Merry Christmas from our families to yours!  The team at Homemaker Barbi is taking a day off today to enjoy the reason for the season.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and remember to take time for yourself during this busy time.  Happy Holidays!

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

I found a cool Christmas card company that is offering great last-minute deals on Christmas cards and free Christmas downloads of a classic that everybody knows and loves!

Christmas is getting close (it’s only 5 days away) and if you’ve been procrastinating on getting your Christmas cards ordered, you might think it’s too late to send cards this year.  However, GalleryCollection.com is one of the top sites for personalized cards and has holiday cards that will arrive at your doorstep by December 23rd! For the shipping guarantee, you have to place your order by 1pm ET on December 22nd.  Check out their Corporate Holiday Cards and personal Christmas cards to take advantage of their 40% off sale going on through 12/22/08.

What I really like about this site is that they offer a 100% unconditional money-back guarantee; if you aren’t satisfied, they offer you a prompt refund (no hassles with being forced to accept a store credit or exchange).  I feel good about shopping at stores with this kind of guarantee because I know they think their products are top-notch quality and are willing to stand behind them.  The publisher is even acting in an “anti-Scrooge” manner by emailing customers that haven’t ordered their Christmas cards yet and giving away cards to the first 100 people who order!

Also, Gallery Collection is offering free downloads of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” at DailyLit.com.  Go get your free download so it’s ready to read to the family in the days leading up to Christmas!

9 Tips that Make Holiday Party Prep Easy

Many people host holiday parties in their homes at this time of year, but there are often small details that get overlooked during the preparation.  This list of 9 tips for having a great holiday party (complete with shopping list) will help you remember these little things while you’re still in the planning phase.

1.  Expect 1/3 of the people you invited, but plan for double.  You never know how many people will really attend your party, and it’s better to be prepared for more than to fall short of food or supplies.

2.  Shop in advance.  Shopping before the last minute will ease your stress and make you less likely to panic if the first store is out of what you need.

3.  Make a complete list of supplies and food items before shopping.  This list could include:

• Napkins and tablecloths
• Paper plates, plastic spoons and forks, plastic cups
• Platters and serving dishes
• Serving utensils such as large spoons and pie servers
• Finger foods and hors d’oeuvres
• Ingredients for all main dishes and desserts
• Juice, soda, or bottled water
• Alcoholic beverages and mixers needed to make cocktails
• Bottle opener
• Extra toilet paper and paper towels
• Christmas CDs or MP3s (if you’re planning to play your own holiday music)
• Disposable cameras for guests to use and leave with you afterwards (this is a great way to ensure you get a lot of pictures from your party)
• Extra chairs or folding tables

Bathroom

4.  Take anything out of the medicine cabinet you don’t want seen,  including prescriptions and other personal items.  It’s a well known fact that humans are curious creatures, and if guests use your bathroom the desire to snoop might be overwhelming!

5.  Don’t make people dry their hands on your used bath towel!  Either put out fresh towels on a towel rack or paper towels, but please don’t make people go over to your shower to look for something to dry their hands on!

6.  Empty the trash.  An empty trash bag looks clean and tidy and will make the trash can less likely to overflow before the party is over.

7.  Make sure you leave toilet paper backup.  One roll of toilet paper isn’t going to cut it – leave a few spare rolls in a highly visible place, such as on the back of the toilet or on a nearby shelf.

Food

8.  Have backup food ready.  Just in case people are hungrier than expected or more guests arrive than RSVPd, have some party snacks in reserve.  Either leave them in the refrigerator or pantry depending on what they are, but make sure they are already on a tray and ready to set out as needed.

9.  Go easy on the alcohol.  Many hosts like to offer alcoholic beverages such as wine or cocktails at their holiday parties, but you want to keep things from getting out of control at the same time. 

• Only set out a small selection of alcoholic drinks along with a large selection of nonalcoholic drinks, such as punch, juice, or even hot apple cider. 
• If you notice that a certain person is getting a little loud or obnoxious from too much drink, don’t put any more bottles out for a while.
• Some hosts will also choose to make nonalcoholic cocktails, such as daiquiris and other frozen blended drinks. 

Above all, remember to have fun!  As the host, your behavior will set the tone for all the other guests at the party.  If you are relaxed and friendly, they will be too. Plan ahead and anticipate your needs, but go easy on yourself as far as the expectations of throwing the “perfect holiday party”.  None of the guests are going to remember a little detail that you forgot as long as they are enjoying themselves and your good company! 

These holiday party tips are sure to work for you. For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out Rocks in my Dryer.

Christmas Shopping List Planner and Budget Spreadsheet

Homemaker Barbi’s latest free organizational spreadsheet, the Christmas Shopping List Planner and Budget, is ready for you just in time for the hardcore holiday gift shopping to start!  Get your free printable copy or free download version below.  Using this spreadsheet every year allows me to complete my shopping early and keep spending reasonable.

How to use this Planner and Budget

By keeping your shopping list altogether, you’ll make sure that no one is left out and that you can see you which gifts you already purchased and which ones you still need to buy.  Our spreadsheet allows you to plan your spending in advance so you can stick to your budgeted amount as you’re shopping  for the item.  This great holiday shopping tool has several helpful features:

• Budget amounts for gifts by age group
• Separate your list by family (list members of your own family together, your brother’s family, best friend’s family, etc.)
• Running dollar totals for each person, family, and overall.
• Separate columns for budgeted amount and actual amount, so you can see if you spent more or less.

The Christmas Shopping List Planner and Budget is FREE and comes in three handy formats, which you can download or print from the links below:

1.  Print the printable planner. 

Print it out, write on it, and take it to the store with you.

2.  Download Excel Spreadsheet new format (for Microsoft Office 2007).

Use this handy Excel spreadsheet to enter your information and have the amounts automatically calculated for you. You can add in additional rows for additional family members.

3.  Download Excel Spreadsheet old format (for Microsoft Office older versions 97-2003).

Use this handy Excel spreadsheet to enter your information and have the amounts automatically calculated for you.  You can add in additional rows for additional family members.

Planning Christmas shopping with a budget works for me!  For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out Rocks in my Dryer.

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Make a List and Check it Twice

Even Santa Claus knows the key to a frugal Christmas is making a list! Making a list is probably one of the most important tools in saving money this holiday season.

The first step to a frugal Christmas is to figure out how much money you have to spend.

Hopefully you have been putting away a little money every month in anticipation for the holidays. If you started at the beginning of the year you should have a nice Christmas fund built up. If not, see how much money you can squeeze out of the budget this month to buy presents, but do not buy your presents on credit!

Once you have a dollar amount, make a list of everyone you will be purchasing gifts for this month. Remember to include teachers, secret Santa gifts, babysitters, kids, spouses, parents, grandparents, and neighbors, whoever you buy something for needs to be on the list.

Assign a dollar amount to each person’s gift on the list. The total dollar amount cannot be more than the amount you have to spend. The goal is to have a zero balance at the bottom of your list.

After you have your dollar amounts, it’s time to go shopping. But before you head to the store do a little research. The internet is a great tool to compare prices. Almost every store publishes their ads online, and many online stores offer free shipping in December. A few resources for comparison-shopping are; Price Grabber, BizRate, and NexTag. Before you even leave your home you will know the best prices on every item on your list. There is also a service called Price Protectr that tracks your purchases and alerts you when the price on an item you have already purchased drops. Many stores have a price guarantee that allows you to bring your receipt to the store and receive the difference in price.

Having a price limit is a great way to control your spending. For many years I would head to the store with a list of names, but no dollar limit. I would walk the aisles aimlessly wondering what to purchase, and I would always spend too much. When you shop with a list, including price limits and specific gifts it is easy to stick to your spending plan.

Remember it is the spirit of giving that really matters. If your Christmas budget is tiny this year, it might be better to make a thoughtful card than to purchase something you bought just because it was 90% off the regular price. Gift giving is a little overrated anyway, what people cherish most is your friendship, your time, and attention.

Don’t forget to plan ahead for 2009. If your Christmas savings plan did not exist until November of this year, you can start fresh in a month. Open a separate Christmas savings account in January and put a little money away every month in 2009. Even if you saved just $25 a month you would have $400 by next December.

Remember if you don’t control your money it will control you! Make your plan, stick to it, and you will feel happier knowing all the presents under the tree are paid for!

If you found these holiday tips helpful, please consider subscribing to The Happy Housewife’s RSS feed.

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