favorite christmas gifts

It's very rare that I post twice in a single day but I really wanted to share with you two of my absolute favorite Christmas gifts that I received this year!!   I'm still giddy about them and can't stop telling friends about them!

The first one was from Mr. Steady and I hinted big time to him that I would like it.  Meaning:  I printed out the information and where he could order it and wrote, "I'll be sooooooooo happy if this is the only thing I get for Christmas!".  So, it was pretty much the only thing I got for Christmas from him and the boys and I WAS soooooo excited! 

What Mr. Steady gave me is this Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.  I've been taking pictures of everything the last few days trying to get used to it and learn more about how to work my camera on Manual versus the Green/Auto option!  I think it would be fun to do a 365 blog like The Frugal Girl's but am afraid it's too much of a commitment.   Maybe that can be a goal for the future?

My other favorite gift is equally special but actually much more thoughtful and it is very unique!  My sister gave me these 3 Letterpress state prints from 1Canoe2.  One day (soon I hope!) they will hang on my dining room wall and I will share a wonderful post about my horrible wall that has turned into something spectacular!  Each of the prints she gave me are states where my husband and I have lived...Texas (birth-2008), Virginia (1995-1996) and now Georgia (2008-present)!

I  received many wonderful gifts!  Lots of gifts that were wants and surprises and a few things that I needed but didn't want to spend money to buy for myself.  But if I had to choose 2, then these are my favorites!   

What about you?  
What are some of the favorite things you received for Christmas?

fiscal fast update

Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!!  yippee!  I am finished with my Fiscal Fast, although since I truly only FASTED for one of the 7 days, I should've called it a Fiscal Diet.  I definitely was more thoughtful, intentional and conscientious with my spending, but going 7 days without spending just didn't happen.

My last day of the Fast I left the house armed with a $100 bill.  {See what I mean about not fasting?!?}  I needed groceries and gas.  I went to Publix and got what I needed...I spent $37.69, but SAVED $43.57!  I was very excited!  I had coupons on this trip!  Then I went and put gas in Mr. Steady's truck...spent $50.  

Now, I've got about $12 left, right?  Earlier in the day, I'd received a note/promo code on my iPhone for $10 off any $10.01+ purchase at American Eagle.  bingo!  My oldest son wanted a bottle of their cologne the last time we were in that store, and of course I told him that would have to wait.  I decided that the cologne would make a perfect Christmas gift!  It was regular $32.50, marked down to $19.99, and with my $10 coupon I spent around $10.59.  So - I deviated from my Fast with the purchase, but it was a good deal and I've put it away to save for him for Christmas.

Here's the low-down on my 7 days:

Day 1: $73
Day 2: $48
Day 3: $87
Day 4: No Spend Day
Day 5: $62
Day 6: $16
Day 7: $98

Now - for the crummy news.  I have been keeping a running balance of what I have left of my $1678 "allowance".  Last night I had $960 left for the month.  Not bad!  I have a few big expenses that I know are coming up, but expected to have $397 left for groceries and gasoline.  This morning I found out that I had an American Express balance of $390 due by 8/24! 

Big.

Fat.

Bummer.

So, today I retackle this budget.  I'm determined to not use my credit card and to not move money over from savings. 

On a positive note, I finished my meal planning for the month and am able to use the food in our freezers for just about everything.  I'll need to buy a few things today to round out the meals, but I'm hoping to keep that cost around $100.  I'm shopping today and will let you know how I do.

A lot of numbers are swimming around in my mind today!

OMG!  I have to tell you this.  As I was downloading the above image,  I got a call from the mom of one my youngest son's friends saying that a birthday party invitation had been returned to her and that Jeff is invited to the boy's party tomorrow afternoon!  I had to laugh because Jeff would LOVE to go...and I have to figure out how to squeeze a bit more $$ for a gift.  

Suggestions for nice and inexpensive gifts?!?

shopping for christmas year-round

My Christmas shopping has begun!  Well. Sort of, anyway.   My husband went to The Masters last week and bought golf shirts for each of our Dads.   It's become a bit of a Christmas gift tradition.  Each year that he goes to The Masters, the grandfathers get a golf shirt for Christmas! 

Several years ago (well, probably more like a decade ago...) I used to buy Christmas gifts year round and would usually have everything purchased by October.  Then, the Christmas season came along and I would go out and shop some more because it's just fun for me to be out in the stores when they're decorated and the Christmas music is playing.  That would always lead to over spending.  Now, instead of looking for deals throughout the year, I just budget/save money and wait until the end of October or mid-November before I begin shopping.  I tend to stay on budget a bit more when I wait until the end of year to begin shopping, AND if I wait until Cyper-Monday, I can usually find some really good deals.  But...if there is something that I see during the year that I know someone will love and that I won't be able to purchase later (like the golf shirts), then I go ahead and pick it up and save it.

What about you?  Do you shop year round for Christmas gifts or wait until the Season is upon us?

forever 21

My birthday was this past weekend and the boys surprised me with a yogurt cake!  Because a bit of my frugality trickles down to them, instead of buying candles to put on top of it, they resued the number "12" candles from my oldest son's last birthday.  But they got creative...

From the mouths of my babes:
Oldest son says:  Mom...we wanted to make you think you're 21 again!!!
Youngest son says:  Mom...if you double the number, that's your real age!!!


And...my birthday surprise?!?

A digital SLR!!!!  I cannot even tell you how excited I was to get this!  I've been wanting this for many, many years!  Now...I just have to give myself some lessons and learn how to use it!

christmas cards

For the past two years I've spent way too much money on Christmas cards.  Even though we were working to become debt free and to build up our Emergency Fund, spending money on Christmas cards was one area where I splurged!   I normally purchased a designer brand 5x7 Christmas card where I could add my own picture to the front.  On the inside of the card, I had our names pre-printed and then would have a collage made up of our favorite pictures from the year and attach that to the inside of the card.  All said and done, our cards would be about $3-$4 each.  And that didn't include postage.  With 125 or so friends and family who we send cards to, that really was adding up.

After last year, we decided to scale back on how much we were spending on our cards.  I thought about not sending cards at all.  I thought about sending only 50 cards.  But...I have been spending some time working on projects at Shutterfly (that I'll share in a minute) and saw that they have some really cute cards that are very affordable!  After seeing what a great selection that they have this year, and seeing how much money we'll save by switching card companies, we've decided to order Christmas cards through Shutterfly.

I'm not sure which family picture we'll use, but here are some of my favorite designs.

What do you think?

Now I mentioned that I was working on some other Shutterfly projects too.  If you remember, we went on a award trip to the Dominican Republic this summer with my husband's company.  One of the awards given to the winners of the trip was a digital camera.  Everyone took pictures while they were on the trip and then the pictures were eventually shared with everyone.  But that was it.   They didn't go into frames and they certainly didn't go into an album.  Now...we usually give Christmas gifts to my husband's boss and another executive that works with DH.  I decided this year for Christmas to make and give these two families (both were on the trip) a photo book from our vacation.  It turned out great and was easy to do!  In fact, I think that each year I'm going to make and give them a photo book of our annual awards trip.

My other project that I have been working on is a 2011 calendar for each set of grandparents.   I've given them calendars for many years, but didn't realize how much they enjoyed these until I didn't give one to my father-in-law last year.  The day after Christmas, he asked me if I had made any and if I had extras because he'd like one.  He said it was his favorite gift each year.  So...I made sure I made one for him this year!

I was excited to get so much of my gift giving taken care of at Shutterfly.  Now, I just need to decide which Christmas card I want to order and which family picture I want to use.  As much as I already love Shutterfly, they sweetened the deal by giving me 50 free cards for this post. And since our Christmas card list has more than 50 people on it, I will be ordering even more cards from Shutterfly. Are you a blogger? Would you like to get some free holiday cards or invitations? Just go here.

a letter from mr. president

For my Grandmother's 92nd birthday I requested and received a Happy Birthday note from President Obama.  I didn't know that you could request a congratulatory note from the President for special occasions until 2001 when I was pregnant with my youngest son.  I requested a note after his birth and received one from President and Mrs. Bush.  My second request for a special note was this spring when I requested the letter above for my grandmother.  I sent my request in February for her April 12th birthday.  The note didn't arrive on time, BUT it did arrive during her birthday month.  I was very excited!!!  Two requests...two notes!  Not a bad record.

So, how do you get a VIP note for special occasions?

Here's the info...

The White House will send greetings to U.S. citizens only for special occasions, as outlined below.

• 
  
  Advance notice required.  Your request must be received four weeks in advance of the event date.  Every effort is made to honor every request, but there is no guarantee of a greeting if this guideline is not met.  (Greetings generally are not send after the event date, except for wedding congratulations and newborn acknowledgments.)
• 
  
  Anniversary greetings are extended only to those couples who are celebrating their 50th (and subsequent) wedding anniversary.
• 
  
  Birthday greeting cards will be sent only to individuals 80 years of age or older.  A special card is sent for those who reach 100 years of age.
• 
  
  Other greetings: A limited number of special occasions other than birthdays and anniversaries exist for which the Greetings Office will send appropriate recognition to U.S. citizens.  These include:

1. 
   
   Wedding (send your request after the event; include couple's married names)
2. 
   
   Baby's birth.  Send request only after baby's birth, include baby's date of birth, and full names and address of baby and parents
3. 
   
   Eagle Scout Award
4. 
   
   Girl Scout Gold Award
5. 
   
   Bar/Bat Mitzvah or equivalent occasion

The following information much be included in your request:

1. Name and home address of honoree(s)
2. Form of address (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., etc.)
3. Exact date of occasion (month/day/year)
4. Age (birthdays) or number of years of marriage
5. Your (requestor's) name and daytime phone number
6. Any specific mailing instructions if other than to honoree's address

Send your request to:

The White House Greetings Office

Room 39, Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20502

When should you expect your greeting?  "In most cases, greetings will be mailed from the White House approximately 10 days prior to the event.  If you have made a special delivery request, every effort is made to honor that request."  (Note...It took 4 1/2 months to receive my note after my son was born, and then I received my grandmother's note the month of her birthday)

So - next time you need to send a unique gift to someone consider requesting a letter from the President.  I think it makes a great memento (regardless of your political affiliations)!  The notes are free and if you wanted, you could frame for the honoree to hang on his/her wall! 

mother's day gifts

I'm curious to know what kinds of gifts you give your mother's and MIL's for Mother's Day?

I always try to find things and give things that I would enjoy receiving as a gift, and things that are fairly inexpensive because we don't budget a whole lot for gifts.  Our gifts for our moms this year are Janie's Cakes.  And they are delicious!  But I kind of feel guilty that I'm not buying something expensive because I know many people who give their moms very nice and very expensive gifts.  It makes me wonder if I'm in the minority on what people spend on their mothers.

I'd love your input.  What do you give your mom for Mother's Day?