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Frugal Ideas for Festive Fun

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:08:03 +0000

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This year has been a difficult one, financially, for many families. If you’ve been hit hard by the economic downturn then you may be struggling to figure out what you’re going to do for Christmas. Finding the money to pay for gifts, decorations, and celebrations is tiresome enough at the best of times, let alone when there’s a recession in process. The following frugal festive fun ideas are designed to help you enjoy the holiday season without breaking the bank:

Try a Secret Santa: If you can’t afford to buy gifts for every single adult in your circle of friends, then why not arrange a Secret Santa this year? In a Secret Santa, each person draws a name from a hat, and buys a gift for that person. The recipient has no idea who gave them their gift. Each person only has to buy one gift, so it can be quite a substantial saving if you have a large circle of mutual friends.
Take part in community celebrations: Instead of going to an expensive concert, or a pantomime with a cast of has-been celebrities (most of whom your children wouldn’t recognize anyway), why not go to your local carol service or community play? That way, you’re supporting the local community, enjoying a good night out, and saving money at the same time.
Play outside: Christmas nights out never go as planned – the shops are busy, the restaurants crowded, and all the good movies are sold out. Instead of taking the kids out every evening during the holidays, why not play outside with them? If it’s not snowing, take out your garden toys and have a winter picnic. If it is snowing, use those aforementioned garden toys as cover while you have a snowball fight. It’s a simple, often forgotten pleasure, but a good one!
Track Santa: Instead of visiting Santa in a grotto, track him online! NORAD tracks Santa is a fun and educational website. Not only can your children see where Santa is going, they can learn a little about geography, and foreign cultures, at the same time.
Do Some Baking: Christmas puddings, cakes, and snacks are often over-priced compared to their home made equivalents. If you enjoy cooking, try baking your own goodies. You can make more generous servings, involve the kids in making festive designs, and tweak the recipes to your own tastes!

In recent years, the spirit of Christmas has been forgotten in the race towards commercialisation. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the quest to buy the fanciest presents, and have the “perfect” Christmas. Some of the best festive family traditions are born out of a desire to keep things simple. This year, try doing your own thing during the holiday season. If you don’t want to spend a fortune on decorations, don’t bother. If you don’t like Christmas pudding, have apple pie instead. You’ll be happier for it – and really, that’s the only thing that matters!

This article was written by Amy Fowler on behalf of The Original Factory Shop, who offer garden toys and other discounted gifts and household essentials.

Secret Santa Success (nellsknitting.wordpress.com)

5 Great Holiday Gifts to Give Party Hosts

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:03:34 +0000

Inevitably during the holiday season we always end up attending parties. Sometimes, these festive events can be a blast – the type of thing we remember all year. At other times, it is a social obligation that forces us to attend when we’d rather be watching paint dry. Either way, though, it is proper etiquette to bring the host/hostess a gift, and selecting the right one can be quite challenging. The following is a list of holiday party gifts that are sure to please.

What: Savory Seattle Gift Basket from Eddie Bauer.com
Price: $49.95

This gift basket is perfect for the holidays. It features some of the finest offerings from the Pacific Northwest, including smoked salmon chowder, spicy white bean soup with smoked salmon, alder smoked sockeye salmon, smoked salmon pate, and Partners Crackers.

What: Ghiradelli Decadent Chocolate Gift Basket from Kohls.com
Price: $79.99

Admittedly, the recipient might be a little bit irritated to receive this as a gift. After all, they’re likely to have a hard time stopping themselves from eating piece after piece of delicious and decadent chocolate. The Ghiradelli’s basket comes with over fourteen different types of premium chocolates, including 72% Cacao bars, 86% Cacao Bars, Dark Toffee Bars, and Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa pouches. It’s a gift so good, you’re almost guaranteed of an invite back for next year’s party.

What: High West Whiskey Double Rye from BevMo, and other local retailers
Price: $36.99

Based out in Park City, Utah, Highwest Whiskey has quickly developed a reputation as one of the best American spirits around. The Double Rye received 90 pts from Malt Advocate, it’s a blend of two straight whiskeys. Its hints of flavor include dark chocolate, mint, cinnamon, clove, licorice root, and pine nuts. This is the perfect gift for a guy’s holiday party, and it is encouraged that the host opens a bottle as soon as possible so that you can get a taste yourself.

What: The Louvre: All the Paintings from BarnesandNoble.com
Price: $45

This excellent gift screams out classiness to the host or hostess of the party you attend. Endorsed by the Louvre, it offers stunning color prints of all 3,022 paintings that are on display in their permanent collection.

What: uControl Cloud Force RC Helicopter from Brookstone.com
Price: $59.99

Holiday gift baskets and liquor are definitely wonderful holiday party gifts, but something like the uCountrol Cloud Force RC Helicopter will really set you apart. This rechargeable bad boy offers a smooth, stable flight experience, and allows the user to maintain altitude up to 80 feet away from the remote. It banks and hovers like a real helicopter, and comes with plenty of replacement parts to help you handle a few rough landings. This gift is surprisingly fun, and something that your host and hostess will get a lot of use out of.

The key to a good holiday gift is that it’s something the host/hostess will actually enjoy. All of the gifts here have been selected with utility in mind, and they’re sure to become fast favorites for the lucky recipients.

Stefan Georgi attends a lot of holiday parties, and really enjoys giving unique gifts. He highly recommends using Eddie Bauer coupons when purchasing their Savory Seattle Gift Basket.

Counting Coins for Christmas

admin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:30:46 +0000

As the Christmas holidays draw closer we are all starting to feel the inevitable pressure that comes but once a year to cause seasonal stress for all to endure. It’s fair to say that on Christmas morning when we see the bright eyed faces of our children and family members that every bit of effort we put into organising gifts and food is worth it; but with some useful and forward thinking hints and tips, we can all sleep a little sounder.

Its snow secret… that Christmas is widely recognised as one of the most costly times of the year (unless you get an expensive taste for Faberge eggs around Easter time) and when taking food, gifts and decoration into consideration it certainly adds up. So, whether you’re looking to treat your children to a new games console or give your house a surprise makeover with a lick of paint and some designer radiators, we can take a leaf from Uncle Scrooge’s book and keep a close eye on our pennies as the ghost of Christmas present approaches.

Make Savings with Internet Codes and Coupons

Tons of websites offer money saving codes and printable coupons all year round, the quick task of registering to a website or filling out a questionnaire here and there is a small price to pay when considering how much money you can save in the long run. Some offers can save you a massive percentage on products from online or in-store retailers; others can give you a 2 for 1 offer which is great when buying for in-laws or friends. Remember to act quickly, offers and coupons are in high demand so are likely to expire quickly, keep an eye on the expiration date and use your coupons and codes before they go to waste!

Remember, some gifts are very expensive and unless you wish to go hunting for criminal defence solicitors, discount coupons are your best way of making significant savings.

Be the Early Bird

Many of us seem to get into the habit of rushing to the shops and buying the majority of gifts in one fail swoop; leaving everything until the last minute is a sure fire way to forget things and put some serious strain on your bank account. The products you are hoping to buy your friends and family will likely be available earlier in the year so why not buy them two or three months in advance? There will be some gifts (especially products aimed at children) that will be released nearer to Christmas and we can’t purchase everything in advance so weigh everything up, see what you can afford from September onwards and get a gift or two bought, wrapped and stashed away before anyone could even suspect!

Festive Food Hampers

Seasonal hampers are massively popular approaching Christmas, with a variety of themed packages there are bound to be a selection on hampers that have the look and products that are right for you. The value of Christmas hampers varies; itemise the contents and calculate whether or not you are making a significant saving by buying in bulk. Many companies that solely deal in food hampers will likely offer a discount for ordering early so think forward and start pricing them up before all offers and discounts are snapped up!

Remember, the earlier you play your Christmas strategy the more money you could save; space out the spending and treat yourself to a stress – free Christmas!

This seasonal article was written by Daniel Travis – Brown on behalf of The Finance Facility and Designo Radiators. Follow him on Twitter @DanTravisBrown.

How to Have a Healthy Christmas

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 10:28:45 +0000

Christmas is a season during which many of us have a million things we want to do, parties to go to, shopping to get done, cooking to do and enjoy, cooking baking and decorating and on and on. Unfortunately, this is the season during which many people get sick as well. What can you do to stay well this holiday season and have a healthy Christmas?

Stay Well

While there is no magic pill for staying well anytime of the year, much less Christmas time, there are things you can do to avoid getting sick and run down. The first thing to do in pursuit of your healthy Christmas is ensure you get enough rest. I know. With such a busy and fun-filled season, who has time for rest? We all know that when we get run down and tired, that is when sickness and stress will take its toll and suddenly we’re down for the count. Avoid this by ensuring you get enough sleep and downtime.

Stay healthy by eating well during this hectic time of year. When we’re on the go a lot, we tend to eat poorly, grabbing whatever is handy. This handy stuff is often fast food or snacks that are not serving our bodies well at all. With all of the holiday activity, our bodies need quality fuel to run on. Take the time to have a good meal, ensure that your snacks are power packed with protein to keep you going during this sparkling, busy season. Drink lots of water, eat lots of vegetables and protein packed lean meats, fuel that body well.

Get Well

In the unfortunate event that you do feel bad, stop everything and rest. The faster you rest up, the faster you will mend and be ready to tackle December’s wild days again. Pushing through sickness or run down times will only backfire badly. This means staying home, avoiding sharing your germs and resting up. The sooner you focus on getting well, the sooner you will be well and back at the fun again.

Having a healthy Christmas depends upon taking care of yourself as you run amok this holiday season. Get enough rest, take time to exercise and eat well and you will keep your body running in top notch shape for this busy and wonderful time of the year. While this sounds impossible, if you make it a daily way of life, everything will fall into place. Avoid stressing during this season, keep up a healthy diet and exercise while you’re running amok and your body will thank you and serve you well.

David Spader reviews savings accounts over at SavingsAccount.Org.

Top Children’s Activities for the Holiday Season

admin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:27:52 +0000

As a family approaches the holiday season, everyone will start to get excited about the many different fun activities and traditions that they want to participate in during the upcoming weeks. Sometimes, especially in a large family, there are too many wishes than there are days in the year to complete these. This is why creating a “bucket list” can be a fun and involved way to narrow down their favorite activities. This can as simple as a sheet of notebook paper or an elaborate list with fancy writing and markers. It should involve input from everyone about what they would like to do that year. Here are some great suggestions that will be enjoyed by many families this year.

Free (or Almost Free) Activities

Sing carols together as a family. This can be inside with musical accompaniment from the radio or a few talented family members or even around the neighborhood. Drive around the neighborhood after dark to check out the lights. Many families will also enjoy decorating their homes and trees together. Putting on some Christmas music and stirring up a few mugs of hot cocoa can really help set the festive mood. Younger children will also enjoy using supplies that are already around the house or are cheap to acquire to create their own decorations. Some ideas for handmade decorations like red and green paper-chains, snowmen made of cotton balls, and

Cold Weather Activities

Try building a snowman or snow fort as an entire family. For those with younger children, just spending a little time outside to make some snow angels can create warm memories. Older children may enjoy using spray bottles filled with food-coloring tinted water to create outdoor masterpieces in the snow. Parents and children alike will have a great time by engaging in a fun snowball fight. Of course every cold weather activity is best when topped off by some together time in front of a warm fire.

Charitable Activities

The holidays are a great time for a family to recognize how lucky they are and give back to the community. A family can do something as simple as volunteering their time at a local food pantry or soup kitchen. Other options include donating food, toys and warm clothing to a homeless shelter or the Salvation Army. The holidays are also a wonderful time for families to perform random acts of kindness. These include giving cookies to the teachers at school or sending care packages to the military troops serving overseas

David Spader looks at savings accounts over at SavingsAccount.Org. His recent review looked at the best CD rates.

Have An Interest-Free Christmas

admin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:21:46 +0000

Christmas can often be an expensive time of year with children demanding the latest must have toys and leaving you to pick up the bill. There increasingly seems to be pressure each year to create the perfect Christmas Day with beautifully wrapped presents, a house full of decorations and an endless supply of luxury food.

We all tend to be guilty of overspending to be able to enjoy the day and see the kids’ faces light up when they open their presents. However, giving everyone the perfect Christmas comes at a cost that we usually end up having to pay long into the New Year.

If you have spent up on your credit card and are paying back interest on all your presents, you may want to consider a balance transfer credit card with zero percent interest as many lenders will offer this promotional rate for at least 12 months giving you plenty of time to pay it off. This is a great way to have an interest free Christmas and allows you to pay for all the presents throughout the year and then start again next holiday season.

For example, let’s compare credit cards and look at a scenario where you are paying interest on a standard 18 percent APR credit card against transferring a balance to a zero percent card.

If you were to treat loved ones this Christmas to a PlayStation 3 with Kinnect you could probably expect to pay around £250 for one. If you were charged interest across the 12 months it would cost you around an extra £25 for this present as opposed to using a zero percent balance transfer card. If you splashed out on an iPad 2, prices go up to £659 for these. Again, interest across 12 months would be around a further £66 on top of the original price. If you think of all the presents that you will buy this year for everyone, these additional interest costs on top of each gift would soon add up. Credit cards are a great way to buy presents as you gain additional rights through the credit card company and protect all your Christmas purchases.

Any purchases that you make with a credit card between £100 and £30,000 are protected under the Consumer Credit Act, safeguarding all your Christmas presents and ensuring no one is disappointed. This ensures that if you discover that any of your Christmas presents paid for with the credit card are faulty, do not arrive or are not what you originally ordered, then the credit card company is also liable. If you contact the company firstly for a refund and have no joy, your credit card company will attempt to resolve the matter and you will receive a full refund through them for the goods.

It makes financial sense to transfer your spending to a balance transfer card with a promotion period of zero percent. Why spend more than you need to. Christmas is expensive enough! Article written by Sam, credit card expert at moneysupermarket.com. Go online to compare deals from a number of credit card providers.

5 Tips for Organising a Holiday Cookie Exchange

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:40:04 +0000

A holiday cookie exchange can be such a fun way to spend the holidays with close friends. After all, what could be better than getting together to exchange a bounty of fresh baked cookies? If you want to host a cookie exchange, there are a few things that you should know. Here are just five tips for organizing a holiday cookie exchange.

Start Early

You should plan to host the cookie exchange at least two weeks in advance. This gives everyone time to get the ingredients together and bake the cookies. If you’re pressed for time, a week will do, but don’t expect gourmet cookies on such a short notice. You should also take count of how many people are coming so that everyone bakes enough cookies.

Make a List of Who’s Making What

To ensure variety at the exchange, you should make a list of each type of cookie your guests are bringing. This way you don’t end up with 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Encourage guests to bring their favorite new recipe. This way people are more likely to stir away from the classics.

Purchase Festive Containers

While people can choose to pre-package their cookies at home, it’s nice for the host to provide festive containers so that everyone can gather up the cookies they want at the party. This also gives everyone a chance to munch on a few cookies while packaging up their favorites. There are a number of containers you can purchase with festive themes including zip top bags, cardboard containers, disposable plastic containers and even treat bags.

Provide Entertainment for the Exchange

It’s nice to visit with friends during the exchange, but it’s also nice to listen to Christmas music, watch your favorite Christmas movies or maybe enjoy a small holiday meal. Regardless, the evening should be more than just a quick exchange. Enjoy each others company.

Consider Serving Cocktails

Cocktails are always a welcome addition at any Christmas party. Best of all, there are a number of delicious Christmas cocktails to choose from. Whether it’s hot chocolate spiked with peppermint Schnapps or candy cane martinis there a number of delicious cocktails that will pair beautifully with cookies.

A cookie exchange is a fun way to get together with friends during the hectic holiday season. After all, what could be more relaxing than cookies and cocktails? Best of all though, you only have to bake one batch of cookies and will end up with several different varieties to munch on.

About the Author: Amy Brantley loves writing about food and entertainment and enjoys helping others plan holiday events. She cautions that you should use care when serving cocktails at a holiday party, especially since some people are counting alcohol calories and others may simply lose track!

Surviving Christmas; Christmas Shopping Made Easy

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:32:23 +0000

Christmas Shopping Tips

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year where families are brought together and we remember all we have to be grateful for. There is the large Christmas lunch and for the children and some adults a rather large emphasis is placed on the present giving process. From young to old, we exchange gifts that are immaculately wrapped in Christmas color wrapping, sometimes very stressfully attained through our Christmas shopping antics. That is the downfall of Christmas and over 40% of UK based people say the Christmas shopping is the worst of it.

Some of us will plan strategically from the tree buying to present choosing and even to organizing an amazing New Years Eve bash on a New Years Eve party boat. There are the few of us, that when think of Christmas shopping are only plagued with daunting thoughts. For those few, we are going to make this special but crazy time that much easier and give you some important points to staying focused and sane when taking on the Christmas shopping stores and some extra help if you are doing it late.

Make a list

Lists are a great way of organizing your Christmas shopping. Know who you are buying gifts for and if hosting any celebrations, make a list of all the essentials you would need to be the perfect host.

Categorize your list

Split the children, adults and your significant other into separate sectors, this will help with going to the desired section of Christmas shopping stores that will offer exactly what you are looking for. Also categorize your food and goodies list if hosting a Xmas eve dinner or lunch.

Comprise a timetable

For the very unorganized and for the people who are participating in late Christmas shopping, this is a great way to keep your wits about you. Evaluate the amount of stuff you still need to purchase and the amount of time you have left.

Choose your shopping destinations

There will be the Christmas shopping for the children, your love and the crazy aunt, evidentially the gifts will differ from one to the other so specific Christmas shopping stores will suit the different gifts being selected and bought.

Be decisive

Being decisive will be to your total advantage. There is nothing worse than browsing your Christmas shop and taking forever to decide and select one gift. When choosing a gift for your family, make the decision the final one. From buying the Xmas tree to organizing an innovative Xmas day on Thames party boats, keep focused.

Online shopping

Even though the Christmas shopping hours will be extended during this time, online shopping could be a viable and intelligent option to beat the crowds and help with avoiding late night Christmas shopping. It’s all available on the net so why not utilize this helpful tool.

This time of year is truly special, so why let Christmas shopping put a damper on the beautiful feel in the air. We hope these simple but informative points help you out. Merry Christmas.

Dave Tucker loves Xmas time but hates Christmas shopping. This article will help you keep your wits about you when spoiling the family.

Finding the Right Gifts for Men

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:58:02 +0000

A Few Gift Ideas For Men

Some men are hard to buy for… really hard to buy for. If he doesn’t collect something (hopefully something that isn’t too expensive), it’s pretty tough to get a gift that he will really appreciate. If he’s a nice guy, he will thank you, and he will be sincere, at least in terms of his appreciation of your effort. But you can probably tell eventually if he doesn’t really like it. Since the holidays are coming up, I figured that I would try to help people out by throwing in my two cents about buying for guys.

It may be a stereotype, but most guys do appreciate practical gifts. By practical, I don’t mean necessarily work related. Think in terms of lowering stress and making his life easier. That’s practical. If you know of a task he grumbles about, try to find something that will make that task easier. Even better yet, try to find something that makes the task unnecessary, at least temporarily. If he hates washing the car, get a gift card for a car wash. If he doesn’t like doing dishes, buy him a dish washer (that’s kind of expensive sometimes, but you get the idea). Most guys don’t like to cook, so restaurant gift cards are almost always a good idea. Once again, everyone is different, but I think most guys are not offended by gift cards. For sentimental types, gift cards may seem like a cop-out, but most men tend to like things that are simple and make their lives easier. They have enough to worry about. Give the gift of peace of mind. This is good for the old “coupon” concept too. You can give a card that is good for mowing the lawn, taking him out for beers, spending a day helping with a home improvement project, or something like that.

When it comes to actually buying a physical gift, my favorite gift to buy for close friends and relatives is an oscillating multi tool. Even guys who aren’t that big on “do-it-yourself” projects love these because, if they do have to work on something around the house, they are all set. One versa tool can turn an average Joe into a weekend craftsman in no time. The best part is that many men do not have these yet. Some don’t even know about them. They are multi-use power tools that can do the job of over a dozen different tools, depending upon the blades you put into them. This one tool can act as a wood saw, electric scraper, grout remover, sander, polisher, metal cutter, and a bunch of other tools. It fills the first requirement of guy-gifts – make his life easier. It also makes your life easier, because the tool takes a ton of different blades. The blades are high quality, but they don’t last forever. That means that you can buy replacement blades as “stocking stuffers” over the years as he uses it and figures out which blades he like the best. Multi tool blades are pretty expensive if you buy the name brand ones, but you can find very high quality off-brand replacement blades on the internet that will work with any kind of multi use tool.

The one thing that I would urge you NOT to do is to try to “expand his horizons” through a gift. Stick with what you are pretty sure will work. Please do not get the guys in your life gifts that you think are “good for them” if you think they will be resistant “at first.” This never goes well. If the guy you are buying for is a workaholic, don’t get him a day at the spa. He will hate it. If you want to help him to relax, either get him something that you already know relaxes him, or get him something that will help him to do his work with less stress. If he is into football, don’t get him ballet tickets because you think he needs to be more cultured. Maybe he does, but gifts are supposed to be about making people happy, not forcing them to change. Get him football tickets for his birthday or Christmas, and then talk to him in the off season about checking out the ballet.

The author is an English Professor and knows the value of a quality gift.

Park.tv – Christmas Savings 2012 made simple

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:23:45 +0000

If you find that budgetig and saving up for Christmas turn out to be a bit of a nightmare and your good intentions fall by the wayside the you may wish to let park.tv hampers help you save towards your Christmas expenses.

How does park.tv christmas savings work?

You can order the park hampers 2012 catalogue now and they can help you put away your pennies for next Christmas.
Once you’ve saved up, shopping with them is really easy. You can order from their catalogue or online and choose from loads of different things such as gift vouchers, christmas hampers and of course children’s toys and gifts. So how do they make it so easy I hear you ask? Well you just pay them small regular instalments to suit you.
They’ll then deliver everything to your door while you have your feet up in time for Christmas.