Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
This December, I did something I haven’t done in a very long time. I bought Christmas gifts for myself! Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I devoted time to creating a wish list, but I jotted down some ideas and began the search for holiday bargains. So what did I buy? A Fitbit Watch … Read more
The ads pop into my inbox. Fifty-percent off. Lowest prices of the season. Best deals of the year. Buy-one-get-one-free. Temptation is the worst part of the holiday season for me. Those deeply discounted promotions lure me to spend money on items we really don’t need, so now I delete each new email and immediately unsubscribe … Read more
I managed to limit Christmas spending this year through a variety of techniques. First, I took advantage of Kohl’s Veteran’s Day sale. The store offered $10 off a $50 toy purchase plus $10 off a $25 purchase and an additional 20% off. I bought $54 worth of toys for roughly $29. If you aren’t aware … Read more
I typically spend Black Friday cleaning out my house. The goal is simple: to find better homes for all of my unwanted items and to make room for any new gifts that might appear between now and Christmas. Five or six years ago I spent the day after Thanksgiving decluttering and ever since that day … Read more
A few days before Halloween my husband looked into the massive bowl of candy and said “you did not buy enough.” “You don’t think that’s enough,” I asked, “It’s ten bags of candy!” I really didn’t want to run to the store to buy more, but I had a sinking feeling he was right. A … Read more
My husband came home this week and told me his coworkers seemed stressed and annoyed with the expectations of Mother’s Day and the gifts they need to buy their wives. I’m not a fan of all the fluff and stuff associated with major holidays. A few years back a male coworker said “I don’t want … Read more
I spent so much time organizing the house that Christmas became a bit of an after thought. With the big day approaching I buckled down, bought gifts and checked off names on our rather short list. So far I’ve managed to keep the costs to a minimum. While I didn’t shop on Black Friday I … Read more
So far I’ve managed to avoid the plethora of store emails streaming into my inbox. I’m deleting the majority of unread feeds in my reader too. Fifty percent off, free shipping, buy-one-get-one and every other type of sale tactic in between flashes on my screen, but so far I haven’t pulled out my credit card … Read more
Did you set a holiday budget? Did you stick to it? I did really well this year. Mom’s Gift – Purchased at Macy’s using a gift card I earned for completing online surveys. I actually purchased this in August. It was marked down significantly and I used a $10 coupon I received in the mail. Final … Read more
My little tike turned two just before the holidays. He is at a glorious age. An age where Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with toys and everything to do with activities. We pile into the car on blustery nights to look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. We spend half an hour decorating a … Read more