My husband and I have faced many lay-offs in the past twenty years; each time we hoped to learn something new so that we could help others in the future. Now is that time. As my we worked to “stay afloat” (the opposite of “going under”!) during lean times, I read every money-saving book and magazine on our library’s shelf--some things I’ve worked out for myself. Now that my husband has a steady job, we’ve continued many of these practices as a part of responsible living. In my posts, I’ll include ideas for different levels of need—stretching dollars when you still have some income and stretching even further (when you think you can’t) when the income is gone in hope of helping you hang on until you get some income. I’ll also address things we learned about attitudes—ours and those around us.

I invite you to comment with your money-saving ideas and accounts of what has worked for you, since community is one of our greatest resources. While I’m writing as an American in the framework of the American economy, I also invite those of you from other nations/peoples to share what you’ve learned about stretching resources since many things can be applied anywhere. (Do know that I will delete any comment that’s derogatory or has foul language.) Please share this blog with others who are stretching and help them keep from “breaking”.


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Stretching Christmas Dollars


It seems that no matter how one plans or budgets, Christmas costs a lot! I don’t do a lot of Christmas decorating but I always hang a wreath. Having worked several years in the floral industry with wreaths as my specialty (all year), I got spoiled with the wonderful materials available to me there. Long-leaved eucalyptus and pink pepper berries with orange kumquats are my favorite combination but alas, I no longer have an employee’s discount—even if I can find these specialties.

This year I decided to forgo the kumquats to save the three dollars (approx.),skip the eucalyptus and pink berries and go shopping in my “floral supply closet.” I found some picks of purple plastic berries and wired them with lotus pods I’ve had for ages and some loose orange blossoms. I keep all the wonderful package ribbons I receive—especially the French wire ones. This year I found some plum-colored French ribbon pieces that I added to an existing purple and gold bow. Did I learn to make bows in the industry? Until I thought my fingers would fall off!

I used to make my own greenery wreaths to save money—since I could. I’d buy a bunch of Christmas tree branches for about $4 and cut individual small branches, wire them together and attach them to a grapevine wreath form. A couple of years ago, I decided that I no longer enjoyed that process and bought a green wreath, adding my own touches. Now those have gone sky-high. Now I’m buying evergreen garland sold by the yard (sometimes a minimum yardage is required, so be wary) and attaching it to my grapevine form with ribbons and floral wire. Even the mixed variety I got this year (it turned out to cost more than the “plain”) cost half as much as a small wreath and I had some left over for a short garland by the door. The trade-off for making the wreath myself was spending several hours “creating” it. However, I think I’d rather spend those hours working in my cozy home than “fighting the crowds.”