Dog wrote a really interesting response about Office Christmas in response to my downsized gift giving post.  She writes that she would use Christmas as a time to bribe people who could make her life easier.  That she would give very generous gifts when she had her old job.   But she says that you don’t [...]

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Have you downsized your gift giving this year? I definitely am for sure.  I have a lot of financial stuff on my plate right now and a lot of unexpected expenses these past two months.  Thus I felt it more important that we stay financially healthy than spend money on Christmas giving.  I’ve actually been [...]

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Christmas is coming up fast and the season for going into debt and gift giving is about to start.  I really wonder if people are going to be spending again this year like economists are predicting? I think not, but that’s another post.
Here’s an interesting question are homemade gifts tacky or lovely?  Is it frugal [...]

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So DogAtMyFinances talked about Cheap Wedding Gifts here.  She also said culturally you give enough to cover your plate.  Let me say this, she’s 100% right, it is a cultural thing. I won’t defend it, but my mom tells me the same thing all the time. It absolutely is a cultural thing.  It’s shameful to [...]

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So yesterday I wrote a post about my parents and what I got from them, today I’m going to talk about my in-laws.  This two post series was spawned by Fabulously Broke writing a post asking “What did you get from your parents?”  Which in turn was an offshoot from Stacking Pennies “What have you [...]

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Fabulously Broke wrote a post asking “What did you get from your parents?”  Which was spawned from Stacking Pennies “What have you received from you parents?”  I decided to set this up as a two part series.  Why?  Well because I think it’s interesting and I’m going to do my DH’s parents (who irritate me) [...]

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Today is my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. And yes she’s still alive.  Oh man, I wish I were home to celebrate.  Can you imagine living that long?
I decided I will be giving away to one lucky reader a $20 Starbucks gift card.  With the bad economy, most people probably have been cutting back their latte factor.  [...]

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How do you draw the line between a family/friend loan versus a gift? Do you say it’s a gift upfront? Do you say it’s a loan and expect it to be returned? But when it isn’t paid back it’s a “gift”?  Does the relationship make a difference between whether it’s a loan [...]

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Do you have a Christmas budget? Have you increased or decreased it since last year? Has the economy played a role in your list?
I’ve found that each year I’ve tried to decrease the Christmas budget, but it’s stayed about the same. I’ve managed to decrease the number of people we buy for [...]

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Are we going overboard with tipping? Do we need to tip for everything? It’s the holiday season and it’s time to start tipping. I’ve been told we’re supposed to tip our mailman, newpaper delivery man, garbage man, etc. Pretty much everyone. Is this true?
I believe I’ve seen at least 3 different [...]

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