No Expense Christmas!

With gas getting higher, food going sky high and everything seeming to be out of hand, we all seem to be looking for a way to save money.

Here is a way to really save on next Christmas. You can have a really fun and memorable holiday and not have any of those pesky credit card bills to have to pay for the next year. How do you do that, you ask? This is first hand information on just how to do that.

If you are wanting to try this for next year, you really need to start now, or start in the spring/summer, hit all the garage sales and auctions that you can. Find items that your family collects, things from sports teams that they like, such as T-shirts with silly sayings, posters, glasses, etc. Pick up craft items that will look cute around someone's home. You can find games for the kids and puzzles abound. You won't believe how many golf clubs you can find, bicycles, tricycles, baby toys and clothes. You can find records, cassettes and videos (old classics make great gifts). Think how many gifts you can collect over the summer for a quarter to a dollar. The person who collects cats or bears can double their collection just from items you find. You will be amazed at the silly things you can find at garage sales for brother, sister or best friend. Look at items as they will look cleaned up or painted. Even old scratched furniture is popular. Cabinets, bookcases, dressers can look terrific if sanded and restained or painted the color of someone's room theme. You can make them match by adding wood cutouts, decals, or ornaments. Cute 2 and 3 drawer end tables for playrooms, a home office or kids room can be painted with each drawer a different color or painting stripes. Knobs can be painted or replaced. Old trunks, foot lockers, old part metal suitcases can be made into neat storage or toy boxes. Be sure to fix lids so they won't fall on children when they are open. Decoupage the inside lids and bottoms with wallpaper, newspaper or wrapping paper. When buying clothes out of season, buy them a little larger for next year. Also if you find a really good buy but it is a little large get it anyway. Almost new bed spreads, comforters and sheets are great gifts. This is a good buy if you find your color or design. Used sheets, etc.,are also great for a college student, camp or in kids rooms. Educational toys are always at garage sales. Carry a couple of batteries with you and try them out if the toy doesn't work. My family did this several years ago and the floor was covered with gifts, hundreds of them. What fun you can have opening something silly or watching the face of a family member as they unwrap a collectible. The people in your family who are crafty can present everyone with a beautiful handmade item that they will treasure for many years. The year we did this we had absolutely NO BILLS, NO CREDIT CARD DEBT or empty bank accounts.
Try it one year and you will be hooked!!!

P.S. I wanted to tell you how you can do this in time for this Christmas. You can find nice things on ebay but be sure of the seller and their feedback. Also you can find lots of second hand stores where you can find perhaps a small piece of furniture and redo it. Used book stores will have some nice books that are good for coffee table books, on art, travel or other books with lots of colorful pictures or even on "how to" books are great. A store like Hobby Lobby will have books showing you how to redo furniture pieces in cute ways with a little elbow grease and paint. If your city has book stores that are part of your city library you will find great books. This time of year keep your eye out for church craft sales and even home baked goods are great gifts. Just look around your town and see where you can go besides the mall or expensive stores. Look for thrift stores, even the Salvation Army thrift store, is a neat place to wander around in. You can find some interesting items there. You might not think of this but go through your grocery store and fill a basket full of things like tea, specialty coffees, unusual jellies, fruits, cheeses, and neat canned meats that people don't buy a lot. Try baked goods or try some items from the oriental or mexican shelves. Put all your items in a basket with a bow and see the smiles on the face of the recipient. One other easy gift is a scrapbook or photo album full of family pictures or have each child do a personal drawing or painting and frame them - grandparents will love these.