No Christmas presents?
Don’t feel guilty! I didn’t know how else to start this post except to just say it. Are you feeling guilty that this Christmas with money a bit tight, you’re not going to be able to buy the kind of gifts your kids want? Or you can’t afford that vacation or the tickets to Disneyland? [...]
Make Gingerbread Friends for Christmas
I am so excited! Tomorrow my daughter will be coming home from college for 3 weeks of Christmas vacation! Christmas holidays gives many natural opportunities to spend time together with our children. My younger daughter and I went Christmas shopping for her friends today. We wrapped Christmas presents together with Christmas music in the background. [...]
Teaching your children to budget for gifts
How do you help your children budget for Christmas gifts for their friends? What do you do when your children want to buy an expensive gift for a friend they don’t know that well? Is it ok to say, “You can’t spend that much on someone you don’t know that well.”? Does it sound like [...]
The holiday [not]rush
Can you imagine not being busy for the holidays? It’s almost sacrilegious. But this year, I am determined to take it easy. 1. Easy gifts. I am giving everyone Kiva gift cards. It’s good for me and good for the world. 2. Easy decorations. Hang up strands of of lights, everywhere, indoor and out. Lights [...]
Campfire without camping
In Southern California, we are really feeling “winter” fast approaching…with high of 83 degrees today. For the rest of those in the Northern Hemisphere, here is an inexpensive cool item to get for the holidays. Set up and clean up is easy. This makes a great family night for the holidays. Make a crockpot of [...]
Doing our part in alleviating poverty
My recent participating in Blog Action Day made me realize that if we all do a little, we can accomplish a lot. Poverty can be an overwhelming issue, but if we each do a little, we can indeed make a difference. One way to do so is to participate with The League. And it’s a [...]
Beginning of the holiday season
Beginning of November marks for me the beginning of the holiday season! What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Thanksgiving and Christmas? Food? Shopping? Stress? Celebrating the holidays is not merely for the food and fun even though we certainly look forward to those. Holidays are also an [...]
Blog Action Day – alleviating poverty
The holiday season is coming up fast – that gift-giving season of Christmas. Are the images of throngs of shoppers at the mall stressing you out already? What if I told you there is a meaningful gift you can give, without fighting crowds at the mall? What if I told you that this gift teaches [...]
Kids and the economy
Kids don’t know anything about the economy nor do they care. They could care less about unemployment, recession, or foreclosures. But kids should be very concern about the economy. Do they know that it has a great impact on their personal lives? Their family vacation, their college fund, the amount of Christmas gifts they get, [...]
Christmas “gifts” you don’t have to wrap
Would you like to give gifts that you don’t have to wrap? In fact, it doesn’t even cost you any money and it’s very meaningful! What can be better than that? Here they are: 1. Give a compliment. The cashier has been on her feet all day, and everyone in the long line is probably [...]