Plans for our big family Thanksgiving dinner are well under way. As my daughter tells everyone, Thanksgiving is Mom’s holiday to cook and she is right. There is nothing I enjoy more than cooking turkey, stuffing and all the fixings. Of course, I enjoy the left over turkey just as much. I could eat turkey sandwiches every single day.
I bought the turkey well over a month ago when they were on sale. We have four different families who come to dinner for Thanksgiving and each person brings their favorite dish. It makes for a varied menu and means that all of the cooking and preparation doesn’t fall on Randy and I.
With Thanksgiving being so close, I have been thinking about Christmas presents. There are a few that I have bought throughout the year, just because it was something that I knew someone would enjoy. It takes some of the pressure off at the holiday season. I have always envied people who start Christmas shopping in January. I am not organized enough to do that. I also can’t stand having something here for someone for so long. Once I buy it for them, I want to give it to them.
We have quite a few bachelor friends and close friends who we like to give something. I usually start baking cookies and breads right after Thanksgiving. Each one of our friends gets a box of cookies & breads for Christmas. Those who entertain during the holidays have some extra cookies to give away and our single friends really appreciate them.
I am also going to be giving some of the pickles and relish that I have made over the summer. I doubt that we can eat 20 pints of green tomato relish before next fall. It will be a nice and inexpensive way to let our friends know that we are thinking of them.
I still need to find some frugal ideas for some of the family and the children. What do you do for your family and friends at Christmas? Do you have any frugal ideas for children’s presents? Leave a comment and I will be using reader’s feedback for an upcoming post.
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Thanks have a great succession.I am so stressed about it, that it is make me ill. I would still like to give decent meaningful gifts to my family and I would still love to do my holiday baking. Any advice would be much appreciated.
This Christmas is all about homemade! For the nieces and nephews I’m making activiy bags. I’m using the leftover material from pillows and curtains for my children’s rooms to make the bags and filling them with little things I’ve found bargains on throuh the past few months (crayons, poster rolls, playdough, etc). As for everyone else, they are getting handmade jewelry (I own my own business)and homemade soaps (my hubby’s new hobby).
Last year I bought a bunch of ladies bathrobes at a $1/bag sale – 8 bathrobes for $1. Washed and used the fabric to make 8 pairs of little kids jammies and then made matching teddybears out of the same fabris with an initial on them. That was for the grandkids’ Christmas present.
I had about 50 cents in each matching set.
Doesn’t get much more frugal than that.
Of course, it only worked cuz the kids were all under 9 years old!
The baking & relishes are great ideas for inexpensive gifts. Unfortunately it is a little tougher to satisfy kids. They will always compare to what presents their friends received. The trick is to mix in some home made gifts with some store bought gifts. Then they get the best of both worlds.
I love the holiday seasons but what i’d love even more is saving money while celebrating the holiday season in style. Like you, I love to bake cookies and little treats and put them in containers to give to friends during christmas. you can find cute and cheap containers at stores or even put them in goody bags from party city. People tend to love homemade gifts. =)