100 Days of Holiday Inspiration -Save $1 a Day-100 Days & Counting

Holiday Countdown 2012
100 Days of Crafts, Gifts & More
100 Days till Christmas
67 Days till Thanksgiving
45 days till Halloween
The seasons are vastly approaching, are you ready?  Today starts the beginning of my 100 favorite days of the year.  Anyone that knows me will tell you that I am not a fan of spring and unless I am at the beach where the humidity is down, I loathe summertime.  I have seasonal allergies that beat me up when everything starts to bloom and the heat around here can be quite unbearable.  The past 2 or 3 years (or more) we have experienced the wonderful "code orange" about 90% of the summertime.  The kids are cooped up in the house while I work and we are all going stir crazy.  We can't even stand to go outside until it's dark.  Just, blah, miserable.
Then bring in Fall.  You will see a ray of happiness around me.  Football.  Fairs.  Festivals.  Halloween.  LOVE.IT.  I am seriously in my happy place.  Now with kids in school it's took a little work to get the balancing act going on, and last year I really missed out on all my holiday fun.  I over worked myself and ended up with the flu and stayed sick most of October and November.  I had to let my cousin take the kiddos trick or treating and didn't even dress up. De-press-ing.  But not this year.  I'm ahead of the game!

Okay so here is inspirational tip #1 for Day 100:

This may sound silly simple - well actually it is - but starting today find a jar/box of your choice and start putting in $1 a day.  Do this every day and don't touch it.  Then when Christmas Eve comes and you realize you forgot to get something for Aunt Bertha or Cousin Jim, you have $100 set aside for those last minute gifts.  Challenge yourself to set back more, or even less if you have to.  Dump all the change from your purse or pockets in a jar.  A great way to start is keep a container in your laundry room.  I do this all year.  I check pockets before washing anything and any loose change or bills go in this container.  Throughout the year we will dip in to this for drink or snacks at work when in between paychecks or other little things. 

Another reason I do this is for unexpected trips to the hospital for loved ones or friends.  When my little sister went into labor a little ahead of schedule, they didn't have any change with them.  My gift to them was handing over that change jar so they could get snacks and drinks anytime they wanted.  You never know when it might come in handy.  Hey I even had to use ours for an unexpected trip to the laundry mat!

It's a great idea to do all year long, but starting now don't touch anything you put in it until Christmas.  Make it a house rule and have everyone contribute.  Then, if you don't need it, use it the day after Christmas to take the family out to eat as a little treat.  The possibilities are endless.

Tomorrow I will show you how to make a dry erase board using a dollar store picture frame!

Until Then...

G'nite!

Amy~The Dixie Diva







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