Moneyzine -
December 2008 Issue
Frugal Holiday Season
Welcome to the December Issue of Moneyzine -  Transformyourmoney.com's monthly
E-zine, filled with information to help you have power and freedom with your
money, to create your life the way you want it to be!
Welcome to our new subscribers! We look forward to having you as part of our
community.
If you like this E-zine, please "pay if forward" (pun intended). Pass it
along to a friend or family member, they will thank you for it! To pass it on
just email them and ask them to look at "http://www.transformyourmoney.com/moneyzine-121508.html".
If a friend forwarded this to you, and you like what you read, please
subscribe by visiting..."http://www.transformyourmoney.com/money-management-tool.html"
Happy Holidays,
Melanie Fine, CPA
In this Issue
If you don't have time to read the whole newsletter, click on the topic that
interests you. This month you will find:
Thank you for reading the December Issue of Moneyzine.
This month I thought I would share a couple of thoughts regarding the upcoming
holiday season. The media is going crazy with the "current financial
crisis" and how spending on the holidays is down. However, with all the
"incidents" that are happening in the USA (i.e. Walmart employee trampled to
death while shoppers stormed in the store on Black Friday) and how busy the
malls are still, I will be surprised if that is the case.
I would expect that with gas prices
are lower then they were expected to be, people feel like they have more money
to spend on the holidays. I have included my article "5 Ways
to Save Money on Gifts Over the Holidays" in this months Moneyzine. enjoy
it.
Also check out our Funny of the
Month. And of course there are the new tips on
saving money. Please send me your ways to save money!
We are always looking for ways to improve the site. If you see any errors
or would like to contribute in any way, we invite you to contact us at the
Contact Us page.
Thanks for reading and enjoy this month's Moneyzine!
Till Next Month,
Melanie Fine, CPA
Go to Top
Article - 5 Ways to Save Money
on Gifts Over the Holidays
With the downturn of the global economy - at least that is what the media is
telling us - many people are looking for ways to cut holiday spending while
still having an amazing holiday season. Here are a few tips to help you save
money over the holidays.
1) Give Presents to Kids Only. Talk to
your family and friends and ask to only exchange gifts for the kids. Or buy
"family gifts" something the whole family can enjoy together like a board game
or DVD. I am sure your family and friends will be overjoyed to not have to buy
gifts for you too if they are feeling the strain of the economy. After all
Christmas is all about the kids!
2) Re-Gift Where Your Can. How many times
do you receive a gift that you don't know what you will do with. It may not be
your style, or you may have no use for it. Give it to someone else. This is
becoming more and more socially acceptable. You can make someone else happy and
save some money at the same time. The trick however is to remember who gave you
what, and to make sure that you don't re-gift it back to the person, or to a
person close to them. This may be seen as a faux paux. Think of re-gifting as
the gift of saving money from the original gifter!
3) Make a List and Stick to it. Make a
list of gifts you are going to buy - or price range you will spend on each gift.
Then stick to it. People tend to blow their holiday budget on last minute gifts
or things they didn't plan for. When you make a list and a budget and stick to
it, there are no surprises on the credit card bill in January. In fact use cash
and then you don't have to worry about the credit card bills in January at all!
Start early to avoid last minute desperation shopping!
4) Be Creative with Your Gifts. Do you
have a new mom to buy for? Give the gift of cleaning her house for her once a
week for a month. What about framing artwork or memories for a family member. If
you are a cook, create a book of your favorite recipes to give to over cooks.
Offer to run errands to an elderly relative or neighbor. Give free babysitting
for a busy couple with a young family that don't get much time together. Bake
your favorite cookies and wrap them in a fancy package. Give to a charity in the
name of the people you are giving the gift to. Work with your kids to create
special gifts using their school pictures (Grandma and Grandpa would love
this!).
5) Be Creative with your Wrapping.
Sometimes the wrapping paper may cost more than the gift! Be creative either
with where you buy your wrapping or how you wrap it. Buy your wrapping for next
year in the after Christmas sales. If you wait long enough you can get some
really nice paper for 75% off. Just remember what you bought when you go to wrap
presents next year. Buy your wrapping at the dollar store. There are some really
nice options at the dollar stores these days. Or wrap with the environment in
mind. Use Comics or newspaper, or reuse older wrapping paper. The Environment is
on many people minds and they will appreciate you for it. Buy plain wrapping
paper in bulk and decorate it yourself or with your kids. Use stickers or
markers and make it personal for each gift.
To learn more about how to do your Holiday shopping frugally, check out our
Frugal
Christmas Shopping Page.
Johnny wanted $100 badly and prayed for two weeks but nothing
happened. Then he decided to write a letter to God requesting the $100.
When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to
God, USA, they decided to send it to President Bush. The President was so
impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send Johnny a
$5.00 bill, as this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
Johnny was delighted with the $5.00, and sat down to write a
thank-you note to God. It said: Dear God, Thank you very much for sending me the
money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through
Washington, DC and as usual, those jerks deducted $95.
Do you have any great jokes about money, or money and
relationships? Submit them on our
Funny Money Page.
Go to Top
Teenagers and Money Management
- Why you should teach your teenagers about money management.
Family
Money Management
- Good Family Management leads to a
happy and healthy family!.
Frugal
Holiday Season
- Check out some ideas to save money and still have a fabulous holiday season.
Frugal
Christmas Shopping - Learn more ways to save money while shopping for the
holidays.
Go to Top
To find more Tips on saving money, or to add your ideas, please check out our
Best
Ways to Save Money Page.
Wash and Vacuum your Car
Clean your car at home. You will save money and get some exercise. You could
even make it a fun activity with a loved one, or your kids.
Avoid Buying Clothes that Require Dry Cleaning
Look at labels when you buy your clothes. Make sure they can be washed and dried
in your own appliances. There are some amazing fabrics out there now that look
like dry clean only but are washable.
Look for Annual Passes
Phone your local zoo, museums, amusement parks or water parks and ask if
they have annual passes. Usually the annual pass costs less than 3 visits to the
venue. Good idea for a holiday gift too!
Do you have any Money Saving Tips you would like to share?
Please
send them by filling out the form and we will publish them on the site.
Go to Top
What's New at Transform Your Money
Ask the Money Expert
Do you have a question for a Money Coach? Ask it here.
To keep up with what's new on the Transform Your Money Website go to our
What's
New Page. There you can subscribe to the site and add it to your RSS feed,
Google, Yahoo, MSN, Newsgator or Bloglines site.
Also check out our
Facebook Page and join our Group. Join our community and learn when new
pages are uploaded, and contribute or ask questions about money and learning
about money management.
Thank you for reading the December Issue of Moneyzine. I hope you enjoyed it
as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to contact me with any
questions at
our
Contact us Page.
We wish you a happy, safe and frugal holiday season!
To stay up to date with Transform Your Money.com, Subscribe to our
Blog
with an RSS Feed, Track us on Google, Yahoo or MSN. Just click on the buttons on
the bar on the
home page.
If you enjoyed this issue of Moneyzine, Please feel free to send it to any
friends or family and ask them to subscribe on our
website.
Seasons Greetings,
Melanie Fine,
CPA
www.transformyourmoney.com
PS. Want to check out back issues of the Moneyzine? -
Click Here
|
