Archives for December 2014

How to Declutter After Christmas

December 31, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Christmas is over and if your house is anything like mine you need to now make room for the new stuff.

It’s not even that we got a lot of stuff but I don’t want my things to collect. For instance, my husband received a really nice set of steak knives to replace the crappy ones we’ve been using for a few years. I could add the new knives to our cutlery drawer and forget about it but I’d rather not place things on top of things.

I also received new food storage containers. I don’t know how, but throughout the year I end up with mis-matched tops and bottoms. Opportunities like this allow me to go through them and recycle the ones I can’t use.

My mother kept everything and from that I think I inherited a very minimalistic mindset. If I don’t have any use for something, or will only use it a handful of times, I’d rather not own it. I want to limit the stuff in my small home and so every December and January I declutter and organize like crazy.

These are a few rules of thumb that I follow to help keep things organized in my home:

If you receive a gift that can replace something, get rid of the other thing. If it is still in good use, donate it but if it’s not worth keeping, toss it. I don’t need 16 steak knives, eight good ones will do just fine.
When putting Christmas decorations away, go through everything and throw out broken decorations and ornaments. Also it’s ok to not keep every single card that was ever given to you. My sister has kept every card, ever, and it sort of drives me crazy to go over and see all the clutter. Keep the special ones and toss the rest when the season is over.
While putting things away try to be organized about it. I packed all my Christmas decorations away very neatly and was able to get rid of two storage boxes in the process. This gave me room to store a new decoration that I received as a gift.
Look for areas to improve while putting things away. While I was putting some new DVD’s, I decided that I needed to compress our collection. As small as DVD’s are, after a while they consume a lot of space. Since my husband insists we keep them all I plan on organizing them in thin plastic DVD sleeves and getting rid of all the cases so we can store them in a small box instead of an entire media shelf. Looking around the home I can see many areas where I can compress things we already own to make more room.

Keeping things cleaned and organized make all aspects of your life flow better. It is a huge relief to not have to search all over the place for an object. I plan on using a few days of my Christmas vacation to get everything organized for the new year and start the year out with my best foot forward!

Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

plungedindebt.com

Should I Give into ‘’Elf on the Shelf’’?

December 24, 2014 | Leave a Comment

When my husband was a child he had this old tree ornament on his Christmas tree that was a gift from his grandfather when he live in Germany. It was a quirky little elf that his mom would use during the Christmas season to keep the kids in check.

‘’The elf is watching’’, she’d warn them.

My husband and his sister grew to love the weird little elf, and as an adult he wanted one of his own, for our family tree. Then a little phenomenon called ‘’Elf on the Shelf’’ started.

While it isn’t the exact same thing, it’s sort of similar. We have tried to find a small elf ornament like my husband had growing up, always coming up empty handed. After all, his was purchased by his grandparents in the country with a mecca of all things Christmas. Until ‘’Elf on the Shelf’’ started in North America, elves weren’t a very popular Christmas decoration as a whole. I see way more Santa’s and Snowmen than I do elves, even to this day.

I think I am the only one of my friends and family, with a child, who is not yet partaking in the ‘’Elf on the Shelf’’ phenomenon. Most of me thinks it’s weird and creepy, while part of me thinks it could be really fun. I don’t know if we should give in and buy one for next year or not.

I struggle with using something like this as a ‘’threat’’. I expect my child to always behave well, not the last month of the year and not because an elf is watching her. So I don’t know in what manner I would use the elf if not for this reason? How would I explain his (or her) arrival and why they’re there if not to ‘’watch her’’?

The other issue I have is that I have friend who has children who have developed a huge fear of the elf. One little boy was having problems using the washroom thinking the elf was ‘’always watching’’. He was a bit better after mom explained he didn’t watch all of the time but it still instills a bit of a creep factor to me given that it is a physical presence in the house and not a hypothetical (like Santa).

In having said all this, I really love Christmas and the magic that kids bring to the season with their beliefs. I love seeing their eyes when you even speak of Santa and the sheer innocence that comes with it all. While part of me thinks this Elf capitalizes a bit too much on this unassuming innocence, part of me thinks we could have fun with it as a family. That, and it’s cheaper than flying to Germany in search of the perfect elf tree ornament!

So if you have an Elf do you like it or do you wish you’d never bought into the insanity? I want to hear everything before I decide if it’s worth buying into! Are you for or against the Elf on a Shelf?

Catherine

plungedindebt.com

How to Plan a Family Friendly Christmas Party

December 17, 2014 | Leave a Comment

While some people dread them, one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the parties. I love socializing with all of my favorite people at the same time. It’s a great way to reconnect and often reminds me to make a point of seeing some of these people more than once a year!

Hosting and attending parties pre-kids was easier I won’t lie, way fewer logistics to worry about. Remember that, generally speaking, only the people’s names on the invitation are those who are invited so if you receive and invite lacking your children’s name(s), it’s likely that it is an adult-only party so don’t ask if you can bring them (unless you know them well and think it was an honest oversight).

I personally enjoy parties where families can come. While a good adult-only night out is fun, Christmas is about celebration with family so my husband and I have made a point of hosting a great Christmas party that people of all ages can enjoy. We never want our friends and family to feel like they need to make a choice between their kids and a good time!

Here’s how to plan a family friendly Christmas party.

Start the party at a respectable hour

If your friends and family plan on bringing their children, especially young, it can probably be assumed they will likely need to leave early so to maximize time together, start the party at a decent time, late afternoon or early evening works best find. This gives guests their entire morning to themselves, and allows afternoon naptime for younger kids attending. Any time after 3-4pm usually works well.

Think of the kids when planning the menu

If you love calamari that’s great, but I don’t know many kids (regardless of age) who do. Try to plan a generally accepted menu. I personally prefer to do buffet style foods since this gives a large variety of food and most people can find something they like. I have distinct memories as a child attending these parties with my parents and me leaving hungry because I didn’t like anything beyond the cheese plate. Never again. If kids will be there, think of them!

Give the kids something to do

I remember one party in particular when I was a kid where the hosts set up a movie theater in their loft/attic. It was amazing. They had popcorn, treats and pillow for us. The age range of kids was probably 2-16 years and we all hung out looking out for each other watching Christmas movies. Last year my husband and I went to the local dollar store and bought the kids at our party each a coloring book and box of crayons, this way they were all with us but hung out together coloring in each others books (we bought them all different ones and let them decide). It cost us less than $10 and was a huge hit with parents.

Considering hiring a babysitter

Though this was something I don’t think I would ever do, my sister was recently hired to be a babysitter at someone’s party (whom she didn’t know). She replied to a public add looking for someone to help. There was a large party going on (100+ people) and they wanted an adult supervisor for a kids room they set up at the event, about 15 kids of all ages. She stayed for five hours, made some extra money and basically just made sure the kids were safe and not bugging the adults too much. The room also had some cribs/beds/highchairs for use.

I personally sort of enjoy the insanity of having the young kids run around high on sugar they stole, the older kids usually finding a spare television and everyone being together under one roof!

How do you make your parties kid-friendly?

Catherine

plungedindebt.com

3 Ways to Pay for Your Christmas Expenses

December 10, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Christmas can be a very expensive time of year. For most, waiting until November to deal with all the impending expenses won’t work and cause undue stress.

The easiest way to manage Christmas expenses for most is to start early. That is, immediately following Christmas! Yet after saying this, I find most people have a hard time thinking about the following Christmas before this one is even finished but arguably the easiest way to manage your Christmas cash is to set aside the money every month beginning in January.

An alternative is that you actually buy presents every month until December by taking the number of people you have to buy for and divide by 12. I have done both and personally prefer to save the cash every month.

Here are some other ways you can keep Christmas from blowing your budget.

Sell your stuff.

Opening an account where you can save any extra money is a great way to not interrupt your daily cash flow and still save for Christmas. Again if you start early and save year-round you may be surprised how much extra money you can come up with, especially if you hold a yardsale(s) in the warmer months!

Get a second job.

Though I never actually did this, plenty of my friends did. They would pick up a seasonal job that allowed them to bring in extra money and get discounts at some of their favorite stores. Conversely I had a friend who would get a second job at her favorite clothing store every year and buy almost her entire year wardrobe during her employment there, saving all of her clothing spending money year-round for Christmas.

Use extra paychecks.

My husband and I are paid bi-weekly but budget monthly. This means there are two months of the year where we’re actually paid more. Rather than budgeting this extra money in our monthly cash flow we opt to use it for one-off expenses, Christmas being one of them. One of our pay-periods is October or November depending on when payday falls and of that extra pay we take out our extra money and use a portion of it for our Christmas expenses. While this works well for us I understand it’s not for everyone! Point in case, we won’t be completing our shopping until middle of December this year. For some that may stress them out but we’re so used to it we’re both very organized and are able to go out in one to two trips and get everything accomplished.

Whatever method you use to pay for your Christmas expenses, the point is that you do whatever you can to limit stress on you and your family. Please also remember that not doing gifts can also be perfectly acceptable and don’t be afraid to suggest it!

Though I prefer our current method to all other suggested I’m curious to know how other people manage Christmas expenses. Where I’d rather not even think about it until at least November I feel like most people in my life prepare year-round, what do you do? Do you use different ways to pay for your Christmas expenses?

Catherine

plungedindebt.com

Why I’m Asking for Cash for Christmas in Lieu of Gifts for My Daughter’s

December 3, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Christmas is fast approaching and almost every day I get phone calls and text messages asking about gifts for our daughter. Everyone wants to buy her something. Friends, grandparents, cousins, neighbours. She’s only two and half years old! There isn’t much of anything she actually needs and really she’s still too young to know if she wants anything. While we as parents can get away with it (i.e. before she’s old enough to ask for stuff) we’re asking that people limit or exclude physical gifts for her.

We as her parents take care of her wants and needs and I think we do a pretty good job. She has all her needs taken care of and more than enough ‘’extras’’ in her life in the form of toys, books, treats and special events. Selfishly I don’t want a house overrun with her toys and ‘’stuff’’ either. I think it’s important to keep the level of ‘’stuff’’ she’s surrounded with at a realistic level. While I accept that people like to buy things for her, she doesn’t need much and so I would rather have the cash instead.

Cash for Christmas

With a cash gift, instead of another stuffed animal or doll, we can do more for her. First we could invest it her post-secondary savings account. I would much rather have $20 invested for the next 16 years than a toy she’ll play with for a few days which we’ll then end up donating or throwing away depending on its condition. We could also put it towards a special event or experience for her. This coming year we have plans to enroll her into a few dance classes for example. I would rather see her experience something new and exciting that can really help form her as a child than a simple toy she won’t have much interaction with.

I’m not a total scrooge. I understand that for her toys are fun and we will be buying her some new fun toys and books to play with but if I allowed everyone person who has inquired our house would be littered with too much stuff. Too much stuff can lead to unnecessary expectations for her too. I don’t want her growing up with extreme Christmas expectations either. Gifts, though fun, are not the main focus of the season.

In me explaining that we would rather have cash (and/or books) in lieu of gifts has been very well received by people who have inquired. Once I explained what our plan was and why we wanted to limit the volume of gifts she got people seem more than happy to give cash in her name instead (one less gift for them to buy too!). People loved the idea of contributing towards something much ‘’larger’’ in terms of post-secondary or experience such as her dance classes. I have also accepted that some people (aunts and grandparents) genuinely enjoy buying things for her and that’s ok, as long as they don’t go too crazy 🙂

It is too easy to go overboard this time of year. I don’t want people feeling like they need to get her anything and if they do I just want to give the option of contributing to something more.

How do you manage request and gifts for your children for Christmas?

Catherine

plungedindebt.com

How to Get Your Christmas Shopping Done in One Day (Plus $500 Giveaway!)

December 1, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Do you hate the thought of shopping for almost a month? Would you rather get all of your shopping done in one day?

If so, you’re in luck!

You can not only get all of your Christmas shopping done in one day but you can also save a ton of money while doing it. Here’s how to get started.

Know Who You’re Shopping For

To make things as easy and as stress free as possible you have to know who you’re shopping for, what kind of gifts they would love, and how much you can spend.

Start with your gift recipient list, a few gift ideas, and a budget.

Once you have that mapped out you’re ready to get down to business!

Shop Online and Do This…..

With your list right beside you visit Chippmunk to begin your shopping.

Once you visit the site you’ll see this:

Now you can choose a retailer, department, and budget for the first person on your list. Once you enter that information Chippmunk will pull up all the deals that fit your criteria. You can not only get great deals by doing this but you’ll also be able to get more gift ideas! This is especially great if you were stumped for ideas to begin with.

Use Online Promo Codes

Don’t buy anything online without first looking for a promo code. During this time of the year all of the retailers are majorly competing so you better believe that there’s a coupon code for you to use!

You should also look for retailers offering free shipping.

Get Your Shopping Done in One Sitting!

Really it’s not that hard to get all of your Christmas shopping done in one sitting. As long as you have your list right beside you all you need is an hour or two to scope out deals. The best part is you don’t even have to leave your house.

Win a $500 Visa Gift Card!

And now, to make your money go farther we’ve partnered with Chippmunk to give one lucky winner a $500 Visa gift card!

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and will end at 12:00 am on 12/15/14. You can enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter widget below and the winner will be chosen at random. See the rafflecopter for terms and conditions for more info.

Good luck and Happy Cyber Monday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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