Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
I received an interesting question in response to my recent post on unequal gift giving. A reader emailed me about a situation in which parents provided financial assistance to a child who earned less money than her sibling. Here is the scenario: The family consisted of two children who were both girls. The older daughter … Read more
My husband is adorable. Every year he remembers to order flowers for my mom and grandmother. What a good son-in-law, right? The trouble is he spends a lot of money each year shipping them out on Valentine’s Day. Buying flowers online is expensive enough, but shipping and handling can often cost another $20 to $25, … Read more
I have a stack of gift cards in my home. I bought a few of them at discounted prices and received a bunch of others as gifts over the years. If you name a place I probably own a gift card for it. You know how it is, you return an unwanted gift to a … Read more
I believe in Karma. I deeply believe that when we put good thoughts into the universe good energy will be returned to us. This doesn’t always mean that things will work out perfectly in life, but every time someone bestows a kind act on my behalf I do my best to pay it forward. When … Read more
What do you do when someone gives you a gift you don’t like? Every Christmas, we inevitably receive a bunch of gifts we don’t want to keep. Sometimes we receive a gift slip in the box, but usually, we have no way of returning the items we receive. Many times we don’t even know where … Read more
For the past two years my husband and I have given my son one gift each. He was born in October of 2011, so last year he was only two months old when Christmas rolled around and this year he was just a few days over 14 months. At this age he doesn’t know the … Read more
On Christmas Eve my husband and I placed $50 grocery store gift cards into holiday cards, loaded my son into the back of our car and drove to two nearby fire stations to deliver them. At both stations we were welcomed in by friendly volunteer firemen who were elated to receive an unexpected Christmas gift. … Read more
Over the years my Christmas wish lists have changed dramatically. One year I asked for practical gifts, one year I asked for fun gifts, one year I wanted to focus on consumable items, the next I concentrated on interesting experiences. As much as my overall desires have changed one thing has remained steady. Every year, … Read more
I just reviewed my Christmas expenses and couldn’t believe how little I spent this year. As I mentioned earlier this week my brother and I recently decided to stop exchanging gifts with one another. Instead we’ll focus solely on providing gifts for the children. That change resulted in two fewer gifts under the tree and … Read more
After a lot of consideration my brother and I have decided not to swap Christmas gifts this year. I’ll still buy gifts for my niece and nephew and he’ll do the same for my son, but we will no longer exchange gifts between each other. It’s always a struggle to decide what to buy and … Read more