Between the holiday dinners, the extra baking supplies and tickets to concerts, plays and other special events, the cost of Christmas can go well beyond gifts and cards. Christmas is just around the corner and a source of money stress for so many people, but it can be done inexpensively! The key is to keep it simple, enjoy frugal holiday traditions and focus on family & fun, rather than finances.

When I think back on my childhood Christmas memories, I barely remember the gifts I received. I don’t remember what I gave to my siblings or my parents. I remember sitting around the huge dinner table with my entire extended family. I remember driving through town, looking at lights with my family on Christmas Eve. I remember baking cookies with my mom and sharing them with my class at school.

Memories—the little parts of the holiday season that truly matter—don’t have to cost a thing! Why, then, do we get caught up in $20 tickets for a train ride with Santa? Or, $12 tickets to see lights at the zoo – when all the animals are tucked away from the cold anyway? Here are my favorite free holiday traditions:

Tree Trimming Night:

We don’t just put up a tree around here. It has turned into a huge event—Tree Trimming Night is sacred. It is the one night amidst the chaos of the season that is just for our little family. No phone calls, no guests, no chaotic extended family. Just us, a tree and shared memories as we reflect on each ornament before finding just the right place.

The Official Countdown:

Our countdown to Christmas never begins on the same day—because we are always collecting new holiday books! Each year, when I pull the books out of storage with the rest of our holiday decorations, I individually wrap each one in leftover paper from the previous year. We stack them under the tree, and it adds beautiful color throughout the month of December.

Every night, one of the girls counts the books to see how many days until Christmas. Then, she gets to open the book so our family can read a holiday story. I keep one book wrapped in special paper, and save it for last, so we can read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on, well, the night before Christmas.

Christmas Pajamas:

Okay, so this one costs money—but not much at all! On Christmas Eve, right before we unwrap our final book, each girl gets to open just one present. It is always new pajamas—they have to look gorgeous when Santa peeks in that night! (Plus, Momma likes cute jammies for Christmas morning pictures.) I don’t spend much at all, but the tradition of opening the same gift year after year is a memory I still treasure from my childhood.

Christmas Morning Breakfast:

Breakfast isn’t an elaborate affair, and it isn’t the meal itself that creates such a special holiday tradition for us. I use the fine china, pour juice into real and actual glasses and service a simple breakfast casserole—something hearty for a day that begins before dawn. We come down the stairs on Christmas morning and enjoy the girls’ excitement to see what Santa left them.

Then, while they are digging into their stockings, I put the pre-made casserole into the oven. When the stockings are emptied, we take a break for breakfast. Not only does it ensure they eat a healthy breakfast before all that candy, but we get to separate Santa’s portion of the morning from ours—can’t let the big guy take credit for everything!

The day will end with special memories that aren’t all tied to the gifts under the tree. My girls are already talking about warm Christmas pajamas and asking when we get to start the countdown. I guess I have some books to wrap!

Related posts:

1. 5 Fun, Frugal Holiday Traditions to Begin with Kids
2. 4 Frugal Ways to Have Fun as a Family This Holiday Season
3. How to Save a Bundle on Holiday Gifts

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Last week I wrote a post that provided a list of alternative income streams that I am currently using or plan to use in the future. One of those income streams was to Shop at Pharmacy’s and make money. How can you make money shopping at pharmacy’s you may ask? I thought the same thing until a few weeks ago. I have always loved to shop at the national pharmacy chains including CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. In the past I would try and use coupons when I could to get the best deal, but never really paid that much attention to monitoring the ads really close. Then I came across several other blogs (i.e. Money Saving Mom) devoted to shopping at discount stores using any coupon, rebate, or cash back reward available. That is when I realized that I could actually make money by shopping at some of these stores and get products that my family can use!

Over the past several weeks I started to pay very close attention to the Sunday ads for the national pharmacy chains to find the best deals and opportunities available. I also started to collect any coupon available that came in the Sunday paper or that I found online. I have a goal to reduce my families grocery budget, so clipping coupons was one logical start in reducing this expense. After monitoring the ads and reviewing other blogs, I found two opportunities last week that allowed me to make money and get some products that my family can use. Now I will mention that I didn’t make a lot of money off of these transactions, but it is hard to pass up getting free products that you can use and where you can actually make a little money The list below provides details on the two opportunities that I found at CVS and Rite Aid -

Rite Aid

• Colgate Toothpase
• Bought four 7.6 oz. Colgate toothpaste for $15.96.
• Used four $1.50 off 1 Colgate toothpaste coupons for $6.00 off.
• Received a Single Check Rebate for $10.99.
• After Tax and discounts I made $.33 off of this transaction.
• Fructis Conditioner
• Bought one 6.8 oz. Fructis Conditioner for $2.99.
• Used one $1.00 off coupon.
• Received a Single Check Rebate for $2.99.
• After Tax and discounts I made $.79 off of this transaction.
• Total Made – $1.12

CVS

• One Touch
• Bought One Touch Glucose Monitor for $29.99. We gave this to my brother-in-law who was just diagnosed with Diabetes.
• Used $20.00 off coupon.
• Sent in Mail-in Rebate for $29.99 for the Glucose Monitor.
• After tax and discounts I made ~$17.98 off of this transaction.
• Revlon Makeup
• Purchased Revlon Makeup for my wife for $9.99
• Used $3.00 off CVS coupon received a few weeks earlier.
• Used $2.00 off manufacturer’s coupon.
• Received $9.99 back in Extra Care Bucks that can be used in the future at CVS.
• After tax and discounts I made ~$4.66 off of this transaction.
• Band-aid’s
• Purchased 1 pack of Band-aids for $2.99.
• Used $.50 off coupon.
• Received $2.00 back in Extra Care Bucks that can be used in the future at CVS.
• After tax and discounts I spent ~$.66 on this transaction.
• Total Made – $21.98

After both transactions listed above, I made approximately $23.10 by shopping at CVS and Rite Aid last week. I will note that this amount may be smaller depending on the One Touch Glucose monitor rebate for $29.99 that we sent in. I have heard that the rebate may not be for the full amount as our entire CVS bill was around ~$15.00. Some blogs have reported that they will only return the amount of your total bill if it is less than the total rebate amount. Either way, we still came out making money during the week and got products that we will use!

Will this income stream make me rich? No. However, what it will do is allow my family to reduce our money grocery budget which makes more money available to purchase assets.

Do you shop at pharmacy’s to make money or get free products? What kinds of deals do you find?

Related posts:

1. How I made $17 in Almost Passive Income
2. Discount Shopping is not always perfect
3. Take Advantage of Discounts for the Best Shopping Buys in January

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Family Budget
June 2008 has come to a close and the family budget has made it through one more month in the green! This is the second month that we have used the family budget. We spent $259.36 less than budgeted for the month of June compared to $142.37 less than budgeted for the prior month (May – 2008). That is an increase of 82% in savings between June and May (2008). There are several highlights from the current budget review and as always a few concerns for the coming months.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Gas – We did a very good job on our Gas budget for the month considering the never ending rise in oil prices. Our monthly budget is $200 for two vehicles. I was able to stretch out only one fill up during the month in my car, so we came in at $151.49 which was a 17% decrease in expenses compared to the month of May. I attribute this cost savings in part to some of the measures that we have taken to reduce our gas consumption.
• Energy Costs – I am continually amazed at how well we have been managing our energy costs, specifically our electricity usage. We have a 3,300 square foot house that I was terrified about paying the utility bills on back in February (2008) when we closed. My wife and I have made it a goal to manage our natural gas, electricity and water usage. The main highlight of the energy costs is the electric bill coming in at $40.41! Considering the extreme heat we saw in mid-June I am extremely please with the results.

CONCERNS

• Gas Prices – While we did reduce our gas consumption for the month along with our expenses, I am still concerned about gas prices in the next few months. We did increase our Gas Expense Fund up to $65.82 which should help to offset future increases. Unfortunately, I will need to fill up my car twice this month and won’t be able to stretch it out as I did in June.
• Groceries & Entertainment – Once again we outspent our budget in this category. I have been including gift purchases in this category, along with food and entertainment expenses so that is the reason for going over budget. We incurred some birthday gift and baptism gift expenses during June which accounted for the increase. The main focus for July will be to bring down our grocery expenses to meet the budget.

June 2008 – Budget Review

Final Thoughts
Overall it was an excellent month for the budget and I can already see the rewards of monitoring it closely. As stated earlier, we spent $259.36 less than what was budgeted. Of that savings, $191.45 was put into “Expense Funds” for those particular accounts to use for future expenses. The remaining $67.91 has been put into our ‘Investments & Savings’ category and will be used for a future stock purchase. In the future, anytime we are under budget, the funds will be added to this category.

How do you keep track of your weekly/monthly finances? Do you have a budget setup to track your cash flow?

Related posts:

1. Monthly Budget – August (2008)
2. Monthly Budget – September (2008)
3. How to Create a Family Budget

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Well our house guests (the in-laws) who visited us for two weeks are now gone back home. It was a nice visit and our family budget withstood the added expenses. Today, I would like to discuss 5 extra expenses that can be difficult to avoid when entertaining house guests.

The following list details the common expenses of entertaining house guests -

1. Food – The food budget saw a bit of a spike but I think it will be manageable for the month. Fortunately, my wife and I stocked up on a lot of food prior to my in-laws arrival which helped us eat in more than going out. In fact, my in-laws felt so bad that we were spending all the money on food that they took us out to dinner twice and paid!
2. Gas – While we did drive a lot when they were in town, I don’t believe it was too many more miles than we would normally drive. The one exception was an unexpected 90 mile round trip to the airport to pick up my brother-in-law who decided to come in for the 4th of July weekend.
3. Water – Unfortunately, the water bill will see a big spike in the next month. As anticipated, my father-in-law took his 20+ minute showers two times per day. Add on top of that my mother-in-law and brother-in-law taking added showers will increase the usage. During that time, I decided to shower at work during the week and limited myself on showering on the weekends at home. My wife also did an excellent job of managing the laundry duties and combining as many loads as possible. The dishwasher also ran once per day while they were in town instead of once every 3 or 4 days.
4. Electricity – The other problem expense during the visit is the added electricity bill. We ran the A/C more often and dropped the temperature from 84 degrees to 80 degrees. We had more lights on, ceiling fans running, and the tv was on more. We should be ok as we budget $150 per month for electricity and have not gone over $100 yet. We just wont be able to save as much this month.
5. Entertainment – The entertainment category was a nice surprise. While we had expected an increase in this category, we really did not spend very much money here. My in-laws took our 4-year old son out a lot on their own and paid for any costs (i.e. movies, etc.) which was nice. Anytime we did something together, my in-laws also picked up the tab to offset the money we had spent on food which also helped out a lot.

Forgotten Expense – One forgotten expense that I didn’t think of will be an increase in the gas bill. While it is summer and the furnace is not running, we still will see an increase in the monthly gas bill. The extra showers (hot water), dishwasher runs, and laundry cycles will add to our gas bill.

Overall, it was a very nice visit and we will miss our house guests. I feel fortunate to have family members who want to help out with the bills from time to time. In the case of my in-laws visit, they wanted to pay for things like eating out and entertainment expenses. We even got into an argument with them about a check they wrote us when they were leaving. They wanted to give us $200 for the food they ate at our house and the gas we spent while they visited. After a few hours of negotiations, we decided on $100 instead to offset any costs.

While my wife and I are frugal in nature, we draw the line when it comes to money and family. We value our family much higher than our frugal ways and didn’t feel right taking the $100 check from my in-laws, but also knew that it made them feel better. My in-laws also told us they were going to come back for another week to visit at the beginning of August, so we told them we would use the money to buy food again and stock up for their return.

How do you handle situations with family or friends who want to pay? Do you take their money?

Related posts:

1. New Ideas for Reducing Monthly Food Expenses
2. Buying a House? Don’t Become House Poor
3. Living Frugally By Eliminating Unnecessary Technological Expenses

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I was reading a post this morning on One Caveman’s Financial Journey called 13 Free or Cheap Ways To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer. I can relate to this post as I found the temperature to be 91 degrees in our house when I got home from work yesterday. My wife and I had a goal to not turn on our air conditioning until June 1st this year to help reduce our energy costs. Once we met that goal, we thought we could make it until June 15th. That was until it got into the 90′s yesterday and the forecast of 98 degrees today and highs in the 90′s for at least the next 8 days. As a result of the recent high temperatures, we will be turning on the AC today.

There are a few of the 13 Free or Cheap Ways To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer that I wanted to comment on as they pertain to our goals for keeping energy costs down.

• #1 – Open Your Windows – I completely agree with this point. Anytime that the air is cooler outside than it is in our house, the air stays off and the windows stay open. We have actually been benefiting from some nice breezes lately that have helped a lot by keeping the windows open. The neighbors right next door to us have had their AC on non-stop since late April when highs were still in the mid 70′s. I can’t even imagine what their energy bills are.
• #2 – Turn On the Ceiling Fans – I also agree with One Caveman’s Financial Journey in regards to using ceiling fans as much as possible. We broke down and purchased 8 ceiling fans in the past two months to put in just about every room in our house. They have worked great so far!
• #4 – Shut the Blinds – Again I agree with this point. When we don’t have the windows open, the blinds are all the way down. If the windows are open, then we have the blinds down 1/2 way to block out as much sun as possible.
• #7 – Turn Up The Thermostat A Degree Or Two – When the AC goes on today, it will probably be set at around 83 – 85 degrees. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you go into someone’s house or store and it is freezing because the AC is set so low. In fact, I wore a light jacket this morning at work for a couple hours because it was so cold in the building. This is a complete waste of energy as far as I am concerned.
• #8. Close Unused Vents – Excellent point! We closed off the vents to all of our bathrooms when we moved in (summer & winter they will be closed) and several of our other rooms we don’t spend a lot of time in (i.e. dining room). It really makes no sense to cool smaller rooms while the room where the thermostat sits tries to get cool.

An additional item that I wanted to add to our list of keeping the house cool is to plant some trees around the house to help shade during the summer months. While this won’t really help us this summer, we plan on planting shade trees on the southwest side of the house which gets the afternoon sun that really heats up the house. Hopefully in a few years, we can have the benefit of some nice trees in our yard with the side benefit of helping to cool our house in the summer.

For a review of my monthly budget, please see my recent post – May 2008 – Family Budget Review.

How do you plan on staying cool this summer? Do you have other ways of staying cool that were not mentioned in the One Caveman’s Financial Journey article?

Related posts:

1. 25 Energy Bill Savings Tips for your Home
2. Saving Money on Your Energy Bill
3. Frugal Ways to Cool Off this Summer

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.