Holidaze
One of the “advantages” of living with a real life version of The Grinch(tm) is that we’re not prone to the holiday stress that everyone else seems to get like flu borne on a tidal wave of tinsel and evergreen. Rushing around, buying presents you can’t afford on credit, trying like hell to fit every single holiday gathering into your already rushed calendar while trying to find treats to bring to the office AND remember to send out those holiday cards? Yikes. Not for us.
The disadvantage is that holidays have never been very festive in our home. Year round decoration has always been sparse. The Hubster ™, ever the curmudgeon, griped that “We’re gonna have to take it down anyway…” whenever I suggested putting something on our oh-so-stark apartment walls. Despite the fact that we have lived in our own home since July, there is still hardly any decoration save for some… unique… items that my mother gifted us with. (Like the religious icons, a light up garden angel and a set of sparkling pumpkins. Yeah, I’m not sure what she was thinking either.) The Hubster ™ has since banned my mother from gifting us with any more (as he so delicately put it) crap.
Luckily for me, The Hubster ™ supports most everything I do, no matter how silly, even if that support is only allowing me to do it. So long as I don’t do something insane like asking him to take holiday pictures, we’re fine. (He hates having his photo taken. So much so that even in our wedding photos — yes, our wedding photos! — he is grimacing with a look that plainly says, “I hate this. I hate you all. And I will make sure you will never take a photo of me again.” If ever anyone wonders why our walls are bare, this has a lot to do with it.)
Over the years I’ve bought various forms of Christmas trees including a sad little thing that I procured from a Trader Joe’s display, less than a foot tall with tiny little ornaments. My friend Monkey dubbed it the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. This year, at my request, The Hubster ™ and I trekked to a JoAnn’s Superstore to pick up a tree at 50% off from the holiday sales. (YIPEE for me and it was procured without the usual bit of grumbling on his part.) Since then I’ve also gotten quite a few ornaments and some fake garland and a wreath.
So our first Christmas in our own home isn’t the big to do that I had hoped it would be, with decorations heaped about in a gaudy joyous fashion. But then I remembered that Christmas isn’t about decorations — it is about togetherness and family. This is The Little Empress’ first Christmas and though our celebration will be small and humble, I’m sure we will find some way to make it magical.
Read MoreFrugal Friday: Your All Time Favorite Frugal Tip
I’m participating in Frugal Friday and this week’s theme is — Your All-Time Favorite Frugal Tip
And mine is…
Don’t buy what you can make.
This is probably the best known frugal tip and most applicable if you’re decent at crafting. For me, my best craft is cooking so living by this simple rule of frugality saves me a bunch of money at the grocery store.
I refuse to buy most types of pre-processed foods that I can easily make at home for less. If I really want chocolate chip cookies, I’ll get the ingredients and make several batches for the price of a bag. If I want pork chop coating, I’ll buy breadcrumbs, herbs and spices in the bulk bins and get a much better value.
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