A fun, messy Christmas treat!

I saw this idea in a magazine (and of course I can't remember which one it was now to give credit where it is due) and we tried it out yesterday.  Very simple and fun.   All you need are cone-shaped ice cream cones, frosting, and sprinkles or whatever decorations you want that can stick to frosting. 

Add green food coloring to make the frosting nice and green.  Decorate as you wish with sprinkles, etc.

Here is Chad with his finished Christmas tree.  He says it was very yummy!!

A debt-free Christmas!

It's the worst feeling to go into credit card debt buying Christmas presents!  I don't know about you, but with the way the economy has been the past few years, our salaries are shrinking more each year with budget cuts and increases in insurance premiums, etc.  We've cut back a lot. The best way to handle Christmas is to put away a little money every month.  We've tried that.  Then guess what happens?  The car breaks down or there is a dental emergency. Gone is the Christmas savings. 

In mid-2010 I started trying something different.  This year (2011) was my first full year of using this method, and I think it was a success!!  Here's what I did:  I am signed up on several survey sites and sites where you collect points in exchange for money or gift cards.  I also scan all my purchases for Nielsen. All year I took every opportunity I could, and as I redeemed points for gift cards I tucked them away for Christmas.  I only got cards to places I knew I would use, like Amazon and Target.  I also used the Target promotion when they would have something on sale that we use, and I had coupons for it as well (often both Target and mfg coupons), and if you bought a certain amount during the sale week you would get a $5 gift card.  I did this all year with toilet paper and paper towels, as well as a few other things. By the end of November, I had just over $300 in money and gift cards!!  I was SO excited!!

My husband and I don't usually do gifts for each other for any occasion, including Christmas (except cheap stocking stuffers). After almost 23 years of marriage we both know we love each other, we both hate wasting money, and would rather put that money away for ours and our kids' futures. It just works for us.  This year we made gifts for our parents, and we are also making our neighbor gifts which will be a minimal cost.  So, getting a handful of neices and nephews a little something, our homemade presents, and then with our three kids, $300 was plenty of money for gifts!  We don't go crazy on big expensive gifts for our kids, and everyone is still just as happy!  Another lesson learned from years of experience.

A word of warning:  You may think all these surveys and clicking on things would be very time consuming.  It isn't. Maybe 3-5 hours a week at the most.  But-I must say at this point I am a bit burned out, and I'm taking a break from surveys.  I will be back at it soon though!

Here are some of the companies I've been using.  These are all companies that I have used all year, and have received gift cards/prizes from them all, so I know they are legit. They worked for me, hopefully they will for you too!

Swagbucks  (I have a button on the right sidebar you can click as well)
MyPoints
Valued Opinions
MySurvey
Synovate
e-rewards
Campus Fundraiser Surveys
Mills Advisory Panel
Nielsen Homescan
Recyclebank

I just joined JD Power and Associates, they are taking applications now.  I've heard good things about them.  I've been trying forever to get into Pinecone, but never fit the criteria they need.

*I will not get any compensation for you clicking on the above links, with the exception of Swagbucks.  If you go through my link, I will receive bonus points*

I also want to stress requesting free samples as there are many that could be stocking stuffers, or just use them to save a little more money toward your savings goal!

I have tried many survey/points websites, and some I didn't care for. There are so many out there!  Some are hard to get into (Pinecone!).  Have you had any success with survey/points websites? 

Well, that's how we paid for Christmas this year.  Of course presents are fun, but  I want to make sure my family remembers and focuses on the real reason for this Christmas season: our saviour, Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year!

January 3, 2011-My first post of the New Year.  I'm hoping to post more this year, I'm thinking shorter but more often.  This past year I've linked up with several encouraging homeschooling Moms who blog, and they have been an inspiration. 

Our holidays were nice and quiet-ahhhh.  We of course would have loved to spend them with our families in California or Minnesota, but it didn't work out this year again.  Times are tough and it is expensive for a family of five to travel!  So, it was just the five of us.  Nick came home from school in mid-December for a 2 1/2 week break!  He just went back to Clearfield last night.  It is looking like he may finish up his certification within the next month or so, then hopefully a job and an apartment will be next for him. 

So, today was back to the regular routine of homeschooling and activities.  I didn't make any resolutions this year, just loose ideas of what I'd like to do better.  With chronic illness, I think I beat myself up enough throughout the year when I can't do what I planned to, so why make it worse on myself with resolutions?  Some things I"d like to improve this year are:

Food/menus/meals: I already started this last year, and I've done pretty well.  I'm trying to make home cooked dinner from scratch most nights.  We stopped eating fast food (except for the occasional big treat) a few years ago, and aside from frozen pizza and leftover nights, I'm trying to not use any prepackaged, processed foods for our dinners.  I'd love to make out menus far in advance, but I buy each week based on what is on sale, so it doesn't work out well to plan too far ahead. 

Budgeting/couponing: I'd like to get a tighter reign on our budget, and keep better track of my savings using sales, rebates, and coupons. I don't want to have to use Credit cards at all (had a few emergencies last year that we had to), and work on using Dave Ramsey's plan to pay down debt and increase savings.  I'd also like to completely pay for Christmas gifts with earnings of gift cards, etc. from rebates, surveys, points earned in various programs.  This past year, I earned about $200, which was just a little short of my goal of covering everything. 

Exercise:  This is a very vague one.  I'm really not supposed to exercise in any way, except pool therapy, which is too expensive. The fear is all the hardware in my neck and upper back and base of skull-there is just way more than there should be, and the neurosurgeon worries something will break.  But, I can handle very short walks or pedaling a stationary bike for short bursts.  So, I'm going to try to do that more often.  My semi-regular diet of steroids puts on about 5 lbs. each round, and in the past few years I've gained about 25 lbs. from my normal weight.  That may be a losing battle, but who knows? 

Reading/Bible: I want to continue reading more and watching TV less.  I'll continue reading one fiction book at the same time as at least one non-fiction book (mostly bible studies).  I also want to spend more time in the bible this year, and I think I'm off to a good start!  I'm participating in The Bible in 90 Days!

Today was the first day.  I'm on a team of several other women and one man, many of us are homeschooling moms. Many have blogs. Some are living in other countries-China and Africa are where two participants live. We have a mentor, who is encouraging us and I'm enjoying getting to know her as well. We check in with each other and are getting to know each other along the way. It is a lot of reading to get this done in 90 days, so obviously not much 'studying'.  What I'm looking to get out of this, aside from reading through the bible completely, is to make a better habit for myself by spending a large chunk of time daily in the bible.  I'm really excited about this!

That's all I can think of at this time, not that there isn't a lot more rolling around in this head of mine!  This year should be an exciting one in our family, with lots of changes, especially for our oldest two, Nick and Alyssa, as they navigate these older teen/young adult years!