Being Frugal :: Putting God First Place

Simple Gift Ideas | Part 2

By Ashley Wells, on September 18th, 2010

Today I am continue my do Christmas different series, picking up from yesterday (Simple Gift Ideas | Part 1). So, here are some more simple gift ideas:

FOOD

This is a more difficult gift to give, because you really have to think about what the recipient enjoys doing. If they enjoy eating out, for example, you could get them a gift card to one of their favorite restaurants, like Chipotle. Or maybe they enjoy coffee, then maybe a Starbucks gift card could be in order.

This is fun to give, because sometimes those who are frugal don’t want to “splurge” and eat out, but they would if they got a gift card.

HOMEMADE GIFTS

I personally love to give gifts like this! Here are some things I have done in the past or want to do:

Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
Gifts in a Jar
Cocoa Mix
Fudge
Strawberry Jam
Puppy Chow
Apple Butter

MEMORIES

This could get fun! Maybe you and your best friend don’t get to hang out often. A good gift for her might be a “coupon” for a girl’s night out!

Maybe you miss your grandchildren and haven’t seen them in a while. A good gift might be for them to come spend a week with you. This would allow some time to build memories.

Or maybe you have some pictures that are really memorable for a relationship you have…a good gift could be to put the photo(s) in a frame and pass it on.

GIFTS WITH AN IMPACT

Do you have close friends that are like-minded and want to focus more on Christ this Christmas season too? This is a great opportunity to use their gift to bless others! Here are some ways you can do that:

Buy them a gift from the World Vision Gift Catalog. You could bless a family with two ducks, and do it in your friend’s honor. What a blessing it would be to know that you are impacting a family in a poverty stricken county and that you are doing it in your friend’s honor!

Buy a necklace for someone and at the same time help feed a child in Uganda.

There are tons of ways that you could buy someone a gift, and then in return also help families who are trying to adopt. This is a gift with an enormous impact!

Do you have more ideas for simple gifts? Or gifts with an impact? Please share below!!!

Come back on Monday and I will be sharing ways to make a difference this Christmas season with the money you can save by giving more simple gifts!

Simple Gift Ideas | Part 1

By Ashley Wells, on September 17th, 2010

So, yesterday I talked about my desire to do Christmas different. I hope you are going to join me this year in this pursuit.

Today I am going to talk about gifts. I am not against gift giving. I love giving gifts to those I love. I really do.

I just think that in the past, I was excessive. Because I was excessive, I spent too much money. Because I spent too much money, I didn’t have as much to give to other causes.

So, my husband and I started to give more simple gifts. Most of these gifts are also more practical, and also more meaningful. We also started giving less gifts. We bought gifts for close family members, and friends. Other than that, we gave a card and maybe something small like a tree ornament or cookies.

We started thinking more practically about the gifts we gave. And, we actually spent time thinking about each recipient and what personally would be a good gift for them. What could they need? What could they want? What might they enjoy doing?

We came up with great gifts! So, here are a few ideas for simple gifts:

BOOKS

I love to give books! I love to think about a person, what I know about them, what they enjoy doing, and then choosing a book that I know they will enjoy. I also like to try to add a small gift along with the book that might go together.

For example, if I were to get a mother the book The Mission of Motherhood, I might also get a gift card to a restaurant and say in the card, “I hope you enjoy this book. And the gift card is for lunch out with your child. Enjoy!”

Another example would be if I have a friend who enjoys baking, I could get her a book about cupcakes along with some cute cupcake liners.

There are also some really cool books for children that are more educational and purposed for learning, but fun at the same time! These make great gifts for kiddos!

The book industry is a HUGE arena full of great gift ideas! There are all sorts of book about nearly everything! You are sure to find a great and simple gift for almost everyone!

MAGAZINES

This kind of ties into the previous idea, but I love to give magazines to read. These gifts continue giving throughout the whole year! Again, there are magazines for all kinds of topics! Here are some examples:

If your mother enjoys cooking and learning new recipes, you could get her The Food Network Magazine. (My mom loves cooking and The Food Network!!!)

There are also many great kid magazines! Focus on the Family makes some great magazines for children, like Clubhouse Jr. Magazine.

Like I said earlier, these are great gifts because they continue to give all year long!

PAPER GIFTS

There are many kinds of paper gifts that you can get! Here are some ideas:

If you have a friend who likes to write down their thoughts or prayers or things their thankful for. There are many journals that they could enjoy!

Maybe your son or daughter likes to draw. Getting them a drawing pad and a pack of pencils might be a great gift!

Note Cards or stationary can be a simple and great gift! You could always team these up with a book of stamps or fancy set of pens.

I hope that you enjoyed this list of great simple gift ideas. Tomorrow I am going to share more, so make sure to come back!

Family Feasts for $75 a Week

By Ashley Wells, on February 26th, 2010

Family Feasts for $75 a Week is a GREAT resource written by fellow blogger Mary Ostyn with tips and recipes that will help save almost anyone money on their food bill.

As a side note, upon seeing this book my husband loved the design of the front cover. P.S. I did too!!!

I loved reading through this book and very much took my time to soak in all the information that this mom of 10 has to share! I really think that even the seasoned money saving women will find at least one new way to save money. I personally, found many, many tips.

I loved the recipes in this book and found a good 15 recipes that I am personally going to try.

Mary Ostyn has a new book out titled A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family, which I would also love to read (Since Michael and I aspire to be parents of a large family).

How I Watch Movies Cheap!

By Ashley Wells, on January 7th, 2010

I love movies!!! I love the stories, the cast, the sets. I love popping some popcorn, covering up with a blanket, and watching a good movie! This is a great way to do something special and out of the ordinary as a family!

There have been many great family films coming out recently, so you should have some options! However, if I am unsure of the content of a movie, I will check out the review on Plugged In and then decide whether or not to watch it.

I rarely go to the movie theater, because it will cost you an arm and a leg! And, it is quite expensive to buy DVDs. So, I usually watch movies by borrowing or renting them. Here is what I do:

Utilize my local library system

I am extremely blessed to be so close to a great library. They have many, many, many DVDs available to borrow.

Cost = Free

Red Box It

I love the Red Box!!! Most of the time when the library doesn’t have the movie I want to watch I can find a free code and rent the movie for free, codes come out on the first Monday of every month, at the least. Otherwise, we will rent a DVD like normal and enjoy it thoroughly!

Cost = Free (With Code) or $1 plus tax per night

Or Visit on Discount Night at Local Rental Shop

On Mondays, our local Drug Mart (Who rents out DVDs) has a Monday Movie Madness special where all DVDs can be rented out for $0.79! So, we use this as another inexpensive movie spot!

Cost = $0.79 plus tax for several nights

Well, this is one thing I like to do for fun. If you have any other tips for watching movies cheap, share them below!

Photo Credit

Half-Price Living

By Ashley Wells, on October 16th, 2009

I love learning new ways to save money and live well, so I was excited to read Ellie Kay‘s book Half-Price Living. I have heard wonderful things about Ellie Kay, “America’s Family Financial Expert,” and her books and was very excited.

The first few chapters of this book focus on helping someone prepare to live on one income or decide if it is right for their family. So, if you are currently a two income home and have been thinking about living on one income, this book could be a good resource for you!

The rest of the book focuses on saving money or spending less, which anyone could benefit from reading. I am a seasoned money saver, however, there were still some tips that were new to me. I also liked her chapter on vacations and stewardship.

One last thing to share is that there is a chapter on home businesses for those women who are home now, or would like to be home while supplementing the husband’s income.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I learned some new tips!