everyone you absolutely cannot forget.  Keep that number in your head.

Now go check out your finances.  How much can you afford to spend this year without going into further debt?  In our case, we have about $100 that isn’t already earmarked to pay bills, go into savings, etc.  So that’s my budget this year, which is actually down to about $80, if I take out the 2 gifts I’ve already bought.   I’ve got two more gifts covered from the gift closet (here’s where I pick stuff up throughout the year for an absolute steal). But that still leaves 10 immediate family members to give to, as well as at least a dozen friends to whom I want to give a little something.  All that on $80 you say?  How?

Well, first off, it’s important to get your brain off of the idea that you have to give expensive gifts for people to appreciate it.  This is so not true.  The thing about it is, anybody can go out and buy something.  That doesn’t take effort, and it really doesn’t take a lot of thought.  But making your gifts takes effort and some time and says “Hey, I love you, you’re special.”  And best of all, they’re inexpensive and you don’t have to pay for shipping.  I’ve already talked elsewhere about inexpensive ways to packages such homemade goodies, so I’ll not belabor that point.  Instead I’d like to offer some suggestions.

Think consumable.  I’m talking cookies, candies, homemade breads, mixes.  They don’t have to be stored for long, are much enjoyed by all, and you can get them all done in a day or two.  The holidays are so often about decadence, so you can easily find recipes that will satisfy someone’s sweet tooth.  I’m leaning heavily myself toward making truffles this year.   Talk about decadent, and they only have 3 ingredients!  This would make a great small gift for anyone.  Package a few up prettily (they’re uber rich, think fancy chocolates) and you’ve made a gift out of half a dozen pieces of homemade candy.  Another annual standard in my house is sourdough bread .  I make it every year and it’s always raved about, and let me tell you, there is little better than the scent of freshly baking homemade bread.  Totally droolworthy.  A loaf of this wrapped nicely in foil with a pretty ribbon, possibly with a jar of homemade jam (if you know how to make it–I don’t) would make a marvelous and thoughtful gift.  If you’re not a jam maker, the bread itself is perfectly lovely by itself.  For those folks you would rather give more to, think of themes.  You could make some homemade hot chocolate mix in a pretty jar and make up a batch of brownies or cookies to go with it (either more gifts in jars or freshly made ones from your kitchen).  You could also make up a hot beverage basket with the hot chocolate mix , spiced cider mix , coffee beans, and some pretty tea.  Throw in a few pretty mugs (available on the cheap from places like The Dollar Tree) and you’ve got a lovely theme gift for cheap!

If you’re of a crafty nature (and particularly if you have kids), one fabulous idea for holiday gifts are homemade Christmas ornaments.  This is a gift that keeps on giving and will provide memories each and every year it’s put on the tree.  This is what I make every year for my numerous friends.  It started out because I took pity on some newlywed friends of mine who decided (I have no idea why) to only get one new ornament each year they got married.  So I started making ornaments for everyone every year.  Last year I managed gifts for 20 people made and shipped for $40 (and most of the cost was in the shipping).  The ornament making is something worthy of its own post, so check back in with me later this week for a collection of links to my favorite projects!

I consider it an ironic testament to American society that one of our greatest national holidays–a day on which we give thanks for all the blessings in our lives and take the time to truly appreciate what we have instead of focusing on the lacks–is followed by the biggest retail day of the year, which blares messages of crass commercialism at top volume and maximum exposure–almost as if retailers must make up for the possibility that we might recognize that there is more to life than WANTS.  God forbid.

The whole thing just disgusts me.

In New York a man was trampled to death when out of control Black Friday crowds broke into the store early.  What is wrong with people?  Exactly what did those people think they would accomplish by breaking into the store before it was open? It’s horrifying that people turn into mindless animals in the pursuit of saving money.  I’m all about a good deal, but not at the expense of someone’s life.

I know that there are good deals to be had on Black Friday, but there is absolutely no inducement for me to a) get up early or b) get out in the insanity.  I’m much more an internet shopper, which is good as today is Cyber Monday, the online equivalent to Black Friday.  This I can deal with.     Still, I’m not looking online or in stores for my gifts this year.  Since our grand Christmas drawing idea was an abysmal failure, I’m getting started late this year and still need to make my list.  Mostly people will be getting goodies from our kitchen.

I feel compelled to make a call for people to stop and think about their Christmas habits.  Are you one of those who overspends on whatever the It thing is for the holidays, whether you can afford to or not?  Does your credit card balance jump astronomically this time of year?  We’re bombarded all year with messages of buy buy buy, but never so much as around the holidays, which retailers insist on beginning earlier and earlier.  I fully believe that Christmas will be out in July in the next decade.

Unplug yourself from the insanity and come back here tomorrow.  I’m going to be talking about making and sticking to a Christmas budget.

So my grand holiday plan of having a family drawing so that everyone was buying one gift and that was it–we were all going to focus on the food?

Totally went kablooey.

The family was all “oh what a good idea” and then everybody backed out.

So we are back to the drawing board about how to afford Christmas.  As I’ve said before, I’m a huge fan of gifts from the kitchen, and I think that’s going to be our saving grace.   So in honor of that concept, I’ve gathered up some websites providing suggestios for exactly that:

Gifts From Your Kitchen

Food Gift Recipes and Jar Mixes for the Holidays

For the not cooking inclined 10 No-Cook Food Gift Ideas

A Homemade Christmas

Gifts From Your Kitchen: Personal and Delicious Ideas

Healthy Holiday Gifts From the Kitchen

Teri’s Kitchen: Recipes for Gifts From The Kitchen

There are lots of other make it yourself ideas for holiday gifts, and I’ll address some of those as the holidays get closer.

If you’ve got any other great links for homemade gifts, do share!