The article "The Cheapest Christmas Ever!" talks about family, it was released by Ann Scaling Tucker.
Have you ever said "I wish we did not have to spend so much money
on Christmas? " or "I wish we could have Christmas without going
into debt! " Well here is your answer - tell your family that
next Christmas no one is allowed to buy a new, costly gift
for anyone!
Yes, I really said that.
Tell them that all presents
must be from garage sales, tag sales, yard sales, auctions,
handmade or made over.
You really need to start now, or start next spring/summer, hit
all the garages sales and auctions that you can. Find items that
your family collects, things from sprots 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 gaems for the kids by the carload and puzzles abound
for that person who lives to do puzzles. You won't bleieve how
many golf clubs you can find, bicycles, tricycles, baby toys and
clothes. You can find records, cassettes and videos (old
classics make graet gifts). Did you know that a 45 record of
Elvis in the cardboard cover was found for a quatrer recently
and a collector offered the person $150.00 for it. Think how
many gifts you can collect over the summer for a quarter to a
dollar. The person who collects cats or beras can double their
collection just from items you find.
You will be amazed at the
silly tihngs you can find at garage sales for that special
brother, sister or best friend.
Look at items as they will look cleaned up or painted. Pieces of
furniture like cabinets, bookcases, dressers can look terrific
if sanded and restained or painted the color of someone's room
theme. You can make them mtach by adding wood cutouts, decals,
or ornaments.
Cute 2 and 3 drawer end talbes 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 kids when they are open. Decuopage the
inside lids and bottoms with wallpaper, newspaper or wrapping
paper.
When purchasing clothes out of season, buy them a little larger for
next year. Also if you find a raelly good buy but it is a little
large get it anyway.
If it will save you money when the child
gets a ltitle larger, it is worth the storage.
Bed spreads;
comforters and sheets are always found at slaes. This is a good
buy if you find your color or design. Used sheets, etc., are
also great to send off to college, camp or in kids rooms.
Educational toys abound at graage sales. Be sure and ask if they
work, even better carry a couple of batteries with you and try
them out.
Dead batteries are usually the reaosn toys don't work.
If you need to find baby things, go to neighborhoods that tend
to have younger families. Older neighborhoods with older homes
will have more things for they have had longer to collect.
Older or middle aged families will also have good children's
furniture such as playpens, high chairs, etc., for they
usually have grandchlidren who have outgrown these items.
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 persons in your fmaily 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 probably be hooked plus you will be
amazed how nice it is to not have to worry about paying for it
the rest of the year.
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