Another Christmas is over and the New Year fast approaching. With the economy in such sad shape, our family looked for ways to economize this Christmas. We gave more generously to the Salvation Army and Goodwill, making our budget smaller, but knew that as small as our budget was, others were much smaller if not non-existent.
My teenaged son is pretty cool. He never asks for much and is always happy with what he gets. Which of course makes me as his mother want to buy him more. But he didn’t get any of the high-tech items on most kids wish list. The only electronic gadget he got this year was a new cell phone and he wouldn’t have gotten that except that his old one had a bad screen. He was so thrilled with that phone. And that made me happy I splurged on it. My husband and I went to a used DVD store and picked out the movies and TV series we’d been wanting. We wrapped them and couldn’t have been happier had they been new, maybe we were happier considering the huge savings on the price.
We also shopped around thrift stores, vendor’s markets and other small unusual shops. This gave us the opportunity to find some very unique gifts at great prices. My husband hit the jackpot with a couple of my gifts. He found an old Peruvian, silver and gemstone cuff–beautiful. Another gift he gave me was a pen, hand carved in Africa. What could be more perfect for a writer? So yes, we downsized our budget for Christmas this year and in doing so had one of our best ever. Precious memories to linger for a lifetime.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and want to wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Elizabeth
http://elizabethmeltonparsons.com
