TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER
On November 18, 2008, my sweet Mama went to be with Jesus. While I will miss my mom, she has battled an illness for nearly 11 years. The last 3.5 years have been particularly difficult. Today, my mom is in paradise with the Lord Jesus. She suffers no more! She’s reunited with my dad and many family and friends who preceeded her. I rejoice because my Redeemer lives and my mom lives with Him today!
Both of my parents taught me to live frugally. Both were good savers and both could “shop a bargain.” Growing up in the post-Depression era, my parents learned values like delayed gratification, saving for the future, spending less than you earn, putting others (like children) before yourself, and giving quietly to the Lord’s work. I owe them a debt of gratitude for all they taught me and gave to me in my Christian heritage.
This Christmas season, as you consider your gift list, remember to give others the most important gifts. Tell others about Christ! Teach your family and friends about Christian stewardship! Model before your children the joys of tithing, giving above the tithe, saving for the future, and delayed gratification. Toys, books, CD’s, etc. will fade away. However, the Word of God and the principles The Bible teaches will never fade. What a great gift you can give!
And if you have been spared the loss of a loved one this year, make a point to reach out to your friends who are grieving. Your friends will long remember your kindness.
To God be the glory for His goodness and mercy shown to His children. Thank you, Lord, for my mom!
KEEPING CHRIST THE CENTER OF CHRISTMAS
As Christians, we’re bombarded with marketing and media this time of year. It’s easy to forget “the main thing” about Christmas it Jesus’ birth. So, here is a list of ideas you might consider in your home. For new parents, don’t feel the need to try everything at once. Try what you think will work with your family!
Here are ten ideas I’ve tried with my family. I have plenty more to share, but I thought ten would get your own creativity brewing.
1-Purchase a plastic or wooden nativity set. Allow children to play with the set. Use it frequently to tell your family the Christmas story. Better yet, if your children are 3 yrs or older, let them use the nativity to tell YOU the story of Christ’s birth.
2-You can have lots of fun reading the story from the Bible and allowing your family to “act out” the story they hear. Playing dress up can be fun and memorable!
3-On Christmas morning, prior to any gifts being opened, we read the Christmas story as a family. We have a short prayer time, too. This lets our children know that we recognize the birth of Christ as “the reason for the season.”
4-When I was a child, we were given three gifts. Why? For my family, it was an economical decision. However, I’ve heard others carry this tradition stating that the Christ child received three gifts; thus, they limited their giving accordingly. This is a great practice for reducing the volumes of toys hitting your floor!
5-For each child we have, we give at least one box to Operation Christmas Child. We also participate in our church’s outreach to the community. And we give to Angel Tree annually. We use the season to ensure we demonstrate our belief that “it’s more blessed to give than to receive.”
6-Christmas Musical Programs: When children are very young, I recommend skipping taking kids to musicals. It’s too much on them and you to sit through an hour plus of music. However, once a child is age 4-5 and above, I think trying to get a child to sit through a musical presentation is an excellent way to communicate the Christmas message.
7-Adopt a family or a charity and make giving, not receiving, the focus of Christmas. Your children will love giving gifts to others less fortunate.
8-Advent is celebrated in many ways. Some family use a candle wreath and light the candles to recognize “the waiting and subsequent coming of the Christ child.” I like the paper calendars where you open a window daily for 25 days until Christmas arrives. The point of using advent-type celebrations with your family is to emphasize that for many years, Israel waited for their Messiah, Jesus, who did come. Today we celebrate His birth at Christmas. Similarly, we are waiting for Christ’s return. We should watch and wait.
9-Dinner time is the perfect time to talk about Christmas. During your mealtimes for the two weeks preceeding December 25th, talk about the Christmas story. Ask your family to answer questions such as “What do you think the shepherds were doing before the angels appeared? Then, what did they do after the angels appeared?” “What do you think Mary said when the shepherds appeared after Jesus’ birth?” “Do you think you would have seen the star over Bethlehem if you were living in that town?” Your point is to get your kids relating to the Biblical account of Christ’s birth.
10-Dress up your little children and let them act out the Christmas story. Don’t forget to video it! Kids have a great way of learning by acting out stories. Use this technique to not only teach, but check their understanding of what you have taught.
Please reference my archived SONshine Savings e-zines for other great ideas!
FRUGAL IDEAS
With all of the media hype these last 2 years about the economy, you would think we’re all in the poor house! Not so! If you have a budget and live within your means, you may not be rich, but you’re probably not as bad as CNN would have you believe! Nonetheless as you prep for 2009, challenge yourself to try at least one frugal idea a month. Some ideas will work with your family and others won’t. However, by year-end, you’ll have achieved a few savings and maybe even some large savings!
1-January is the perfect time to start the year with a call or email to friends to tell them this is the year you’d like to cease exchanging gifts for X (you name it—-birthdays and/or Christmas). By eliminating some of your gifts, you’ll reduce your spending considerably. Alternatively, you can suggest to your friendship circles that you limit gifts to a specified amount. This way, everyone agrees to spend $10 or less, you still enjoy giving, but you don’t break the bank.
2-Look at your credit cards and identify which ones to close and which ones offer better economic opportunities. For example, last year, I traded an AMEX Rewards Green card for an AMEX Blue Rewards card. I elimninated the Rewards fee (now I’m at $0 cost). I still enjoy building rewards points that I redeem for dining gift cards, such as Cheesecake Factory and Olive Garden. Some gift cards I give as gifts and some I enjoy with my family! What are your credit cards doing for you?
Another excellent credit card is the Upromise card. Go to www.upromise.com to read about the opportunities for college savings. I have built about $1500 in savings just by doing what I normally would do and using the upromise Master Card.
3-Now is as good a time as any to clean out a closet and prepare a charitable non-cash donation. Be sure to get a receipt for tax purposes. If you haven’t worn it in 1-2 years, it’s unlikely you will again. Donate it!
4-Find 1-2 frugral friends and start your own “Frugal Friends Club.” Instead of meeting in a restaurant or coffee shop, take turns meeting in each other’s home. Meet once every month or every other month. Challenge yourself and your friends to bring 2-3 new ideas to the group. Or if schedules don’t permit meeting, then email your ideas monthly to each other.
5-For the events you do need gifts for in 2009, buy them early at post-Christmas sales. I bought some adorable games at Kohl’s with my extra 30% off coupon on top of their sale prices (pre-Christmas). These games are going to be used for birthday gifts during this next year.
6-Limit the number of birthday parties your child attends to three per year. This forces your child to choose those parties most important to him and keeps you from giving gifts to all 20 of his classmates.
7-Consider having birhtday parties every other year for your child. When it’s a year to not have a party, do something special instead, such as a family outing or get away trip.
8-When you do have a birthday party (for your child or yourself), request your guests to not bring gifts. This way, folks come and have fun and you don’t have a new set of toys to clean up in the coming months! Alternatively, if you want a gift exchange, request that party attenders bring a book. Let the children exchange books. This way, everyone leaves with something new to read.
9-As you plan parties this year, focus on ideas that are low-cost or even free. Try Oriental Trading Company for supplies for crafts for a party. If your child is young, you could have a party where everyone plays dress up or games like Duck-Duck-Goose and Hide and Seek. We had a Hannah Montana party last year and played Freeze Dancing. Our expense for this event was a Hannah Montana CD which the girls danced to. This was our primary entertainment and a big hit! You can have a wonderfully fun party with cake, ice cream, juice, a couple of games and maybe a craft or two all for $50 or less if you keep the party small and limit your expenses.
10-Harry and David’s is a gourmet food store with yummy but expensive items. However, if you shop their clearance rack, you can find deals on food that lets you entertain for pennies! I bought 1 lb bags of beautiful truffles for $3.47 prior to Christmas. Great gifts and wonderful family treats!
11-Seems like Christmas sales time is frequently the time you see stores offering you $10 off a purchase of $10 or more. Grab that free $10 and use it to purchase items you need like socks, underwear, etc. That savings coupon is great for gifts, too. The point is this is “free money.” If you choose an inexpensive item, such as a purchase of $10-$12, you can walk out of the store with a needed item and having paid only a dollar or two to cover the sales tax.
12-I’ve written this before, but I think it’s a great idea to repeat. As you search for gift ideas (whether Christmas, anniversary, or Valentine’s), consider giving persihable items. Few of us need another knick-knack. Instead, fill a basket with gourmet goodies or treats your loved one might not otherwise purchase for herself. A basket of teas would be a great treat to enjoy during the cold weather! You can thank a teacher with a couple of store bought snacks in a gift bag!
13-I love Little Debbie snack cakes. No, this is not one of my healthy habits, but it is one that tastes mighty good. The best price on Little Debbie snack cakes that I’ve found is at The Dollar Tree. I often buy a couple of boxes to store up. Then, when I get the munchies, I’m “armed and ready” with an inexpensive treat. One year I gave snack cakes and hot cocoa in a cute gift bag to teachers for Valentine’s Day. It was inexpensive, cute, and yummy!
14-In light of the recent turn of U.S. events, it is imperative to live a debt-free life. Many books and websites are dedicated to this topic. The bottom line is to spend less than you earn. With the difference, pay off your debt and build your savings. If you have not already developed a budget and an action plan to get you on course for debt-free living, today is the day to start! Contact me if you need more information on “how” to make this happen in your life. Or take advantage of the multitude of resources available to you. I highly recommend books by Larry Burkett or Howard Dayton or Ron Blue. Each man is a Christian and his writings reflect Biblical principals for sound stewardship.
TIME SAVING TIPS
1-From www.getorganizednow.com, here’s an idea to pursue in 2009 which will simplify your life and help lighten your load! Get rid of 7 things each day—paper you no longer need, email you’re done reading, plastic containers gathering dust, etc. If you get rid of 7 things each day for the entire year, you will have lightened your load by 2,555 items by the start of 2010!
2-Start 2009 with a new photo album. Stay current with printing your pictures and putting them in your album. I’ve found that when I stay current with pictures, it’s a breeze to have wonderful albums. However, a couple of years I put my photos in boxes and then later tried to put them in an album. This cost me hours of time. Had I “done a little at a time,” I could have had an album without a lot of concentrated effort. So, I’m starting 2009 with an album and the ambition to stay current with photos!
3-As you pack up your Christmas decor, label your boxes so you’ll know what is in each one. This is a great tip for all of the boxes in your attic and/or garage. Labelled boxes help you find items mopre quickly and helps you avoid opening dozens of boxes when you’re hunting for an item.
4-Update your address book when you go through your Christmas cards. Card time seems to be the main time folks notify you of address changes.
5-Write your Christmas letter throughout the year. Start your file in first quarter and update it at least quarterly wtih family news. By December, you’re ready to mail.
6-Brain dump in one place. I’ve carried an organizer for over 20 years and it’s a marvelous place for planning and keeping my appointments. However, it’s too big to carry in my purse. I don’t seem to have it with me when I am in the grocery line and suddenly remember I need to run X errand or call Y person. So, I carry a simple notebook in my purse and brain dump. Once it’s written down, I’m far more likely to do the task! You can purchase a colorful notebook on sale (Michael’s craft store often has adorable notebooks for $1/each). Keep it with you during meetings, in your car, and around the house. When a though pops in your mind, jot it down. You’ll be amazed how much more productive you are!
7-Make a list of what you don’t want to do this year. Yes, you read that correctly. Then, when you are making choices about how to spend your time, reference this “Not To Do” list to determine whether you should or should not volunteer. Saying “no” is often as important as saying “yes” to commitments.
MISC TIPS
1-Below is an easy recipe that you can change based upon what is in your cubbard! Thanks to my friend Cathy for sharing with me. We served this dish during a ladies event at our church.
a-Start with a helping of rice on your plate.
b-Next, add atop the rice some or all of the following toppings:
cooked pieces of chicken
chopped tomatoes
shredded cheddar cheese
finely chopped green onions
finely chopped celery
chopped bell peppers
shredded coconut
drained pineapple tidbits
chopped peanuts or sliced almonds
chinese chow mein noodles
c-Pour over some hot chicken gravy.
It is surprisingly good. It is fun choosing which food items to add
2-Teach your children early to help with chores. I read a tip from Maria Garcia’s Get Organized Now e-zine that I’ll paraphrase. A reader wrote that to encourage her son to empty trash cans in their home she occasionally put quarters under the trashbags. Thus, he was motivated to routinely empty the trash because he could collect a little extra money. Now, some people would argue their kids need to do chores without pay. I concur. But having an occasional surprise could also make life fun for your children. Since I require my kids to give at least 10% of their allowance and monetary gifts, I know that paying for chores also gives my kids money to give to our church or Christian charities.
3-Mary Hunt is one of my favorite frugal Christians! Her books, e-letters, and website are packed with ideas and tips. In a recent e-letter, I gleaned a tip from Mary I’d like to share with you. DUring our difficult economic times, it’s easy for children to feel scared and insecure. Share gently what is happening in the world’s economy. Mary suggests, “Rather than telling your kids, ‘We can’t afford that,’ say, ‘We don’t choose to spend our money in that way.’ Now you have delivered a positive message that you have money but you make intelligent choices about how to spend it. That makes kids feel safe. It tells them that their parents are protecting them. When you say ‘We cannot afford this or that or to go here or there,’ kids hear, ‘We are poor. If we weren’t so poor we could have this or that and go here or there.’ They quickly assume that money is the key to happiness. If we just had enough money we could be perfectly happy.”
4-If you have a cool, dark, dry place to store gifts, you can purchase Christmas chocolates and store them until next year. I buy items like M&Ms and Hershey Kisses at half price after Christmas. I store them in sealed totes in an area I’ve dubbed my “Christmas closet.” They’re great the following December and I have been known to use such candies for Valentine’s, Easter, and birthdays.
5-Here’s a gift that monetarily costs nothing. If you have a friend who has experienced the loss of a loved one, give them the gift of your friendship. Let them know you care. Take a minute to call or write an email. A phone call would be more meaningful simply because your friend might need to talk and your gift of listening might be a blessing to you both!
If you have a frugal idea, I’d love to hear from you. Please use the link at this website to share your thoughts.
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If your community or church group is seeking a speaker, please email me at michelebuschman@yahoo.com. I would love to share some encouragement and the love of Christ with your group! As many of you are familiar with my ministries, I speak not only on financial topics, but also on spiritual topics and about our family’s adoption experience.
And I also provide limited one-on-one financial planning and counseling by appointment. Contact me at michelebuschman@yahoo.com if you are interested in discussing your counseling needs.
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Joy! Michele