Christmas Countdown with stories

I recently pulled out 24 Christmas Stories I printed out many years ago.  I love to read these to my children in the lead up to Christmas, and will do so again this year.  The stories are gorgeous, and include 'The Little Match GIrl', 'Angel on a Doorstep' and 'The Cobbler and his Guest'.  Tissues may be required for some ;D

They can be found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/43003269/A-Story-a-Day-Until-Christmas

I do a lolly countdown too in an Advent Calendar my Mother-in-Law made, but the stories help to remind my children what Christmas is really about.

What do you do with your family at Christmas time?

New 'pinching pennies' site I found

I was looking for something and stumbled across this great site that has some fantastic ideas for home-made prezzies around Christmas time. Just so I could find it again, I thought I'd put the info up here: http://clarissesfinancialnotebook.blogspot.com/

I especially love the bath crystal sundaes!

Simple Savings

Simple Savings is a website that is designed to do, well, just that. Save!

Here's a little bit of what they have to say:-

Most people pay too much money for things but never realise it, so they are always behind. They are always in debt and continually playing catch-up. It is a pretty horrible time-deprived way to live.

They do have a 'vault' and you can pay $47 to access all the tips and tricks members have put in there, but you can also browse all the other things they have for free, and learn a few things along the way just by doing that.

What I love is the monthly challenges they have in their "ATTACK YOUR DEBTS MONTH BY MONTH":-

January was 'Find a Better Deal' on your service providers for eg home phone, insurance, internet or credit card.

February was 'Find Time'. Finding spare time to then be able to think about what you're purchasing.

March is 'No Spend Month'.
Here's the blurb about this month.

Sometimes we need a big jolt to shake up our spending habits. So here's one for you! Your challenge for March is not to buy anything non-essential. The ONLY things you can buy this month are pure essentials such as basic food and prior bills. Ask yourself at the end of day, did you buy any non-essentials today? If not, tick the day as a success, well done!
I'll add the new challenge for each month to my blog, if only to keep myself reminded of what's in store.