1. Swap, don’t buy (try eBay.com, craigslist.org, and freecycle.org)
2. Use concentrated soaps and cleaners since less packaging means less waste
3. If you see litter, pick it up
4. Spread the word
5. Invest in environmentally conscious mutual funds (find them at socialinvest.org)
6. Buy shade-grown coffee
7. Unload your trunk; the lighter the load, the less gas your car consumes
8. Seal up your house
9. Go toxin-free at home
Here’s some great ideas to help you reduce the amount of waste you generate during the holiday season. By implementing some of these ideas, you can also reduce holiday costs.
Gift wrapping:
Trying to avoid the “gift wrap trap?” Here are some great ideas for gift wrapping alternatives.
- Scarves, handkerchiefs or bandannas.
- Old posters and maps.
- Pages from a child’s coloring book taped together (especially nice for relatives who would enjoy the artwork).
- Old sheet music.
- Newspapers (foreign newspapers are great).
- Last year’s holiday paper (press with warm iron if wrinkled).
- Wallpaper scraps.
- Home-sewn cloth bags.
- Fabric scraps.
- Pictures or advertisements from magazines and catalogs.
- Sunday comic pages.
- A present in a present (for example, a hat in a matching scarf, jewelry in a wooden box, cookies in a reusable tin or cookie jar, barbecue grill utensils or picnic supplies in a tablecloth, kitchen gifts in towels or all-purpose cloths).
- A plain box decorated with leftover glitter, paint, markers, etc.
- A cake pan, basket or a wooden box.
- Reusable decorative bags.
- A “Hollywood box:” individually wrap or decorate the top and bottom of a box with a separate lid. Encourage the recipient to reuse the box.
- Purchase wrapping paper made from recycled paper.
Tree ornaments/decorating:
Here are a few ideas for adding a special touch to holiday decorations.
* Baby’s shoe Memorabilia, such as a child’s first shoe or grandma’s hankie scented with perfume.
* An old full skirt as a tree skirt.
* Old jewelry (restring old necklaces, hang earrings or bracelets).
* Items collected on vacation.
* Small stuffed animals and toys.
* Cookie cutters.
* Miniature toy cars.
* Dressed-up doll as a tree-topper.
* Holiday card ornaments: cut up; glue felt fabric scraps on back; tie with yarn scraps.
* Edible cookie ornaments: use gingerbread or sugar cookie dough; poke a hole at the tip using a drinking straw; decorate and bake; thread a ribbon through hole; tie ribbon in a large loop and hang on bough of tree.
* Small pictures from old magazines or holiday cards: cut out; glue onto old plastic lid; decorate with beads, buttons or jewelry; punch a hole and hang with string or yarn.
* Popcorn and cranberry strings (can be eaten by animals after the holidays). Buttons
* Reusable glass icicles instead of disposable tinsel (keeps tree clean for mulching).
* Buttons knotted on a sturdy length of string.
* Spices from the kitchen instead of commercially prepared and packaged products or aerosols (for example, create pomander balls by placing whole cloves in oranges or lemons to create decorations that look and smell great).
* Gingerbread people and reindeer from leftover brown paper grocery bags (place on windows and walls for decoration.)
* Tin can luminary (punch holes into empty metal can; place candle inside.)
Read our inexpensive Valentine’s ideas!
Tags: green living, Living Mindfully, make it yourself, make your own, Money Saving Tips, reduce reuse recycle, save money, saving money, simple living, simplify the holidays, tips, ways to save moneyI’ve been trying to find ways to simplify my life for a few years now and the holidays are no exception. Sometimes the craziness of it really gets to me. I recently picked up Unplug the Christmas Machine: How To Have The Christmas You’ve Always Wanted for $1.50 in a local used book store. Here’s an interview with the authors. You can buy used copies of the book through amazon by clicking the image below.
What’s the first step parents should take to simplify the holidays?
Jo: Decide what’s important to you. We’ve done hundreds of workshops, and it’s remarkable how the same scenario happens over and over again. We ask people to close their eyes and imagine a Christmas that would give them great pleasure. When they open their eyes, there is a profound silence. Everyone shares what they imagined, and it’s so similar from person to person: to be with your family, to be with your children, in a joyful way. To have no stress. To carry out the traditions that have meaning to you and your family. To connect to something that’s bigger than yourself. Oh, and of course, there’s snow! There’s a fire in the fireplace.
Jean: What’s most striking is that, in the fantasy, gifts would not be in the celebration! Or if there were gifts, they would be simple, lovingly chosen, or handmade. Nobody fantasized about going to the mall.
Okay, we know what people want, but that’s not what they actually get, is it? Gifts may be a low priority in the fantasy, but if you’ve got kids, it seems like Christmas can become solely about gifts. How can parents change this emphasis?
Jo: One year, Jean and I counted up the amount of money you’d spend to buy all the gifts advertised in one hour of Saturday-morning cartoons. It was more than $400 dollars’ worth of goods — paraded in front of a child with all the seductiveness that Madison Avenue can muster. So the first thing we advise is, with little kids, show them what a commercial is. It’s hard to decipher sometimes when the toy advertised is the same character they just saw in the show. Watch with them and have them cry out “commercial!” every time one comes on. With older kids, talk through what the messages are all about, and how advertisers want you to think all your happiness is tied up in having that toy, but that lots of toys aren’t as great as they say. What you’re trying to do is channel all that excitement about Christmas gifts toward excitement about the rest of Christmas, like holiday activities and traditions.
That sounds good. But do kids really care as much about activities and traditions as their Christmas-gift list?
Jean: I think parents are afraid they aren’t going to do right by their kids. They want their kids to have happy memories, to be delighted and thrilled. Parents need to be reassured that they can provide this for their children in all sorts of ways, not just with gifts. You’d be surprised how simple a kid’s idea of tradition is. One of the moms we spoke to asked her four-year-old what he remembered most about the previous Christmas. “The Santa on a string,” he said. She had no idea what he was talking about until she realized there was a simple Santa ornament that had hung on the tree last year, at her son’s eye level. That ornament meant nothing to her, but to him, it meant Christmas.
Are you saying that traditions can actually substitute for gifts? Or that, by adding activities and traditions, parents can cut down on the gifts?
Jean: I think a lot of parents who want to simplify Christmas go about it the wrong way. They try to take away the gifts, the commercialism, without making sure they have already put in place those things that are important. You don’t want a feeling of absence, but a feeling of shifting the emphasis.
Jo: Also, remember that gift obsession is just a phase in a child’s life, especially kids ages eight to 12, especially in boys. Accept that this is your kid at this point in time, living in a commercialized world. You’re not to blame, he’s not to blame. Sit down with him and say, “I see you’ve made this long list of things you’d like. In our family, we only give X number of presents, so let’s figure out which ones you really want.” Then, in the coming years, gradually cut down on the gifts as you build up the activities and traditions.
How do you make that shift toward more activities and traditions?
Jo: One of the best ways is to make a Christmas calendar. As a family, write down the commitments you have already. Then see where the voids are and decide if and how you’d like to fill those voids. Everyone should have a say. You may plan days to do nothing. Reframe things you view as chores — like picking out a tree — and turn them into traditions. How? Allow time for the activity. Don’t just make it one of several tasks to check off your list. Do the activity with spirit and have a good time. In my family, we’ve turned getting a wreath into a tradition. We set aside an afternoon, go into the woods and gather boughs, and enjoy being outdoors with each other, in the moment.
Jean: One family we spoke with decides what they’d all like to do in December. They choose a date to pick a tree and draw a picture of a tree on the space in the calendar, or draw an airplane on the day when the grandparents will arrive. Another family designates each day as something special: from Kids Choose the Menu Day to Hear a Story as Many Times as You Want Day.
Although the calendar is meant to help avoid overscheduling and missing out on what they really want from the season, it leads to a discussion about moms going overboard. Let me quote from your book: “Busy women feel pressured to put on a year-end extravaganza and are given the hidden message that their families’ happiness depends on their nonstop performance.” What’s the source of all that pressure?
Jean: It’s partly because today’s women were often raised by mothers who didn’t work outside the home, and so the domestic arts were important to their identity. Women carry this legacy that the family celebration rests on their shoulders. And, of course, the media puts pressure on women too. I mean, look at the holiday issues of most women’s magazines, full of crafts and foods and decorating, all promising us the magical Christmas we can give our families if only we work hard enough. One of the moms we mention in the book said she used to feel like a bad mother unless she made something from the magazines every Christmas.
But if you go to this extraordinary effort, what kind of mom and wife does your family get at Christmas? They get someone who’s distracted and pressured. Think about that from a child’s point of view. Now, women may go overboard, you say in your book, but men often do much less. What’s that about?
Jean: What we found out in our workshops was this: Women assume the way to make Christmas better for their husbands is not to ask them too much, not to involve them too much. That has the effect of making men feel alienated. Because they have no stake in Christmas, they have no enthusiasm for it.
Jo: There’s resentment on both sides. The men are saying, “This is not my Christmas” and “My wife is out of control.” The women were saying, “How come you aren’t helping with my Christmas? And how come you don’t have any Christmas spirit?”
Jean: One of the most dramatic moments in the workshop is when we ask women, “Do you know what traditions are important to your husband?” We ask, for example, if they know if in his boyhood he opened his gifts on Christmas morning or Christmas Eve. Everyone sheepishly looks at each other. All of a sudden, most women realize they don’t know anything about how their husband celebrated Christmas as a child, or what’s important to him about the holiday.
So how do you create family holiday traditions that take into account what everyone wants?
Jean: You ask! We’ve mentioned finding out about your husband’s childhood traditions. Ask your kids what they remember most about Christmas or Hanukkah in years past. It may surprise you. Often it’s something small.
Jo: For instance, I bet my mother never knew that one of the most important things to me as a kid was that we had a fruitcake recipe from a neighbor, and Mom would let me and my little sister cook this all by ourselves. We’d always do this in an aluminum pan, mush everything, and eat the gumdrops. Well, my mom died not too long ago, and when we requested things from the estate, my sister requested the aluminum dish, and I requested the recipe box. Who would have thought one of the most indelible memories would have been cooking a fruitcake? My sister and I still get together and bake that cake — even though we don’t really like it!
And we can’t overlook how financially stretched many parents feel at this time of year. How do you address this?
Jo: Parents need to come up with a family plan and decide what gets priority. Is it decorating the house? Having parties? Buying gifts? Problems arise when there’s no communication, when you haven’t agreed on something that represents both of you. Plus, people forget the incidental costs. When you make a budget, remember wrapping paper and the fact that you want to steam-clean the carpet before relatives arrive. Be comprehensive and figure out what areas you feel comfortable cutting back on.
Jean: I remember one woman in our workshop who confessed that she took to hiding the Visa bill in January and February and only told her husband about it in March or April, when she could no longer put off the inevitable. There are also women who say their husbands have no idea what it costs to entertain. “He wonders why our grocery bill was so high in December, but we [hosted] three family dinners,” said one. If you don’t share your memories and do some planning based on your values, then the commercial celebration will come in and fill the void. And the commercial celebration has the ulterior motive of getting you to spend.
What’s your closing advice for getting one’s family excited about holiday traditions and preparation?
Jo: Involve the kids, because that’s what they really want, and it’s these times and not the gifts that will stick in their minds. What works best, it seems, is to point them toward what they naturally gravitate to. Don’t force them to do what they don’t like. More kids like helping with baking more than shopping, for instance. Also, relax your standards. If you decide to make baking cookies a tradition, for instance, know that the kids will mess up the kitchen and get flour all over themselves, and that’s okay. If you must do Martha Stewart stuff and make it picture-perfect, do it late at night, by yourself!
Jean: It’s not so much what you do, but more that these are special things you don’t do the rest of the year. The point is that they happen at a comfortable rhythm that a child can look forward to, and that you as parents bring your whole selves to it because you aren’t distracted by being overburdened and spending too much money.
Jo: One tradition that felt right in my own family was to take donations to the Salvation Army. My son saw firsthand that charity was something we did at Christmastime. It was palpable. He helped bring the bags in, which makes a much bigger impact than watching us write a check and stuff it in an envelope.
Jean: I’m going to tell you a secret about our book. Yes, we’re talking about Christmas and how to make it feel right for your family. But what we are really talking about is: Who are you? What are your values? Talking about Christmas is an entree to talking about all these profound issues. Our approach gives people a way to wrestle with these issues and hopefully come to terms with them.
Read our inexpensive Valentine’s ideas!
Tags: Living Mindfully, simple living, simple living books, simplify the holidaysSetting up a family budget is important because it helps you see where your money is going and where you can save. Here are a bunch of PDF files on pages on family budgeting. You can read, save or print them out.
Family Finances
Family Spending Plan
Printable Budget
Keeping A Family Budget
Building A Family Budget
Creating A Family Budget
How To Set Up A Budget
Do You Need to Balance Your Life?
by Maurine Patten
Living in a world that keeps changing almost faster than time itself, most of you are aware of the time squeeze to get things done. The pressures at work can easily carry over into personal life and vise versa. Parents, especially, find themselves drained physically, mentally, and emotionally at the end of a day.
When you have many things to do running around in your mind, you can easily feel overwhelmed. To remedy this, it is important to strive for balance and to stay focused. However, sometimes these two goals are in conflict.
You may have experienced times when you focused on something and lost your balance. This can happen when there are too many things to do and not enough time to get everything done. At this point, some of you may make lists, which can be helpful.
In addition to lists, the following plan will help you consider what needs to be done and how each item is tied to your values:
• Set up a 4-cell grid.
• The two cells across the top (left to right) are labeled “Urgent” and “Not Urgent”.
• The two cells going down (top to bottom) are labeled “Important” and “Not Important”.
• Place all of the things you have to do into one of these cells.
Filling in these four squares helps you establish your priorities according to your values, be more focused, and feel more in control of your life. Now you are ready to look at how to increase the feeling of balance in your life.
When there is not enough time to accomplish as much as you had hoped to do in a day, it is even more important to select one or two of the following suggestions to create a feeling of inner balance:
1. Count your blessings by writing down three things you are grateful for and why (because) at least three times a week. It helps the most when you are having a tough day.
2. Practice “savoring” the joys of life instead of “stewing” on problems. Notice an increase in energy when you are savoring even momentary pleasures.
3. Spend time and energy with family and friends. Strong personal relationships bring a high level of satisfaction with life.
4. Write a gratitude letter to someone whom you are grateful for in your life. If possible, visit the individual and read the letter to him or her. If a visit is not possible, you can email it, call the person or send it by mail. Notice how you feel after doing this.
5. Take care of yourself physically. Even 10-15 minutes of exercise and/or meditation can release tension. Get plenty of sleep, and make healthy food choices to have the energy that you need.
6. Be sure to find time to laugh and catch yourself smiling.
Hopefully, choosing to do some of these ideas for balance will be renewing, increase your energy, and help you focus.
In addition, the 4 square grid will help you to prioritize the things you need/want to accomplish. This clarity helps energize and motivate you to make the most of your available time. It also increases your confidence in the choices you are making. What choices are you going to make that will help you focus and keep your balance?
Maurine Patten, Ed.D., CMC, Maximize Your Possibilities
http://www.PattenCoaching.com
Mailto:mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com
More free information, EI and Pre-retirement assessment, and ezine
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