To Think Is To Create - Latest Comments in Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

angel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:40:01 -0000

We love to make homemade ornaments from our craft scraps we collected all year. We have lots of leftover fabrics, yarns, paints, glitters, pompoms, craft sticks, etc. and our tree looks fabulous each year! Plus it's a great way to spend time with the kiddos. Each year gets a little better because of the memories from prior years hanging on the tree. Thank you for the opportunity to win such a generous giveaway.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Keitha — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:59:30 -0000

I love to shop all of the after christmas sales. I stock up on all the great deals and put everything away in storage. It is so fun getting everything out the next year, becuase you forget what you have bought after a year. It is really fun when you look at all of your great gifts saying "I can't believe I only paid $$$$ for this.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Lyndsi — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:41:56 -0000

Make something like these pocket organizers at http://organize-my-life.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-p...because they take about an hour a piece and you can make several with the supplies that you purchase. I was also able to personalize them for each person given their interests and favorite colors.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Deborah Allinder Lee — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:00:08 -0000

Just posted to my blog at http://ourmusicalhome.com/b... and to Twitter http://twitter.com/musiclee.

<abbr>Deborah Allinder Lee’s last blog post..Noisemakers vs. Instruments</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

All Adither — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:37:24 -0000

To save money on gifts, I like to use my talents to make an inexpensive gift. For instance, writing my husband a story in which the main characters are thinly veiled versions of ourselves. Or shooting a lovely photo of something meaningful to him and framing it.

This year I also compiled photos of our kids into a photo book and called it 2008. Only cost $27.

<abbr>All Adither’s last blog post..Cat Video Friday</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

amanda — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:23:33 -0000

I blogged about the giveaway...

here is the link...
http://everysimpleday.blogs...

<abbr>amanda’s last blog post..there is a BIG giveaway going on, y'all...</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Deborah Allinder Lee — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:18:26 -0000

There are several things I have done or plan to do.

SERVICES: This year I am altering my brother-in-law's pants and helping my sister get set up to sell stuff on ebay.

REPURPOSING: I do this two ways. I give quality gifts from things I already own and I take things I own and remake them into something unique.

This year I took half-zip pullovers my son has outgrown and made backpacks for the kids.

I also add decorative elements to items to personalize them and make them more interesting. Last year I used pieces of roof flashing to create a unique decorative front on a simple blank journal.

MEMORIES: I have my grandmother's old everyday dishes and want to decoupage her picture and other collage items on it and give it as way to remember her.

I also want to create a scrapbook with the recipes my grandmother cooked most often.

Another idea on my list is to use decorative family tree charts I purchased on Ebay and fill them in with all of the names we've found so far from our genealogy research.

GROW IT: We have a small city garden and I enjoy canning. I like to think of things to make that would make good gifts like salsa or jelly. I have also done this by buying produce at the farmer's market when it's in season and cheap and canning that into something good.

Fresh herbs are easy and cheap to grow, but expensive to purchase. Put together a small herb garden in a planter and give away the whole thing. You can also grow them yourself in larger quantities and make a small swag or wreath of different herbs to make a nice fresh gift and can be hung in the kitchen and used for cooking even as the herbs dry.

It's best to buy the seeds and planters during gardening season for the best availability and price.

DOWNLOADS: If a someone has an interest in a particular subject, you can download free articles, ebooks, podcasts, videos, etc. on that subject and give them as a gift in print or CD/DVD format.

The printed items could be bound in an inexpensive binder or report cover or a coil binding from an office supply store. My library lets me copy 200 pages a month for free and I hear a lot of libraries have a similar service.

I am doing this for someone who is interested in starting a business as a life coach.

<abbr>Deborah Allinder Lee’s last blog post..Noisemakers vs. Instruments</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Stefanie @ Mommy Musings — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:13 -0000

We are making our own ornaments out of felt this year. I am making cupcake and cookie shaped ones, and my daughter makes basic shaped ones. It is a fun activity we can do together, saves money by not having to buy new ornaments, and best of all...they don't break!

<abbr>Stefanie @ Mommy Musings’s last blog post..Meet Scribble</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Janelle — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:19:36 -0000

Good Heavens, You have a TON of entries! Keeping fingers crossed I win! :)
My #1 tip and what I'm doing this year for my cousin's family who is a family of 5- I am going to give them a give card to a movie rental place ($10) and then a few bags of popcorn and put it in a nice basket ($5) from walmart. The total should be well under $20 bucks for a family of 5 to share.
My grandma, I am making a picture using photoshop with all of us in her family and will frame it.
My mom wants a fancy pan so that won't be cheap. *sigh*
And my kids know that "Santa" are going to bring them 3 present each because his bag can only hold so much. But I will put some fun goodies in their sockings, like lip gloss and stuff that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, but they will enjoy.
I hope these tips help someone out there :)

<abbr>Janelle’s last blog post..Wanna Win The Limited Edition Box Set of the Movie 'Heathers'?</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Donna K — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:19:16 -0000

I twittered about your contest. http://twitter.com/donnak4

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Christa — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:19:15 -0000

My money saving tip:
The salvation army. I can buy a named brand outfits for my daughters for under $10 each. I have found many treasures I have picked up and given as gifts under $5 at the salvation army. By shopping there I am also helping others less fortunate than me...win...win situation for me.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Blogeois — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:17:57 -0000

Due to the very real possibility of job loss before year's end, we've begun cutting back on all the extra services we can live without. Here's something everyone ought to be aware of.

One interesting thing we’ve discovered during our voluntarily shut down of some expenses is the un-solicited willingness of those companies to lower their monthly cost to us. The TV satellite company and our credit monitoring service were both willing to cut their monthly costs by up to forty percent. Shows you how high their profit margins are, doesn’t it, as well as exposes their fear of losing customers? We had already made up our minds on getting rid of both of these items but moving forward, we’re planning to take this information to use with other services we don’t want to eliminate completely but need to cut back on a little. If they’re willing to cut what they charge by just a little, we’re more apt to be a life-long loyal customer after this financial economic crisis is over.

Hope this helps during this tough holiday season!

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Donna K — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:16:52 -0000

To save money I shop online during sales. I go through a portal such as Ebates to get cash back. Then before I check out I do an internet search for any coupons. I have saved alot of money doing this, and I saved the money for gas.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

shannon snow — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:08:07 -0000

Set aside how much you want to spend total for the holidays. Say you have a $1000 spending budget. Put away money every month in a special savings account specified for presents, then when it is time to shop, use the money you have been saving, that way you are not dipping into the household budget. Then cross those peoples names off your list, wrap your gift and put it under the tree!

<abbr>shannon snow’s last blog post..Product Reviews, Here I come... which product will I choose!</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Susan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:05:18 -0000

I posted this contest on my blog, here is the post http://iluvdeals.blogspot.c...

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Kerri Anne — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:04:05 -0000

My money-saving tip for the holidays: Recycled! wrapping paper.

All of us have endless options for creative and personalized wrapping paper just lying around the house. All you need is some time spent foraging and some creativity. Try old sheet music, maps, pages from your favorite (and most colorful magazines), cloth tied up with string or even sewn together to make the gift opening a bit trickier, or pages from an old book that is already falling apart.

<abbr>Kerri Anne’s last blog post..Have Yourself A Felt Mustache Christmas</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Robin ~ PENSIEVE — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:58:36 -0000

Here's the link to my URL :)--

http://pensieve.typepad.com...

Wonder how many last minute entries you'll get!

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Susan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:54:35 -0000

This year we have decided to try and save we have been saving on our grocery bill and buying baking goods with some of the coupons we found in All You magazine that you can find at walmart and save on Chocolate Chips and then online printing out coupons for flour, sugar and other baking and cooking supplies, we are making sandcastle mixes to give to aunts and grandmas and printing out a cute little tag on our home printer to add thoughts of love and directions, you can put these in any container that holds about a quart, we had found a special deal on some round Tupperware ones and are using those but quart jars work great and aren't too expensive.

Then we are having some prints made from kodakgallery where you can get 75 free 4x6 prints, www.iluvdeals.blogspot.com
and sending those in an inexpensive card to family and friends across the miles so only paying shipping to get the photos.

We are just going to buy a few small gifts for the children this year as money is really tight, Amazon has had some amazing offers online & you can get the free shipping, I was able to find Hannah Montana dolls for only $6.99 and the guitars for the playstation games for only $4.95 and $6.95 so definately keeping an eye out on Amazon's toys has saved a bunch too.

Thanks for offering such a wonderful contest and best of luck to all!!

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Holy Schmidt - (Melanie) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:53:22 -0000

Tweet, tweet!

http://twitter.com/holyschm...

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Rachel — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:52:37 -0000

Tweet tweet :)
http://twitter.com/FuschiaF...

<abbr>Rachel’s last blog post..Stormie. (via Fuschia Foot)</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Holy Schmidt - (Melanie) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:52:35 -0000

My parents, sisters, mother in law and Jason's brother and wife have started a weekly food exchange. Each of us buys, in bulk, enough ingredients to make our favorite meal 5 times. We each cook on Wednesday night and deliver the food to each other the next day. Buying in bulk makes the cost dramatically lower and it helps us stay in touch as a family...Also? You only have to cook 2 or 3 times per week!

All of the items can be purchased at Wal-Mart in larger sizes. Cheap and easy!

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Rachel — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:51:39 -0000

The way we're saving money this year is we bought an electric blanket! This has let us keep our thermostat super low but our bed is toasty warm! :) I had a gift card and got my king-size blanket super cheap on Amazon. $50 was totally worth it after even just one night. We also just got new windows, but that was pretty expensive, but will save us money long-term.

<abbr>Rachel’s last blog post..Stormie. (via Fuschia Foot)</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Karen Sugarpants — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:50:59 -0000

Money saving tip? We draw names in both families. Both families know it's more important to be together than to give gifts.

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Mrs. CPA — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:47:42 -0000

My only money saving tip is not to leave all your Christmas light burning all the time, and to use LED lights if possible. Good for your pocketbook AND good for the environment.

<abbr>Mrs. CPA’s last blog post..Baby Einstein</abbr>

Re: Give Thanks, Save Money: Win $500 Walmart Gift Card

Christy Jordan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:47:30 -0000

We make our own gift mixes to give. With so many people rushing around for the Holidays, baked goods are always appreciated but sometimes tend to "stockpile". A mix is a gift of convenience as well as a gift of special time shared with their family when it is convenient for the receiver.
I have several mix tutorials on my website, complete with printer ready tags of instructions and original recipes as well as inexpensive gift ideas (don't you just hate it when Martha has a great homemade gift idea and then packages it in a ten dollar box?). I also have gifts kids can make for their classmates that are very inexpensive and fun for them!

Giving mixes and homemade items teaches kids that there is so much more to Christmas than credit cards and ringing cash registers. It also teaches them about putting your heart into a gift and how much more rewarding they are to give than that pair of gloves or the new umbrella.

Did you know you can make most gift mixes - packaging and all - for under a dollar each?

Seriously!
Enjoy Christmas, relax! the bill won't be coming in January!
Gratefully,
Christy