If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

December is right around the corner, and it’s time to start counting down to Christmas. In the past we’ve used advent calendars, an advent wreath, and paper chains. They were all OK. Then two years ago, I came across an idea at Debt Proof Living, and we did it. It’s become our favorite Christmas tradition.

What did we do? I bought 24 Christmas books. We have a big range of books from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas* to The Tale of Three Trees* to Christmas in the Big Woods* and everything in between. I bought most of the books used on Amazon and Half.com to save money.

I wrapped them all up and put them under the tree. Every night from December 1 to December 24 my children pick one book to unwrap, and we read it before bed. The kids enjoy unwrapping the “presents” and having a surprise story every night.

After Christmas I pack all of the books away until the next year. These books have become treasured favorites over the last couple of years, and we’re looking forward to reading them all again this year. As the kids get older, I’ll probably replace some of the board books with books for older kids, but we plan on keeping this tradition going every year.

For more tips visit Rocks in my Dryer.

*Affiliate Links

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Kim at The Bitter Ball needs some help. She has to do Christmas on a budget this year, and she needs some ideas. I can totally relate, since we’re doing Christmas on a budget, too. Anyway, Kim is hosting a writing project: Help Keep the Grinch Away. Head over to The Bitter Ball to find out how you can participate. The deadline is November 30, so think fast!

Now on to my frugal ideas. First of all, I really limited my gift shopping this year. We’re committed to not incurring any more debt, even though my husband only has a part-time job right now. That meant I had to do some creative shopping.

I limited the kids to three gifts each. Actually two and a half, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I figure if three gifts were enough for baby Jesus, three gifts should be enough for my kids. I don’t want spoiled kids, after all. I also wanted gifts that they would appreciate for more than a day. So I decided to give them each a toy, a book, and a game.

I did all of my Christmas shopping on Black Friday, but don’t despair if you missed it. There are still deals to be found. I bought my children each one $20ish toy, 1 book each on subjects they love, and 1 game they could share (thus the two and a half presents). Total: Under $50 for each kid.

Shopping online is a good way to save money, too. Just be sure to check for coupon codes before you check out. I always troll the Fishing For Deals message boards for deals. Those ladies find every good deal out there!

For inexpensive Christmas gifts for extended family, think of homemade items. I like to give photo calendars with the kids’ pictures on them. VistaPrint sometimes has good deals on them. My single brothers also enjoy receiving homemade cookies and candy. The kids help make the Christmas goodies, and we feel good about giving away something we all had a hand in making.

For holiday entertainment, we often just watch a holiday movie together as a family. One thing we haven’t cut (yet) since my husband lost his job is our satellite TV package. There are so many Christmas movies on this time of year, we don’t even go to Blockbuster to rent them. Pop up some popcorn, grab a blanket, and enjoy the movie!

Those are my best tips. I recently wrote about this subject at my other blog, Being Frugal.net. For a long list of frugal Christmas ideas, read my post 50 Frugal Christmas Ideas.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Myspace Graphics at WishAFriend.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Every Thanksgiving I look forward to a lot of things. The smell of turkey and stuffing roasting in the oven. The stories my husband tells of the annual Turkey Bowl (the muddy football game the guys from church play every Thanksgiving morning). Gathering with family just to visit and catch up. Chatting with my mom as we wash the dishes.

The thing I look most forward to, however, is our Thanksgiving journal. I bought it several years ago, after hearing about the tradition from a fellow MOPS mom. Every year our journal gets passed around to everyone who spends Thanksgiving with us, and everyone has to write something.

We date the journal, and everyone records the things they are thankful for that particular year. As the years pass, we gather more names in our book. My parents, my husband’s parents, brothers, sisters. When we started, Liz couldn’t write, so she would dictate her list. Now she writes her own entry, and Sam dictates his “Thankful List.”

As the years pass and our parents get older and pass away, we will be even more grateful for our Thanksgiving journal. Though our families won’t always be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us in person, we will always have a record of the blessings God provided to them and through them over the years.

For more Works-for-Me tips, visit Rocks in my Dryer.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!