Penny Pinching Christmas Gifts

Each year Christmas seems to sneak up on us... especially when there's no snow!  What's with that??

It can be difficult to get through Christmas when your family is on a very strict budget.  I'll be honest, Christmas has been the time of year when my husband and I have made the worst financial decisions.  There are a few things that I have learned, though.

The number one thing to remember is that Jesus is the reason for the season!  It doesn't matter if you get your kids 7 big presents or 2 little ones, as long as they know why you are celebrating.  Teaching your kids about Jesus is the best thing you can do as a parent.

One think we learned early on in our marriage was to use the envelope system.  Whether your paychecks come every week or twice a month, this is the best way to handle your finances.  When you use cash for everything, you are less likely to spend over budget (because you can't) and you are less likely to spend at all.  One thing that we learned from Dave Ramsey is that if you have bigger bills you won't want to spend it.  For instance, if your budget allows for $20 of spending money, take it out of the bank in a $20 bill rather than two 10's or fourr 5's.  As soon as you break that $20, you won't feel as rich.  It's a lot easier to spend a $5 bill here, and another there.  Because I don't like to re-invent the wheel, here's a site that has printable budget envelopes.  By the way, the Money Saving Mom has a lot of ideas for budgeting at Christmas.  Search on her site for "31 Days of Giving on a Budget"

Taking out cash for your Christmas gifts is going to help you stay on budget when buying Chrsitmas gifts.  If you spend too much on Aunt Kelly, you won't have as much to buy for Cousin Samuel.  Sit down with your hubby and talk about how much you are willing to spend on each person.  The best time to do this is months before Christmas so that you can work it in to your budget and it's not a huge chunk of one or two paychecks in December.  Of course, if you get a Christmas bonus at work that's a great way to be able to give generously.

Another great way to penny pinch around Christmas time is to make homemade gifts.  There are a lot of ideas floating around on Pinterest right now.  But remember, if you have to buy lots of supplies you're not saving money!

Whether you decide to buy or make, you need to make a list.  Deceide how much you are spending on each person, then choose what you're buying ahead of time.  That will help you stay on budget, too.  It will also keep you from buying more gifts than you planned for each person.

Merry Christmas!

No Tree Needed!

This year, we don't have a Christmas Tree up.  Although it makes me sad to think of that wonderful thing being in storage for three years, I know that we simply don't have the space for a tree this year.  Last year we were in the same little one-bedroom apartment and decided with a baby on the way we wouldn't have the space that year either.  This year it's more than just space, though... it's about babyproofing!

So what do we do with our Christmas gifts??  We have wide windowsills, so I decorated the one in our living room to be a space for our presents.  Little Man can't reach them, and we have something to remind us that it's Christmas!  I'll have to make a little space for the kitty to look out the window.

I made the banner at a MOPS meeting.  It was really easy!  Maybe sometime I'll walk you through it.  For now, I need to go wrap some more presents!!

Cleaning for Company?

You know, I always find myself in a rush trying to get the house clean for company.  I feel like Deborah in Everybody Loves Raymond... you know that episode?  The one where they get into a huge fight about cleaning the house before their friends come over, and then end up going to an unsuccessful counseling session?  Raymond attests that if they clean the house to make it look "different than it does," it's like lying.

"But this is how the house should always look!!" Deborah asserts.  Yes, we wish.

When I was working, I always wished that I could stay at home because the house would be so much cleaner... all the time!  HA!  If only I could go back in time and tell my past self what life is really like staying at home.

Well, today I'm working to make the apartment look like it "always should look" because my mom and sisters are coming over tonight to babysit.  Babysitting means they'll not only be in the living room, but they'll be all over the house - - sitting on the bathroom floor to bathe the Little Man, dishing up their dinner in the kitchen, and in our bedroom to put him down for bedtime.  Yikes!  Boy, does that horrify me right now... better get to it!

"Whatever you do, work at it heartily, as for the Lord and not men..."

~ Colossians 3:23

 

 



Carrots About to go Bad?

Here are some ideas for those carrots in your fridge that are about to go bad!

1. Make soup!  Even if all you have on hand is broth, you can chop up those carrots and boil them in some broth and freeze that for when you want some chicken/turkey/beef soup!  If you don't have broth on hand, just boil them in water and drain, then freeze.
2. Cut into slices, serve with dinner tonight as a side and send in lunches tomorrow.

3. Carrot Cake!  If you have the other ingredients on hand, go for it!  Just make sure that gets eaten, or freeze part of it so you're not wasting it.  You could also give it away to a neighbor or family member, or to a babysitter as a thank you.

4. Boil them down, grind them up, and freeze them in drops for your baby/toddler/preschooler.

Cheap Babyproofing

I did a quick Google search for cheap/creative babyproofing when my baby started moving around more.  I didn't find as much as I would have liked, so I had to come up with ideas on my own.  I don't like baby gates (I don't like how they look, I mean), so I did as much as I could without them.  Here's what I came up with - let me know if it helps you by commenting!!

This is our living room.  We live in a one-bedroom apartment, so we really had to downsize when we had our little man.  We turned our dining room into a nursery, which connects to the living room.  It was hard at first, but now we've adjusted.

Next to the couch (which he hasn't learned to climb yet, thankfully!) I made a little corner for our cat.  Blocking it with a piece of furniture works well.  I didn't take a picture of what's underneath the printer, but that's where I keep all our "office" supplies.  You'd think the little man would push that printer, but he doesn't.  He likes the buttons, so he'll come over and press them for a bit then he's on to another thing!  And the dishes/vase/photo book on the shelf?  Yeah, he can't reach those... yet.  (But he does try!)

I ran out of the little stoppers for our outlets, so I just used tape.  Ghetto?  Yes.  Effective?  Yes.  Come to think of it, I could probably have used packaging tape and you wouldn't be able to see it.

This is the kitty corner.  Whenever the kitty girl needs to get away from the little man, she can scat right to her little corner.  The shelf blocks Little Man from getting back there at all.

Sorry it's a little blurry - - This is our entertainment center.  I can't wait to get a nice big pretty one, but our budget doesn't allow for it (nor does our space).  This is better for us now, anyways, since Little Man is all over the place!  Now, he can reach up to the buttons on the TV, but he doesn't usually push them hard enough.  The Wii Fit board, a case for our CDs, and Hubby's Perfect Push Up things are out.  The only things he has been able to pull out so far are the Perfect Push Up things.  I don't mind that.

This is what's behind the doors under the TV.  I put the DVD player, the Wii Console, and our controlers/DVDs down there.  I had to downsize our DVD collection, but that's probably best.  There are some in our bedroom in one of my dresser drawers and the rest are in storage.

 

It's a little annoying to have to open those doors in order to turn any of that stuff on, but it's a lot less annoying than telling Little Man "no" every ten seconds and having him turn off what we're watching.

This is still in the testing stage for us.  Our TV tables serve as our dining room table right now, so we really need them out.  They block Little Man from getting to some cords leading to the TV corner, but they're more unsteady than I'd like.  Little Man has climbed up them once or twice and they wobble, but I don't think they will fall over.  For now, I just watch him very carefully when he's over there.

Sometimes we like to actually eat at a table, so we have a card table that is actually also doubling to help us babyproof!  It blocks some cords.

Our ottoman is blocking cords, too.

It doesn't come up quite enough to block the outlet, but Little Man hasn't discovered that yet.  My plan for if/when he does is to put another blanket inside the ottoman to overflow it and move the top up to block the outlet.

Our rocking chair and high chair have their own spots.  Little Man doesn't crawl under the rocking chair, but he does use it to help him stand.

Okay, on to the nursery.  It's connected to the living room, and that door you see is the front door.  On this shelf Little Man has two bins of toys on the bottom that he usually needs help getting out.  The second shelf has supplies which, while I don't want him to get into, wouldn't hurt him if he did.  He can't pull them down because they are too heavy.  His fingertips can reach up to that third shelf, but everything is pushed back enough for now.  That fish tank provides the weight we need to keep the shelf stable (it's one of those cheap ones with a cardboard backing).

This is Little Man's other shelf.  It houses most of his toys and his books on the first two shelves.  The third shelf only has blankets - not interesting enough for him to get into, but safe if he does.  The top two shelves are for mom and dad.  Usually his hamper is up there on the top shelf, but I'm doing laundry.

 

On the second shelf down I have a basket of all his medicine (teething tablets, Gas X, Gripe Water, Saline drops, etc.), the paper-paged books that I read to him, and his bibs and mealtime washcloths.

 

On the top shelf I keep extra diapers, his sweatshirts, and (usually) his luandry basket.

Well, here's an ugly baby gate.  We borrowed this one, so it didn't cost us a cent.  I keep the diaper genie behind it because Little Man likes to use everything to climb - even if it falls over every time he tries.

His dresser doubles as our changing table.  I just keep wipes right there on the table.  His diapers and cream are in the top drawer, and his clothes are in the rest of the dresser.

And another baby gate.  I have considered letting him into the hallway and just blocking him from the kitchen and keeping the bedroom door closed.  For now, though, he has enough room.

Under the crib I have storage bins for all his clothes from different ages.  This keeps Little Man from getting under the crib.

The ExerSaucer (mostly) blocks the heater and an outlet.  He does like to climb underneath, though.

Oh!  And under the dresser I keep his diaper bag and Boppy pillow.  When he was little and starting to crawl, he got tangled up in the starps of the diaper bag - - needless to say, I keep that tucked away now.

Well, that's our apartment, all babyproofed!  Little Man rarely goes into the bedroom, and when he does he's watched very carefully.  And obviously he never, ever goes in the kitchen.

Keeping Christ the Center

As a Children's Pastor, I'm all about keeping Christ the center of the Christmas season.  Some may think I go to an extreme with it - - I don't let Santa in the house - - but it works for us.

My family is new.  It's actually our first Christmas with a child this year!  So we're still feeling out our traditions and seeing what works for us.  I imagine that any traditions we start may change as our little boy grows up, but for now we're just getting started.

I read a fantastic post by the Money Saving Mom at her blog this morning (it's an old post, I think) that gave me some great ideas.  I love her idea about giving a gift to her kids the day after Thanksgiving that will help them keep Jesus the reason for the season.  This will be great when my little one is older.  Her Christmas breakfast idea is fantastic, too!  Instead of taking the time to bake a birthday cake for Jesus, she throws a candle in their Christmas breakfast and they use that to sing happy birthday!  Genius!

Here's what we do now, and as the baby gets older we'll implement more of the kinds of things that Desiré does.

December 1: Advent begins.  We're still working out what we are doing for our Advent calendar.  I'm really hoping that next year we'll have it down!

December 24: Christmas Eve Service.  Our church offers a family service and a later service on Christmas Eve.  Circumstances nwo dictate that we attend the family service.  They do a children's message, too!

December 25: We read the Christmas story (perhaps we'll start reading it from a picture bible for baby's sake) and open gifts at home.  Then we head over to grandma and grandpa's farm to spend time with my family.

Sometime after Christmas: This year is the first that we have been a long distance from Phil's parents.  We will be having our Chritsmas celebration with them when they come up on the 29th this year (we're so excited!!).  I'm guessing this will turn into a tradition, but we'll see!

Keeping Christ the center of Christmas is very important to me.  I'm so excited for when my baby is a little older and we can start some traditions just for him!  For now, I still believe it's important to instill this message in him.  We put the Little People Nativity Set on his Christmas wishlist (that's what extended family buys from) so we can have a nativity set that he can interact with.  We play Christmas music other than Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells - - songs that actually celebrate the birth of Christ.  We'll attend the family service this year, and even though he'll likely be in the nursery, we will be starting that tradition of attending church on Christmas Eve.

What do you do to keep Jesus the center of your Christmas celebration?

Christ-Centered Christmas Picture Books

...that I want to read!  No, I haven't read these books yet - - but according to their reviews, they keep Jesus the focus.  And that's what it's all about, isn't it??

Humphrey's First Christmas depicts the story of the three wise men from the camel's perspective.
Advent Storybook tells of a bear's journey to meet baby Jesus.
The Animals' Christmas Eve is a rhyming and counting book that tells of the animals' meeting Jesus.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey has gorgeous illustrations!!  I grew up reading this book and highly recommend it.  A wood carver is taught the meaning of Christmas by a little boy.
The Legend of the Candy Cane I'm not positive about this one... but it looks like it might tell about the shepherds?
Christmas Day in the Morning A boy searches for a Christmas gift for his dad.  Doesn't include Santa, as far as I can tell.
Legend of the Christmas Stocking - - I'm really not sure about this one.  If you've read it, let me know if they're right about the meaning of Christmas.  The description on Amazon talks about God's love, but doesn't explicitly say that Jesus is the reason for the season.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree "true sentiment rather than sentimentality" does this mean Christ?  Not sure.
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale looks like it's another rhyming one about the animals.
The Legend of the Christmas Tree tells about why we put up Christmas trees, and the description says it helps us tell others about God.
The Christmas Baby celebrates the birth of Jesus.
God Gave us Christmas a young polar bear asks questions about why we celebrate Christmas - and gets the right answers!
Mortimer's Christmas Manger doesn't have a description on Amazon, but manger is in the title so I can only assume it talks about Jesus?
The Crippled Lamb written by Christian author Max Lucado.
The Gift of the Magi a couple realizes that they have everything the need.
The Christmas Train: A True Story tells of a child who shares on Christmas
Wenceslas is about the good saint.

Please add to or subtract from this list if you've read any good ones!!  If there are any that you've read that don't fit into this list, please oh please let me know.  Merry Christmas!