Twelve Days of Christmas Delayed - Taking a Break From Christmas

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I am so pleased to be a part of the P & G Give Health Project!  Here is how it works:  By simply clicking the widget and typing your e-mail address, P & G will give away one day of clean water to a person in need.  After clicking this you will receive an e-mail, you must verify for the process to go through.  So basically, by clicking twice, you enable someone to have clean water today!  Yay! You can do this once a day, so I'll be including this widget at the top of each of my daily entries of Daily Deals.  This is a really cool way to make a difference to so many in need.  Pass along the link to my blog so that we can donate as much clean water as possible!!  I'm grateful that God provides seed for the sower.  Thanks P & G for providing a way for us to make a difference.

Because of after Christmas sales, I've decided to start my 12 days of Christmas seemingly a little delayed.  There is a method to my madness!!

As the first of my twelve days of Christmas begins, I'd like to suggest that you do something crazy today.  Don't look on line for deals, in fact don't go shopping at all if you can help it.  Don't wrap presents.  Don't daydream about the kids opening that "one" present.  Instead, find someone who is a shut in, or lonely.  Find a person who can't decorate their own home, or do their own baking.  Give some of your time to someone you wouldn't ordinarily spend time with.

I find that the Christmas season becomes an endless list of things to do and get done.  It's very easy to get self centered.  Even the things you are doing for others translates into focusing on how you're going to get something done for your Christmas plans.  Take a break from your Christmas plans and invest into someone else's.  Maybe you have an elderly neighbor who needs some help baking or decorating.  Maybe you know a new mom who needs someone to make the "ultimate" sacrifice and go to Toys 'R Us for her.  Whatever the case may be, taking a day off of being mindful of your holiday plans and focusing on helping someone else with theirs will allow you to have a Christmas Revival, a surge of cheer and good will toward men.

Being Thankful for What You Have - A Lesson From Nacho Libre

Dynamic fundraising meter for your Red Kettle campaign.

My friends have actually filled my kettle to 60%!  Yay!  Thank you for supporting such a wonderful charity!

Every Christmas I have a choice.  I can either get annoyed that I seem to have more ideas than cash, or I can love opportunities that I do have.  I wish I could say that I succeed at having the latter attitude.  Quite frankly, it's a struggle for me.  I have soooo many ideas of things to do for people.  >:{  Sometimes I feel a little bit like Nacho, in Nacho Libre when he prays, "Why have you given me the desire to be a wrestler and then made me such a STINKY warrior?"  I think, "Why do I have all of these ideas for gifts, but have no way to make them happen?"

"Anyways..." as Nacho would say, at this point, I have a choice.  I can delight in the fact that I have something to give or I can feel frustrated.  The truth is, no matter how much money I have, my ideas would probably exceed my abilities.  So this Christmas, don't wallow in the mire of "I wish I could...", but instead find a way to wrap what you do have with the heart of all that you wish you could do.

Merry Christmas.

Daily Deals - 12/2/10

Please consider clicking here.  It costs you nothing, but you can benefit the life of someone who needs help.  P & G will give one day's clean water supply to someone for simply clicking onto the above widget and confirming through your e-mail.  This is something EVERYONE can afford to do!


Tanger Outlets:  $10 off $50 purchase at Aeropostle now until 12/24!

 If you haven't "liked" Tanger outlets, you may want to do so now.  In fact, here is their fb page.  They are offering a deal everyday until Christmas.  I love these outlets, although there aren't any near me.  When I go and pick up Spencer I have to go past one, so I'll have to save up my coupons for when I pick him up for Christmas break!  :)  


Kohls 15% off everything December 2-5.

If you haven't "liked" Kohl's on Facebook yet, you'll want to do it now!  Head over to their facebook page and "like" them, so that you're able to get great updates like this one!  For on-line orders you can enter the code WONDER15 or if you'd like to head over there and use some of your Kohl's cash, you can print an in-store pass!  If you are ordering on line head over to ShopAtHome and earn 5% back TODAY ONLY.  


Have a Coach Outlet Store Nearby?

Lucky us!  Here's a link for an extra 20% off through this Sunday.  Looks like Tanger Outlet mall is calling my name!!  Coach is my absolute favorite purse.  They are so practical, and last forever!

Making A List and Checking It Twice

Through out the years, it seems I've had to learn through experience how to stretch a dollar even further at Christmas.  My husband being in direct sales, often has lean checks from November to March.  Unfortunately, we haven't progressed to the point where we put money away for Christmas so here are a few things I've learned in order to stretch my Christmas dollar.


1)  Save your drug store freebies.  I always put new toothbrushes in my kid's stockings every year.  Since toothbrushes are something I often get for free from Walgreens and CVS, I save a few extras for stocking stuffers.  (I usually put a brand new razor in everyone's stocking as well.)  For my daughter, I put cosmetic items I've gotten for free.

2)Decide on a budget.  Before I do any Christmas shopping, I sit down with my husband and figure out what our budget for the holidays will be.  I try to include any presents, extra food, special financial contributions, and supplies for any parties we will either be attending or hosting.

Speaking of financial contributions, I am endeavoring to raise $200.00 for the Salvation Army with my own virtual Christmas kettle!  Please consider donating to this worthy cause.  They truly do so much good around the world.

3)Determine how much of your Christmas budget is for gifts.  The next thing that should be done is to determine how much of your budget will be set aside for presents.

4)Make a list of people who you'd like to purchase gifts for.  Don't forget to include teachers, pastors, bosses and co-workers.  I also keep a few inexpensive gifts aside in case I've forgotten someone.

5)Go back a prioritize your list.  I usually have four different categories of people.  a) immediate family b) extended family c)close friends  d) neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers, etc.

Let's say that I have a budget of $400 this Christmas.  The first thing I'd do is set aside $40 for an extra charitable contribution.  Next, I'd set aside another $60 for parties and miscellaneous.  This would leave me with $300.00.  I try to spend 2/3 of my budget on my family.  In this case, I would spend about $200.00. Since I have three children, my husband and my recently widowed mother to purchase for, I would divide this amount by 5.  This would allow me to spend about $40 on each person.  The remaining $100 would be for the last two categories.  At this point, I'd definitely do some baking.  The difference between the people in category c and d is that I'd probably include something small along with the baked item for the people in category c (ie. a bookmark for the people in my book club).  If I have a little more money than this, I'd buy my close friends gifts as well as a baked item.

Coming soon:  Christmas log

Don't go Cyber Monday Shopping Before Reading This!!

You may have heard about them and wondered how they work.  Today I'll be explaining how ebates and ShopAtHome internet rebate programs work.  Basically, when you sign-up, you provide them with your standard information.  Then, instead of going straight to the internet stores themselves, you sign in through the rebate program.  The stores reward the rebate company for the traffic, and the rebate company rewards you with a percentage back.  It's just that easy.  Last year, I did much of my Christmas shopping through the internet.    I was very surprised to receive a check for over $10 in the mail from ebates.  I wasn't even very careful about logging in through their service every time. Also, from time to time, each of the companies offers codes good for free shipping or other special offers.  It's kind of like using a Discover Card!  What are you waiting for?  I'd sign up right now!

Daily Deals - 11/23/10

Please consider clicking here.  It costs you nothing, but you can benefit the life of someone who needs help.  P & G will give one day's clean water supply to someone for simply clicking onto the above widget and confirming through your e-mail.  This is something EVERYONE can afford to do!

For all you LeapFrog owners out there, Leap Frog is giving away a free baby book.  Simply head over here and sign up for the LeapFrog Learning Path.  The Learning Path is a free service for Leap Frog owners that allows you to track your child's progress.

CVS is offering a sweet deals to it's card members.  Head over here  and enter your CVS extracare card number and you'll receive your choice of a CVS/pharmacy brand angle or smart grip toothbrush OR a Bioluxe trial sized Shampoo or Conditioner.  I always put little things like this in stockings.  :)

Do you like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts?  I know I do!  Head over here to find a free coupon for a free doughnut.  You may want to consider becoming a Krispy Kreme friend and getting regular e-mails regarding upcoming specials!

TJMaxx Sells A Very Limited Number of iPads to Get More Traffic on Black Friday

It's true.  TJMaxx did have iPads at a few stores.  According to USA-Daily they did have or will have about 80 of them.  Nationwide.  So was this a traffic-ing ploy?  Absolutely!  Will it help them have more customers on Black Friday?  Probably!  I guess I wish that everything was more upfront.  It would have excited me just as much for them to say.  "On Black Friday, a few of our select stores will be carrying a very limited number of iPads."  I would have been very excited for the few who got one.  But the secrecy, and the ambiguity for the purpose of getting more people through their doors kind of offends me.

On the other hand, it has increased their traffic, both on the web and in the stores...and if I'm honest I got a lot more traffic because of it too.  So, thanks TJMaxx! :)