Home Depot Kids Workshop January 2, 2010

This looks like a great projet for the kids and  to get the details and find the closet location click here

This is for ages 5 -12 and is offered on The first Saturday of the month. the time it is offered is 9am – noon. Please go to their site for more details and a location near you.

Looks like a fun craft this month, Candy

Free Book Download January 4, 2010

To get everyone on track for the New Year, AOL’s Personal Finance Site WalletPop.com is hosting a free 24-Hour download on Monday, January 4 of new book — “Start Over, Finish Rich” — by Bestselling Financial Coach David Bach.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. EST on Monday, January 4, 2010 visitors to WalletPop will be able to download a pdf file of Bach’s book by simply clicking on a button. The book giveaway will last until midnight on the 4th.

Wow, Thank you David Bach and Walletpop

Job and small Children can work

This week I had a great talk with my niece Sam. She is the  single mother of 3 small boys. She would like to find a job and needed some ideas.Here are somethings I thought of so she doesn’t have to pay a sitter and use the money she makes.

• When my children were little I was a back up babysitter. This gave me a few extra dollars here and there and it really helped out.
• Scraping metal– Our boys wanted cable when they were younger and it wasn’t in the budget. We bought 5 small garbage cans at the dollar store decorated them and wrote cans on them and asked some of our neighbors if they would save them for us. We didn’t make millions, but it sure did help.
• Respite Care- This isn’t just helping the dying. It is giving help to a caregiver that may need a well deserved break. I help do this myself. The man I help is 86 and he is the caregiver his wife is 83 and has Alzheimer. I stay with her so he can get out. I paint her nails,  brush her hair, do some laundry , the things that will help him. I love this job and I get the most precious stories.
• Make money doing the things you do already. Grocery shopping, laundry and errands. Why not do yours along with someone else.

You may say well that is all good and well, but how do I find the jobs.

1. Networking! Let people know what you are doing.
2. Some business have bulletin boards make a flyer.
3. Make flyer and take the kids for a walk around the neighborhood and stick them in the doors.

If you have any ideas please do share. Have a get weekend and God’s blessings, Candy

Kids + Christmas break = Stress

Well for me our kids today is the last of school. I have heard from friends with small children they are going crazy already and we are one day into their children’s break. I thought of somethings to do while they are home and maybe you would like to add a few.

• One of my favorite and free is your local Library.Find some Christmas books, craft or Christmas videos. They do have limited hours due to recent cuts, but they kids will love it. Free activity
• Were I live we have a great Art Museum and you just pay for parking.
• Make family original ornaments– We make a Huner original ornament each year and give them to family as a gift. My mom wouldn’t care if that is all she would get. and they ones from they were young are my very favorite.
• We are making a Gingerbread house this week. I cheated a little and bought a kit at Kroger for a little over $7. I have always wanted to make one with the kids and decided this is the year.
• Make cookies together and  deliver to family and friends.
• Take a drive and see how many Christmas decorations you can find. We love to look at Christmas lights in the evenings. I am always amazed the love and time people put into their decorations.
• Break out the craft supplies and let them make a piece of art so you can get some activities done you need to get done.

OK your turn. God’s Blessings today, Candy

Walmart $30 Holiday Dinner

Walmart has a Holiday dinner for $30 this is where you buy these items and when you checkout you will only spend $30.

Holiday Entertaining

Walmart’s $30 Christmas feast for eight starts with family favorite ingredients, including*:

• One 10-pound spiral cut half-ham
• Three 8-ounce cans Del Monte Green Beans
• One 10-pound bag of Russet potatoes
• One 12-count package of Sara Lee dinner rolls
• One 10 inch Pumpkin Pie

I know for the Thanksgiving meal there was a little confusion that they were cooked and ready to go or the meals were all in a box like Angel food. You need to find all the items listed and then when you checkout you should only spend $30. Also check your areas Walmart listing to make sure all the items are the same as my area.

Have a blessed day, Candy

Families Coping

For those who didn’t get to see our Families Coping last night.

Have a great day, Candy

Money Saving Christmas ideas

This past few months I have been extremely busy so I haven’t been posting as much as I would like so I am sorry for that. This Christmas season I have been thinking about simplifying my life a little more. I am finding that when I am so busy I don’t take the time for my coupons and quick trips to the store really add up and I need to get back on track!

Here are some ideas I had last year and a few new added:

– Gift Cards: My parents always love Gift cards but, this year with many stores closing I will need to be aware of the financial state of each restaurant. Many schools and Churches have a program called Scrip where you buy different cards at that location and the school or church gets a cut.

– Homemade Gift Cards– In my Sunday school class we make homemade gift certificates. Mind you they are only three but they love to come up with ways to help Mommy or Daddy. Example: Gavin will help do dishes, 1 free hug, Make my bed and we make a cover for them and staple them together.

– Gift of Time: I clean houses for a living and I have given my mom a gift certificate for a free cleaning and when she had a party it helped her out and me because it was just the cost of a little time and gave my mom time to work on other things.

– White Elephant: On my husband side we always have a white elephant and we have a max and minimum amount you can spend and you only buy one per person. The first year we tried this we had such a wonderful time laughing and enjoying each other. Here are the rules if you would like to try this year.

– Time Together: This year on my husband side we aren’t exchanging gifts because last year there was 42 people and the exchange took 2 1/2 hours and we really didn’t get to visit. We are opting for time together this year.

– Gift exchanges: when you pick a name out of the hat and you only buy for that person. This way everyone gets a gift and you can stay in your budget.

– Host a Cookie Exchange: This is a great way to get a variety of cookies with the minimum of effort. You have to make a set amount of cookies and your guest make the same amount and you each get 1 dozen of each. This would cut baking of varieties and cost of all the different ingredients. I found a great site and here are the rules for a cookie exchange.

– Gift Baskets: This is one of my favorites. I would make a gift basket for my Mother in law of all her favorite things. She loved to take pictures. This would be a some of the things I would put in her basket; film, VCR tapes, batteries, photo album and maybe a picture frame. She also loved the lottery so I would add a few tickets.

– Homemade Ornaments: We have made Huner Originals for about 17 years. We make one style of ornament each year and give them to Grandma, Aunt and Uncles. I think my mom would be happy if that is all she got, she looks forward to them every year. What is neat about this idea is we have one special ornament for each year.

Have a great day, Candy

Homemade Gift Tags

Good Morning! I don’t know why I am shocked each year when Christmas is coming. We have been so busy working that I don’t have a tree yet, no cards ready, cookies, well that is another story. This weekend is going to be full-out Christmas mode.

Here is an idea I have heard for years, but now I see how cute they are. Gift tags from old Christmas cards. Yesterday, when I was cleaning at the church. A little box with a sign that read for faculty and staff enjoy! There in the box was homemade gift tags made with love by an 80 something sweetie. Here are the ones I took.

What I liked and made them more special is inside she wrote To and From not on the back of the gift tag, but on another piece that was cut along with the card.

All The time she took what a sweet gift. Have a blessed day, Candy

Lessons from Past

Many of us are so bogged down with all the stuff we need to do and then put the things we would like to do  on top of it and it just gets overwhelming. I don’t even have my tree up. We gave our tree to our daughter and have opted to get a real tree this year.  A few weeks ago I told my children I would like them to make each other something for Christmas, be it a good or service. You would have thought I told them they weren’t getting anything. So sad, but I am sticking to it and see what happens.

My grandma, Clara was born in 1910, she had 12 brothers and sisters. Clara told me this story and I thought I would share. Her and her twin sister were asked by their mother to run down to the shoe store to pick up boxes for their Christmas gifts. In those days for Christmas you received a shoe box with some fruit, nuts and a few pieces of Candy. Clara and Helen thought they would be smart and asked the shoe store owner for the biggest boxes they had and he gave them boot boxes. When they arrived home with these huge boxes their mother was not pleased. Clara said “she whipped their butts and sent them back for smaller boxes!” Can you imagine having 12 children and the stress she felt when she saw those big boxes?

Another story was how Clara and her sister received roller skates for Christmas, one pair for them to share. Clara would wear one skate and Helen the other. Hold on to each other so they could both wear them. I can picture this sweet moment between sisters making due with their circumstances.

Randy’s Dad, Eldor grew up on a farm and he also received a shoe box with goodies for Christmas. One year was a particularly good year and he received a wheel barrel. He and his brothers used it playing until Spring when his dad needed it for farming. He said then he lost his wheel barrel.

I think we need to slow down and enjoy the season and the true meaning. In the book *Unplug the Christmas Machine is the suggestion of each week of Advent to send a letter to someone who has changed your life. Have you really thought about those who have changed us in some way. This week I want to really think about those who has changed my life.  I want to simplify my Christmas and enjoy those who are in my life. Enjoy and do not stress about everything.

Have a blessed day, Candy

* Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli.

Advent Gathering

Tuesday was our Advent gathering at Church. The women in our church have an evening out to prepare our hearts and minds for the Christmas season. Each hostess has a table and they get to decorate it anyway they would like. I have to say it is such a joy to see all the different ideas. I hosted a table this year with my niece Angie and like me she is also frugal. We wanted a simple, but elegant table. Everything we used was inexpensive  from the dollar store or free.

Our theme was the legend of the sand dollar and if you haven’t heard it Here is the link with pictures so you can see. I am thinking this may have been the first time for sand, driftwood and shells to be used but I bet it won’t be the last. Have a blessed weekend and remember the reason for the season, Candy