If you get my emails, then you know that our family has a big financial undertaking coming up. We have never done anything of this magnitude before and that’s exciting and scary at the same time.

We are preparing to sponsor a family of Ukrainian refugees through Uniting for Ukraine, the US government’s program to help people fleeing from the war. The program allows them to come to the United States and stay (currently for a 2-year period) if they have a resident sponsor who is willing to provide financial support during their stay.

We learned about the program through a friend who was volunteering with REACH Humanity, an organization on the ground in Poland to help with the refugee crisis. The organization helps to match sponsors in the US with refugees who are looking to go to the United States.

We are just waiting for the paperwork to go through so that our new Ukrainian friends (a single mom with three children) can get their travel authorization.

As I have talked with friends and family about our experience preparing to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee family, many have asked the same questions. I thought it might be helpful to share some of those discussions here. If you have other questions that I don’t cover, feel free to ask. I’m happy to share our plan and thoughts (and experience once we have some!).

Q: Do you have a big house?

A: Compared to many people in the world, yes. By American standards, our house is pretty average. Our family of 8 lives in a 2200 square foot home. Adding four more people to our home would be tight, but doable. But, we actually have an additional 600 square foot apartment on our property. In the past be have rented it out, both as a long-term traditional rental and through Airbnb as a short-term rental. For the past year or so we have been earning about $2,000 per month from our rental, so that is income we won’t be earning while we are sponsoring the refugee family.

Q: What will you be financially responsible for?

A: Ultimately we are financially responsible for everything, though there are some resources that will help (I’ll cover that in a minute).  This includes but is not limited to:

• Housing
• Utilities
• Phones
• Food
• Diapers
• Transportation
• Clothing
• Household and personal items

The idea is that in the beginning they will be totally reliant on us, but as they learn English and find work, they can become more self-sufficient.

Q: How long will you be financially responsible for the refugee family?

A: The Uniting for Ukraine program allows for a 2-year parole. Currently the program requires them to return to Ukraine after two years, but that could change depending on what happens with the war.

Q: What will they be able to bring with them?

A: Different refugees will have different situations, but the answer is generally, not very much.  For the family coming to stay with us, because Kherson was under Russian military occupation when they fled, they could only bring a few of the kids’ things in a car full of refugees. Between the destruction of property since the invasion and living as refugees in Poland for the last six months, their financial resources are pretty well used up.

Q: What government and community resources are available?

A: Government and community resources to help Ukrainian refugees vary by state. Until our new friends arrive we won’t know exactly what is available, as different programs have different requirements and eligibility depends on their particular circumstances. They will eventually qualify for food assistance and state-sponsored health insurance, though it may take several months to get that all set up. There may be other aid available from community and faith-based organizations, but we can’t be sure what that will be at this point. Many of them have limited resources that are renewed and exhausted as donations arrive and are used.

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: Usually this “question” is phrased more like “Woah, that’s a huge commitment!” or “Wow! That will be a lot of money!”

It’s been a while that we’ve been feeling like we should give a little more. We feel very blessed with the life that we have and feel like we can share what we have with others.

Years ago I remember reading something from C.S. Lewis that struck me and has stayed with me.

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.

In addition to having a desire, there are a few ways that our family is uniquely equipped to serve in this particular capacity.

Not everyone has space for another family in their house, but we have a second residence on our property. Having a private apartment next door is pretty ideal to help out in a situation like this, as the refugees will need lots of one-on-one support as they get settled in a completely foreign country where they don’t know the culture or speak the language.

As a family of eight already, we’re kind of equipped for chaos. While I don’t think it could ever by trivial to suddenly adopt a family of four, it might be even more overwhelming for a single person or a smaller family to take on those additions. We’ve been easing in to increased complexity for years as our family grows. Although this is a different sort of complexity, we feel maybe less intimidated by four new family members than a smaller family might feel.

There’s nothing really stopping us. There are a lot of people whose situations might wholly preclude them from sponsoring a refugee family. We are so fortunate right now. We qualify under the federal requirements for the program. We aren’t facing any really challenging illness or disability. We have space. We aren’t living on the teetering edge of financial solvency. There is no hard barrier that would stop us from sharing. So we’ll try it.

We’ve spent many years learning and practicing frugal living. Knowing how to budget and live frugally can help us  provide for another family most cost efficiently. We can help them be wise in managing money in a foreign economic system so that they can be successful when they are out on their own.

My own experience includes a unique qualification because I studied TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in college. Before our children arrived, I was an English teacher to adults from all over the world. Learning English will be the one of the biggest factors in their successful integration.

We are hoping that with us taking care of the complexity, housing, teaching English, and helping with language and culture integration, we will be able to count on help from our “village” with regard to finances. We realize that’s taking a leap of faith to count on our community (both locally and virtually) to help with the financial burden that comes with wholly supporting a new family, but we have a pretty amazing community.

Q: How can we help?

A: This is my favorite question because in I envisioned this being a community effort. We have the apartment, our time, and our talents that we are willing to dedicate to the cause, but we want to share the opportunity to give and serve (along with the blessings that will surely come).

Here are some WAYS YOU CAN HELP from anywhere:

• Donate any amount— If you have the flexibility in your budget to make a monthly recurring donation, you will have that option through that same link. Having your support on a recurring basis would be really amazing! One-time donations are, of course, also much appreciated!

• Target registry— I made a wish list of the items that the family will need so that we can have the apartment stocked when they arrive. They’ll be coming essentially with just the clothes on their backs.
• Target gift cards (at bottom of registry)– In addition to the specific items on the registry, you can simply order a gift card. This will allow our Ukrainian friends to choose and purchase clothes, shoes, and other personal items themselves. There is no shipping or tax on gift cards and there are no extra fees, so if you buy a $20 gift card, the family will get the full $20.

The post Sponsoring Ukrainian Refugees- Answering Your Questions + How to Help appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Back in November when I was taking a break from blogging, we were blindsided by a massive, completely unexpected bill. If you’ve been around here much, you know that Mike and I faithfully budget each month and are pretty on-top-of our finances. So how could we get surprised by a $1,500 bill?

I’m finally ready to talk about it.

If you look back at our September 2022 budget update, you’ll see that our water bill was surprisingly high. To make it easy, I’ll paste the excerpt from that budget update below.

Water – $260 We got a shocking water bill of $445. We had set aside $185 in August and had to budget the remainder in September (this bill comes every other month). Last weekend Mike discovered the reason. Most of our garden terraces are on timers, but the orchard terraces weren’t on timers yet. We water the fruit trees overnight, once a month. He had turned the water on the orchard and forgotten to turn it off the next morning, so the drip system on the trees was running for an entire month. Now looking up on the hill, standing out against the general landscape colored by drought, I see the vibrant green weeds growing through the woodchips around our young fruit trees. Sadly, our next bill that comes in November is also going to reflect part of this expensive oversight.

The thing about water bills, at least where we live, is they aren’t a direct reflection of water used during the dates of the bill because we don’t have smart meters. About half of the meters in our county use technology that allows meters to be read automatically. The other half of the meters, like ours, are not easily accessed and read by the water company on the exact day of your bill. The meters are actually read by a person– a meter reader.  The meter reader cannot read everyone’s meters on the last day of the billing cycle, so even though your bill says it covers a certain time period, what your actually paying for is the water used between the last two times the meter was read.

So when we got the “shocking” $445 water bill in September and then found the orchard water running full tilt, we thought we had caught and solved the problem before it would have very much effect on our next bill. I didn’t think about it too much, but I did keep my eye out for the next bill.

Expecting a slightly elevated bill of maybe $200 (our November bill the previous year was $160) to a worst case scenario of $300, I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the email that showed November’s bill as $1,556!

Not thinking about the meter reader situation explained above, I was sure there was some other problem besides leaving the orchard water running for a month or so straight.

I thought back to the trenching we had done recently to bring water over to the garden. Instead of hoses going from the house up to the terraced hillside garden, we now have spigots with good pressure on every terrace. Did the workers somehow make a leak underground somewhere? This whole project already left a bad taste in my mouth because the cost came in much higher than expected! You can imagine my frustration now as I suspected that they also caused us to have a $1,500 water bill.

Mike was pretty sure that we had already discovered the sole culprit– the orchard water that was left running for a month. He explained that the meter must have been read just after the beginning of the watering oversight (September bill) and then the next meter reading included the majority of the expensive mistake (November bill)

I wasn’t convinced.

Mostly, I was afraid of waiting two months for our next bill and having another insane bill to face.

For some perspective, In 2021, we paid $950 total for water, for the entire year. This one bill was more than 150% of what we spent for the entire previous year.

To test Mike’s hypothesis that there was no other leak (that the problem had been solved months ago by turning off the orchard water), Mike took a picture of the water meter and we didn’t use water for 12 hours. We were sleeping for the majority of the experiment, so it wasn’t very hard to go without water. I told all the kids what we were doing, then put a sock on every faucet, taped the handle on every toilet, tape on the washer knobs, and put bags over the shower heads. We were between renters in our Airbnb, so it was the perfect time to do a test like this.

The next morning Mike hiked up to the meter to find… it hadn’t changed! Hooray for no hidden underground leaks! I could now rest a little easier until the next bill.

I’m elated to report that when we got January’s bill, our bill was a mere $120. I’ve never been so happy about a bill in my life!

So what’s the takeaway?

For us, it’s definitely to get all of our water on timers and check them regularly to make sure nothing gets left on.

But there’s a big takeaway for you too. What would you do (or what have you done) if you suddenly had an unexpected expense of $1,500 that you didn’t budget for?

How we cover unexpected expenses

I didn’t talk about how we covered the bill. While we absolutely did not want to spend $1,500 on water, I’m grateful that we had money to move around to cover the bill.

It has not always been so easy.

We have a three-part plan for covering unexpected expenses. Even when we were on a very tight budget as we paid off six figures of student loan debt we followed this same plan for dealing with unexpected expenses. Here is our plan for handling unexpected expenses.

1- Change how our money is allocated

At any time in the month we can change how our money is assigned. We can take funds from one category and move it to another category. We do this every month in small ways. If we want to spend more on clothes, we might choose to move some funds from our food category to the clothing category. Moving money around is a normal part of having a flexible budget. It’s hard to break a flexible budget.

We always try to have a big financial goal that we’re working toward, like paying off debt or saving up for something. Normally we funnel all of our “extra” funds to our goal. When we set our budget at the beginning of the month, anything that is left after funding all of our normal budget categories will go toward our big goal. At the end of the month we zero out most budget categories and put all of that toward our goal (rather than rolling it over to the next month).

Covering our $1,500 unexpected bill was a matter of moving money around. Our current goal is paying for solar, so all of our extra money goes toward this goal each month. Instead of putting extra money toward solar that month, we paid the minimum so that we would have money for the water bill.

2- Split the cost with next month’s budget

Being able to split a cost with the next month’s budget is a benefit of being a month ahead. We budget using last month’s income, so the money that has come in this month is just sitting there waiting for next month to start. We have the ability to split the cost of a bill over two months because we have the cash for the second month available.

We used this strategy most recently with the garden trenching project I mentioned earlier. The bill was more than we could have handled by just changing how our money that month was allocated. We had to budget two months tightly and split the bill over those two months. Since the funds were actually in our bank account for the two months (because we are a month ahead), we had the cash to pay for the bill.

3- Hit up the emergency fund

Our last resort (besides debt) is using our emergency fund. There have been very few occasions where we needed to use our emergency fund and that’s the way we like to keep it. Having worked hard to build up an emergency fund, we want to do all that we can to avoid using it. It is comforting to have an emergency fund, but for us the best way to use our emergency fund is to not use our emergency fund.

On the few occasions that we have used or “borrowed from” our emergency fund, we have made paying it back quickly a priority.

We usually manage unexpected expenses in the first step of this three-part plan.  When we need to move to step two, like we did last November, it’s a huge relief to have the additional flexibility. The handful of times we’ve need to resort to step 3 have been actual budget savers.  Over the last ten years we’ve been fortunate to fit every unplanned expense, from small overspending to a few thousand in unplanned costs, into our three-part plan. It has helped us keep our budget flexible and robust and saved us a lot of stress and headache.

I hope it was helpful to see how our family handles unplanned expenses. If you don’t have a plan for dealing with those frustrating expenses that pop up, now is the time to make one so they don’t completely derail your finances.

You can do this!

How about you?

What unexpected expenses have you been hit with?

Do you have a general plan for handling unexpected expenses in your budget?

The post A $1,500 Mistake– How We Deal With unexpected Expenses appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Merry Christmas friends!  It’s the last day of our Frugal Festivities series and today we’re talking about gratitude.  Specifically let’s talk about how to teach your kids to receive with gratitude.

If you’re reading this on Christmas day, then you might have a renewed desire to teach your kids about gratitude after watching them plow through piles of presents.   Or you might be appreciating how gracious and grateful your kids have been.  Either way, I hope you will share your ideas and your struggles in the comments.  I’m no expert, but I want to share what has helped in our family.

Helping kids to feel and express gratitude is something that should last all your long, not just around the holidays. And not just about physical gifts.  Helping kids to notice and really think about their opportunities and privileges, gives them a perspective that will lead them to be more appreciative and less entitled. It really is an attitude that we can model and cultivate that will lead to a happier life.

So what can you do?  Here are 5 ideas:

Recognize Blessings

As you recognize blessings in your life, point them out to your children.  You might have an inner dialogue of “Gee, I’m really thankful that…” or “What a blessing that….” but if your kids don’t hear that dialogue they won’t know.  Hearing your daily expressions of gratitude will instill thoughts of gratitude in them.

Model Gratitude

Let your kids hear you saying thank you for both big and little things.  Thank them for the things they do to help your family.  Let them see you writing thank you notes and expressing gratitude both to people in person and behind their backs.

Pray together

When we pray we give thanks out loud for blessings and tender mercies we have received from God.  Praying daily both as individuals and as families gives us a chance to reflect on what we are thankful for.  We often discuss things we are grateful for before family prayer and will often remind that child who has been asked to be the voice of the prayer, “remember to thank Heavenly Father for…”

Write thank you cards

Help your children write thank you cards for gifts they receive from anyone on any occasion. When you give a teacher appreciation gift, have your child think about the reasons they are thankful for their teacher and express those thoughts in a written card.

Don’t over-gift

Be careful not to give so many gifts so that your children are overwhelmed with stuff and can hardly even remember what they should be grateful for.  When we give our kids everything they want, we help breed an entitlement mentality.  Sometimes the best way to teach gratitude is to NOT give our kids everything they want, so they can focus on all that they DO have.

I hope these five simple tips help you build grateful character in your children.  When children (and adults) truly have an attitude of gratitude they see the world with different eyes.  I love the Alphonse Karr quote, “Some people grumble that roses have thorns, I’m grateful that thorns have roses.”

A perspective like this will increase happiness and self worth, and reduce insecurity and entitlement in kids and adults.  It may be a good thing to focus on in the new year.

The post Teaching Kids to Receive with Gratitude appeared first on Six Figures Under.

I love hearing about different families’ traditions on Christmas morning.  The beautiful thing about Christmas morning traditions is that most of them don’t cost a thing.  If your family is looking to adopt some new traditions for Christmas morning, then stay tuned because that’s what we’re sharing today!

Let’s talk about simple, frugal Christmas morning traditions.  I would love for you to share your family’s favorite Christmas morning traditions in the comments!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Whip up a batch or two of your favorite cinnamon rolls to bake on Christmas morning.  If you have a freezer version, you can make them ahead of time so you don’t have to stress about them at all on Christmas Eve.

Reading Luke 2

Before we start opening presents, we read together the story of the first Christmas as recorded in Luke chapter 2 of the Bible.  We’ll usually sing a couple of Christmas carols together and have a family prayer. We remind the kids that we give gifts to one another in memory of the greatest gift that God gave to the world, his Son. This sets the tone of gratitude for our family.

Opening presents one by one in age order

We always open gifts one by one.  Not only does this make the magic of gift opening last longer, but it gives everyone a chance to see what everyone got and gives them a chance to thank the giver (if they’re there).  We go around from youngest to oldest and everyone opens one gift on their turn.  Sometimes mom and dad will skip rounds since we usually don’t have as many gifts as the kiddos.  If there is an uneven number of gifts (which there often is), the children who are out of gifts will open one of the family gifts (usually a game, movie, or something to be shared by the whole family).

Calling Family

When I was growing up we lived far from family (like two thousand miles away), so we rarely got to see them. Christmas was a time when we talked to grandparents on the phone.  With all the advances in technology, our kids have many more options for communication with far away family, but it’s still special to talk to everyone on Christmas day.

How about you?

• What Christmas morning traditions does your family have?  Please share a favorite in the comments below!

Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about teaching your children to receive with gratitude.

The post Christmas Morning Traditions That Don’t Cost Anything appeared first on Six Figures Under.

We’re nearing the end of the Christmas season.  Did you stress about money?  Are you dreading your upcoming credit card bills?  Want to be in a better financial position next Christmas?

You can be in a completely different financial situation by next Christmas.  Imagine not being burdened by Christmas expenses before or after the holidays.  Think about how nice it will be to just enjoy the season and spend time with loved ones without being overwhelmed by money stress.

I’m going to share with you 3 things you can do now that will put you in a better position financially for next Christmas.

1- Calculate your total Christmas spending from this year

While Christmas is still fresh, go through all of your receipts and think back on everything Christmas-related that you spent money on.  Add it all up to find out how much you spend on Christmas this year.

Here are some categories you’ll want to be sure to include:

• Christmas cards— Include price of cards and postage
• Travel— Driving to Grandma’s house? Flying to New York? Staying in hotels and eating on the road? Include all expenses for your trips
• Gifts— Who did you buy presents for? Immediate family, extended family, neighbors, teachers, friends, bosses, co-workers? Include:
  • Stocking stuffers
  • Wrapping supplies
  • Mailing gifts
• Holiday Treats— For your family and to share
• Food— Are you hosting a meal or attending a holiday potluck?  Do you go to a certain restaurant every Christmas Eve?
• Decorations— Be sure to include the tree if that’s an annual expense
• Charitable Giving— What special giving do you do during the holidays?
• Other— Does your family have another tradition that involves an expense?  Maybe you go see the Nutcracker or ride the Polar Express.

When you’ve written down an exhaustive list of spending in each category, add everything up to get a grand total for Christmas spending.

This might sound tedious. You might feel buyer’s remorse.  You might think that you really don’t want to know how much you spent.  And you might be shocked when you see how much you really spend on Christmas! But knowing how much you spent is important for making a plan and being prepared for next year.

2-Make a plan for next year

Now that you know how much you spent on this year’s Christmas, it’s time to make plans for how much you want to spend next year.  Would you like next year’s Christmas to look the same as this year’s as far as spending goes?  Do you plan to scale back?  Or do you want to have a bigger budget to work with?

There’s not a right answer.  It’s completely up to you– it’s your holiday and your money.  Make any adjustments to your Christmas plans for next year and come up with a dollar amount for next year’s Christmas budget.

Now that you know how much your Christmas budget will be, we need to make a plan to come up with that amount of money.

–I think the easiest way to do it is to just take the total, divide by 12 and budget that amount in each month.  You don’t have to do it like that though.

–You could set aside a certain amount out of every paycheck.

–Maybe some months you get an additional paycheck (like when a month has 5 Fridays) and you decide that your Christmas fund will come from one of those paychecks.

–If you’re a cash user you could even do one of those $5 challenges where you save every $5 bill that you get.  Do what works best for you, but make a plan.

Decide where you’re going to keep your Christmas fund.

–You could get a free saving account that you transfer money into.  One of my blog readers, Rebecca, said that her bank offers a “Christmas Club” for this purpose.

–If you use budgeting software like YNAB that acts like a digital envelope system, then you can just leave the money in your checking account.  Since you spend according to budget category balances instead of your checking account balance you won’t accidentally spend that money that’s earmarked for Christmas.

–If you’re a cash envelope user, you could have a cash envelope designated for your Christmas money.  You could even have a wrapped Christmas gift box where you stash all of those $5 bills!

3- Start tracking your expenses

When you first start budgeting it’s hard to know how much money to allocate to each category.  If you haven’t been tracking your expenses you might not have any idea how much you’ve been spending in each category.

Not only will you set a better budget when you know how much you spend, you’ll also become much more aware of each and every time you spend money.  You’ll see how all of the little expenses add up. Sometimes you’ll find that what your spending money on is completely unrelated to what you think your actual priorities are! Knowing where your money is going is the only way to start making more intentional decisions about how you spend.

Much like tracking food intake when you’re on a diet, tracking your spending makes you hyper aware THAT you are spending.  Knowing you’ll have to write the expense down may prevent you from making it, or at least  make you think about it before you make the purchase.

Join the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge

We’ll talk more about tracking expenses, budgeting, and improving your finances in the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge.  When you sign up for the challenge, you can download the free workbook.

I’m so excited for you to get your finances in a better place for next Christmas.  I’m excited for you to be able to relax and enjoy the special season without the financial stress you may have felt in the past.

Making big changes won’t be easy.  It will take discipline to create new habits.  You’ll have to make sacrifices.  But staying in the same place you’re at right now? That might not be easy either.

I hope you’re feeling hopeful.  You can make huge financial strides between now and next Christmas.  You’ve got this!

The post 3 Ways to Improve Your Finances for Next Christmas appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Hands down, the single easiest way to improve a holiday meal is to add homemade cranberry sauce.

Please don’t make the mistake of associating this special treat with that jellied cranberry stuff that comes in a can. The two aren’t even related. Real homemade cranberry sauce is to canned cranberry sauce what freshly sliced garden-grown tomatoes are to canned stewed tomatoes–they each claim to have some of the same stuff, but you would never make the mistake of pouring stewed tomatoes onto your ham sandwich.

The unmistakable splash of deep red and the distinctive sweet tartness of fresh cranberry sauce is unlike anything else on your Christmas table. The good news is that homemade cranberry sauce is also probably the easiest thing you’ll make.

It’s almost as easy as boiling water.

Homemade cranberry sauce has just three ingredients:

1. 12 oz bag (about 3 cups) of fresh or frozen cranberries
2. 1 cup water
3. 1 cup sugar

That’s it.

The directions are just as simple as the ingredients.

1. In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar into the water.
2. Add cranberries and bring to a boil.
3. Boil softly for five or ten minutes, until almost all of the berries are popped. There will be a few whole berries still, but the sauce is done if those whole berries pop when you gently squeeze them against the side of the saucepan with a spoon.

Set the sauce aside to cool. When it’s down to room temperate, stick it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to put it on the table.

Eat your homemade cranberry sauce on your meat, on potatoes, with rolls, as it’s own small side, or on sandwiches with holiday meal leftovers. You really can’t go wrong combining it with anything.

Because cranberry sauce is best after being thoroughly chilled, it’s a great dish to make the day before, or even a few days before, your big meal. That means it adds to your dinner without adding to your kitchen work on the day of dinner itself.

We usually use double or triple the recipe to make sure we have enough to feed everyone and still have some leftovers.

So when you’re getting ready for Christmas dinner this year, grab some fresh cranberries and enjoy homemade cranberry sauce!

The post Homemade Cranberry Sauce appeared first on Six Figures Under.

One of the things I love about the Christmas season is the abundance of homemade treats!  Our 25 days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget wouldn’t be complete without sharing one of my favorite holiday treat recipes: my grandma’s Molasses Sugar Cookie recipe.  I love the way these molasses sugar cookies are soft and slightly chewy.  The molasses with along with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon just tastes like Christmas to me!

Not only are they delicious, they’re simple too. When I was in elementary school I made these to enter into the fair and came home with a blue ribbon.

If you’re a visual learner, the short video below will show you exactly how to make them, or you can continue reading the instructions below.  At the bottom of the post is a printable version of the recipe.

The ingredients are pretty basic things you probably have in your pantry with the possible exception of the molasses.  Not everyone keeps that on hand.  I really only have it to make these cookies.
Besides molasses, you’ll need sugar, an egg, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, and shortening.

Shortening isn’t my favorite kind of fat to bake with. I only use it for this receipe and for pie crust.  I prefer to bake with butter. I’ve tried substituting butter in molasses sugar cookies and they don’t turn out the same.  They still taste good, but they are very flat.  So we use shortening.

Ingredients

3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teapsoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt shortening over low heat until is is completely liquid.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely.  I’m honestly not sure what this does or why it’s a step in the recipe, but this is how my grandma (who is an amazing baker) taught me, so I do it.

When the shortening has cooled, add in 1/4 cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg.  To minimize dirty dishes, I just use the pan instead of a bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the pan.  This will make a somewhat stiff dough.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 min.

Roll dough into balls then roll balls in sugar.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

I wish I could share some with each of you, so you would know how yummy they are, but you’ll just have to trust me and go make a batch or two to see for yourself.

What is your favorite homemade holiday treat?

Print Recipe

Molasses Sugar Cookies

 

Print

Soft and chewy Molasses Sugar Cookies are a holiday favorite!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Recipe type: Cookie

Serves: 2.5-3 dozen

Ingredients

• ¾ cup shortening
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teapsoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Melt shortening over low heat until is is completely liquid. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely.
2. When the shortening has cooled, add in ¼ cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg. To minimize dirty dishes, I just use the pan instead of a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the pan. This will make a somewhat stiff dough.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 min.
6. Roll dough into balls then roll balls in sugar.
7. Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
8. Cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to cooling rack.

3.5.3251

The post The Best Molasses Sugar Cookies appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Would you give a second hand gift for Christmas? Does the thought of thrift store Christmas shopping make you cringe?  It’s kind of a controversial topic.

Today in our series of 25 Days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget we’ll talk about WHY you might consider doing some Christmas shopping at the thrift store and WHEN it’s okay to give a second hand gift (and when it’s not). We’ll also talk about WHAT kinds of things to look for at the thrift store as a potential gift.

If you ask around, you’ll find strong opinions on the topic of giving gifts purchased second hand, so some of you may be wondering WHY in the world you would want to buy Christmas gifts at the thrift store?

WHY you might want to shop for gifts at the thrift store

The most obvious reason would be because you have a TIGHT BUDGET.  Your dollars will go much further at a thrift store than they will at a regular department store.  You can cover Christmas gifts at a fraction of the price that you would pay if you bought everything new.

Another reason might be because you want to FOCUS ON YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS.  Just because you’re frugal and choose to budget your money does not mean you’re broke. You might have the money to buy expensive new gifts but choose to buy more economical gifts instead so that you can reach your financial goals (like getting out of debt or saving for a house) faster.

You might also choose to shop for presents at the thrift store because you want to be able TO GIVE MORE.  If you’re sticking to a certain dollar amount for each person on your list, you’ll be able to make those dollars go further if you consider second hand gifts.

As a society, we’re bigger consumers now than we’ve ever been. We have lots of stuff and we waste a lot! Shopping second hand is a way to BE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE than buying brand new stuff.

Plus, you can find some pretty UNIQUE TREASURES at a thrift store that you wouldn’t be able to find or afford at a traditional store.  This makes for some memorable, one-of-a-kind gifts.

WHEN a second hand gift is the right choice

Is it socially acceptable to give a second hand gift? Can you go Christmas shopping at the thrift store?

The answer, of course, is… it depends.

It’s not cut and dry. Whether it’s appropriate to give “used” gifts as opposed to new depends on who the gift is for, so your answer will depend on the person and the situation.

In addition to providing something tangible for someone else, the purpose of a gift is to show love.  If your recipient will feel love from a gift that is used, then definitely go for it!

If, on the other hand, for whatever reason you think a used gift would have the opposite effect for your recipient, then buying used may not be a good idea for that person.

When it comes to kids, it will depend on what precedent you have set.  If shopping at second hand stores is a normal thing in your family, your kids probably won’t think twice about a Christmas gift that isn’t brand spankin’ new.  In fact our kids have started doing some of their own Christmas shopping at the Thrift store.  I’ll tell you more about that in a second.

HOW to find great gifts at the thrift store

Once you’ve established that a beautiful used gift would be appreciated by your recipient, how do you choose one?

There’s certainly an art to finding great gifts at the thrift store.  Gifts from the thrift store often take more thought and time than just having something shipped from Amazon, but you will save a lot of money.

Let me share with you a few general tips for getting great gifts from the thrift store then I’ll share some categories of gifts that are great to look for at the thrift store.

My first tip is to START EARLY.  Thrift stores are hit or miss. Shop all year long and pick up future gifts when you see them. Back on Day 6 of this series I mentioned taking a stroll past the game section of the thrift store every time you go in to see if there are any  great games in excellent condition. Expand that advice to anything that you would consider gifting. Maybe the picture frame aisle is one you want to check out on a regular basis all year long.

My second tip is to KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR.  If you’re just blindly walking through the store for a gift, you probably won’t find one. One of the huge differences between a regular store and a thrift store is how they’re marketng to you. In a department store you have signs and displays to grab your attention. Brands pay big bucks to have their product placed at eye level or on a prominent endcap.

At the thrift store you’re pretty much on your own to come with ideas of what you’re looking for for the people on your giving list. You’re way more likely to be successful when you’ve put some thought into the gift that you’re looking for.

INSPECT and inspect again. There’s nothing worse than thinking that you scored big at the thrift store then realize at home that that pair of designer jeans has a hole (where there isn’t supposed to be one) or that game is missing a piece. This is even more important when you’re giving a gift!  Be super critical when you inspect something from the thrift store that you’re considering giving as a gift.  You’ll want it to be in like-new condition.

Another tip is to ask yourself, “WOULD I WANT TO RECEIVE THIS?”  Would the potential gift be something that you would happily receive?  I’m much more likely to give a thrift store second hand gift than I am to regift something that was given to me. The reason is that I want to be able to stand behind my gift and give something that I love. If I’m regifting something it’s mostly because it was something I didn’t love. Unless I know the recipient would love it, then why would I give the recipient my castoffs?

WHAT to buy as a gift from the thrift store

Here are some tips about what to look for.

Books– You can find SO many great books in great condition.

Games/puzzles– Find ones that are either unopened or that you’re sure have all of the pieces.

Purses/Bags– You can often find high quality handbags in good condition for amazing prices.

Toys– Find toys that work, have all the parts, and will clean up nicely. Your kids won’t care that it’s not covered in plastic packaging.

Jewelery– You can find a huge variety of jewelery priced very inexpensively.

Sports/outdoor equipment– Look for items with little wear and use that were possibly donated just because the original owner didn’t use them.

Candles, home decor items– You’ll find candles that are brand new and a wide variety of beautiful home decor items.

Mugs– Add some hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows for a quick gift.

Glassware, vases–  Add some treats to a serving plate or flowers to a vase.

Frames– If you can look past what’s currently in the frame, you can find great frames at thrift stores. Replace what’s in the frame with a family picture, a chalk board or dry erase board or search pinterest for upcycled frame ideas

Clothing– You have to be careful buying clothes as gifts because thrift stores usually don’t have returns or exchanges if the item doesn’t fit.  I probably wouldn’t buy clothes for most people, but for my kids and husband I totally would (and do) buy and gift clothes from the thrift store.

In the past our kids have done their shopping for members of our family at the dollar store. Before they had their own money, I would allot them each enough money for a gift for each person in our family. It was good practice thinking about what other people would enjoy and helped them focus on and get excited about giving. As our kids have grown and now have their own money to spend, they prefer finding gifts at the thrift store because they can get more for their money and give what they consider a better gift than they would otherwise be able to give.

This year one child bought another a pogo stick for $3.50 at the thrift store on half-off day.  Another child bought some fun games for the younger kids.  They also found some great books as gifts.  And some of the clothes that I’ll be giving the kids are second hand.

If you haven’t thought of looking for gifts at the thrift store, don’t be afraid to give it a try!

How about you?

• Have you ever shopped for a gift at the thrift store?
• What are your thoughts on second-hand gift giving?

The post Can You Give Gifts from the Thrift Store? appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Want to simplify Christmas and make it more meaningful, while saving money at the same time?  Today we’re going to talk about why you might seriously consider staying home with your immediate family for Christmas.  You might not be able to change your plans for this year, but as you’re considering plans for future years, here are some great things to think about.  At the end we’ll share some ideas to handle sensitive family situations.

We’re on day 19 of our Frugal Festivities series.  If you missed any of our 25 days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget posts you can see them all here.

Ok, let’s talk about why you might want to forgo the trip over the river and thru the woods to grandma’s (or anyone else’s) house for Christmas.  Sounds kinda Grinchy at first, doesn’t it?!  But this is something I’ve heard over and over from my blog readers that has really helped them to scale back their Christmas budgets and increase the joy and meaning of Christmas.

This isn’t to say that you can’t have wonderfully successful Christmases with extended family– I’ve had them, both as a child and a parent– but it’s definitely something to think about if your Christmases with extended family are causing you stress, overspending, and sadness.

Consider staying home instead of traveling

Here are four reasons you might want to consider staying home instead of traveling. I’m not even going to mention the actual travel costs, but you’ll definitely want to take them into consideration.  If you have additional ideas please share them in the comments.

Traveling with kids over the holidays is EXHAUSTING.  Well, traveling with kids is exhausting period, but doing it over Christmas is even more overwhelming.  You have to pack all of your Christmas gifts up and squeeze them into your car or luggage while keeping them a secret. Depending on where you live, the weather may be treacherous during the Christmas season. Just thinking about driving in the snow makes me feel stressed!

Having Christmas morning with extended family can be STRESSFUL and AWKWARD, especially when there are cousins or kids from other families there.  We all want Christmas to be special and magical for our kids, but that can be hard when opening gifts side-by-side with family members who have different Christmas budgets and expectations.  Even just the fear of how kids will handle the inevitable comparisons is enough to be stressful.

Having Christmas with extended family might make you feel PRESSURE TO BUY MORE GIFTS.  Whether it’s buying a gift for great Aunt Sue just because she’ll be there at the family dinner, or feeling like you should buy more or bigger gifts for your kids because they’ll be opening them alongside their cousins, a gift that’s given out of duty or reluctance isn’t good for your budget and will not put you in the Christmas spirit.

At home you can establish your OWN FAMILY TRADITIONS. Those years we have traveled, our own traditions, even decorating our house, have fallen by the wayside.  There’s just something about decorating your own home, putting up your own tree, and just taking the Christmas season in without having to add travel to the itinerary.  One of the main reasons we stopped traveling at Christmas was so we could really establish our own Christmas traditions.

How to say no to holiday travel

So how do you say no to holiday travel without being seen as a scrooge or grinch?

Give reasons that won’t offend.

Don’t blame others in your reasoning.  Use “I” or “we” statements to share how you feel rather than point fingers at others.

Say you want to try something new this year and want to have a more relaxed Christmas at home.

Explain that you feel it’s best for your kids and your family.  No one can argue with how you feel.

Try making a compromise by waiting until after Christmas to travel so you can still have your own traditions and a more intimate gift exchanging in your own home.  You won’t have to pack up the holidays and have the travel stress before Christmas, you won’t have the gift giving pressure or expectation to spend that you might have with extended family, but you’ll still have the opportunity to visit family and build strong family relationships.

How about you?

I would love to hear how you’ve handled traveling to spend Christmas with family.

• Do you do Christmas morning with extended family? Is it a great experience?
• What advice would you give to others in similar situations?

The post 4 Reasons to Stay Home for Christmas appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Homemade brownie mix in a mason jar is a fast, easy, and inexpensive gift.  Plus the fudgy brownies are delicious!

Brownie mix in a jar is a great neighbor gift, teacher gift, or hostess gift.  Mixes in mason jars are quick to make, especially when you do them assembly line style.  I love gifts like this that are consumable and don’t create clutter.

Brownie mix in a jar is a gift that children can help make too!  Your kids will love being able to give their teachers a useful, delicious gift that they made themselves!

I have a quick video below that will show you exactly how to make brownie mix in a jar along with tips to make your gift in a jar turn out beautiful.  Or you can keep scrolling for the details along with a printable recipe (for you) and printable tags (for the recipient).

Tips for layering brownie mix in a canning jar

• This recipe is for a QUART mason jar.
• The funnel that I use for canning works great to make sure everything gets into the jar without a mess.
• Adding the ingredients in the order listed works best.  The chocolate chips need to be on the top, otherwise they will be buried and hidden.  The cocoa gets on the side of the jar, so it’s a good candidate for going near the top.
• Shake each layer down so it’s flat before adding the next layer.  For brown sugar, you’ll want to use a spoon.
• If you prefer brownies without nuts, leave them out and fill their space with more chocolate chips.

Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix

• 1 cups + 2 Tablespoon flour
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions for Using Homemade Brownie Mix

Mix contents of jar with:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cups water
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into a greased 9″ square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Cool and enjoy!

Click here to download the printable PDF of the tags/labels.

Printable Recipe and Instructions for Making Brownie Mix in a Jar

3.8 from 4 reviews

Homemade Fudgy Brownie Mix

 

Print

Homemade brownie mixes are perfect for your pantry. They also make great gifts when they're layered in a jar!

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cups cocoa
• ½ cups chocolate chips
• ½ cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Add ingredients to a 1 quart canning jar (or quart-size zip-top plastic bag) in the order listed.
2. Include the following instructions for using the mix:
3. Mix contents of jar with: 2 eggs, ¼ c. water, ⅔ c. oil, 1 t. vanilla
4. Pour into a greased 9″ square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

3.5.3251

Click here to see the rest of the series Frugal Festivities: 25 Days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget series

Originally published 30 May 2014 but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

The post Fudgy Brownie Mix in a Jar– Fast and Easy Homemade Gift appeared first on Six Figures Under.

If you’ve ever had trouble thinking of a gift for the people in your life, I have the perfect solution for you!

In a society where excess is so prevalent, one of the biggest gift-giving worries is knowing what to give the person who already has everything they want or already has enough.

It’s not just seasoned adults that fit into this category.  While our parents might not want for anything, our children could also have plenty.

There are even lists of ideas for people who “already have everything,” full of wacky new gadgets or new items to add to ongoing collections.

But the truth is, most people don’t need more stuff.

For kids, stuff is exciting for a week or two (a month if you’re lucky), but then it starts to gather dust (on the shelf, if you’re lucky).  Kids rooms and play areas become cluttered with the toys, games and clothes they are showered with.

While your house may not look like an episode of Hoarders (thankfully), you still probably have more stuff than you need.

What can you give that isn’t more “stuff”?

Give gifts of experience instead!

Gifts of experience are consumed, instead of turning into clutter, breaking, or gathering dust.  The experiences and memories created from doing something can far outlast the pleasure of getting something.

They could be tried and true like a gift card to a favorite restaurant or a season pass to a local zoo the family loves.

Or they could be totally new like tickets to a cultural event or lessons to learn a new skill.

Gifts of experience can be adapted to whatever your budget is.  I’ll start with some you can spend money on and then share some great ways that don’t cost a dime!

Spend money on gifts of experience instead of “stuff”

Here are some great ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Tickets to a one-time event

Think sports events, plays, musicals, concerts, etc.

Last year, my in-laws received tickets to a symphony.  That’s something that they both totally enjoy, but not something they would ever buy for themselves.

The hard part about this is that you usually have to pick a certain date for tickets when you have no idea what their schedule is.  Usually you can get tickets far enough in advance that they can plan for it though.

Admission to fun places

Think zoos, museums, amusement parks, etc.

Instead of a ticket for a specific concert, you could also give a one-time admission to somewhere fun.  Most fun places that are open year round allow you to buy admission tickets ahead of time that are good for anytime (or at least have a wide variety of options for redemption).

Lessons to learn something new

Have you ever thought of giving the gift of learning at Christmas?  Whether it’s a one time pottery or painting class, a series of dance classes, or a year of piano lessons, the gift of learning is a gift that sticks.

You can often find deals on gifts of learning on Groupon or Living Social.  My dad, an avid golfer, got my mom a series of golf lessons from a deal on Groupon.  She was excited to learn and he was excited to have someone (that wasn’t him) teach her.

Last year my friend’s husband totally surprised her with a cello and lessons for Christmas so she could fulfill a lifelong dream to learn to play the cello.

Gift certificate for a restaurant

Whether it’s a restaurant in the area that is already a favorite, or something new they haven’t tried, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with food.  Keep their personalities in mind.  Some prefer dining in (and don’t mind covering a tip), while others would love getting takeout instead.

My parents can be tough to buy for.  They surely don’t need any “stuff.”  When they need something they just go and buy it.  Last year we got them a gift certificate for a restaurant we thought they would enjoy.

Membership or Season passes to a fun or educational place

You can get a membership or season tickets at many zoos, aquariums, museums, science centers, and amusement parks.  In fact, the price is often not much more than a one- or two-time admission.  Depending on the location, the price may be individual or by family.  When it’s a family pass or membership, sometimes the price is the same no matter the number of family members, making it a great gift for big families.

Unlike tickets to a specific event, a season pass can completely work around the person’s or family’s schedule.  They can go as often as they want.  In fact, it may really help the entertainment category of their budget to have something fun to do that’s already paid for.  And the bonus is that they will think of you every time they use their passes.

Gifts of experience that don’t cost much

Giving an awesome gift of experience doesn’t have to cost much.  Think back to the “coupons” or “vouchers” you made for your mom for mother’s day when you were young.

This coupon is good for one free hug.

Redeem this certificate for a free car wash.

Turn this ticket in for breakfast in bed.

Gifts of experience can be as simple and sweet as your mother’s day coupons from decades past.  Think about a service that the recipient would really love and offer it to them as a gift.  Think of how you can use your own talents and skills.  Here are a few examples.

Massage

Homemade candlelight dinner for two

Manicure/pedicure

Car wash and detail

Guitar lessons

The list of services you could perform goes on and on.  The key is that you are giving something that isn’t a physical item that takes up space.  You are offering something that, while it may have a physical aspect (like pretty nails or a clean car), focuses on the experience or the process.

You could also give many of the experiences in the first list, only adapt them to be free.  Here are a couple of examples:

Instead of giving a gift certificate for a restaurant, you could create a restaurant atmosphere and try your hand at some copycat recipe.  Just search (on Google or Pinterest) for “copycat” plus the name of your favorite restaurant.  You can also add in the dish to get even more specific results.  I bet someone has done a hack on the recipe!

Instead of buying your grandchildren tickets for an event, host them for a “grandma camp” where you teach them something you’re good at (gardening, baking cookies, sewing, etc), share a yummy treat, play a favorite game and read a book.  You could create “Grandma’s theater” and have a fun movie and popcorn.  The best part is spending quality time with YOU!

If you have some people that you’re planning to give to this year, why not come up with a gift of experience instead of stuff?  I bet it will be a hit!

I have a gift of experience up my sleeve for this Christmas, too!  But I can’t tell you about it yet!

How about you?

• Have you ever given a gift of experience?
• What gifts of experience have you received?

Originally published 13 Dec 2016, but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

The post Giving Gifts of Experience appeared first on Six Figures Under.

When we’re budgeting for Christmas, sometimes we forget to take into account the costs of wrapping. It may seem like a small cost, but like any small cost it can add up quickly.

Welcome back to Frugal Festivities: 25 Days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget.  Today I’m going to share my top six tips for saving money on wrapping.

But first I want to remind you that in January I’m hosting the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge!  Every weekday in January we’ll be tackling a new way to be more frugal so you can reach your financial goals.  When you sign up for the challenge you’ll get the workbook emailed to you for free!

Okay, now let’s talk about saving money on Christmas wrapping. I’m sharing my favorite tips here, but I would love to hear your great ideas in the comments.

Newspaper

What’s black and white and read all over? There are a whole slew of answers for that, but the one I’m looking for is the newspaper! Not everyone gets the newspaper these days, but I bet you can find some newsprint pretty easily. Use some red ribbon or a red tag on a package wrapped in newsprint and it will look classy and festive! This is especially great for those big packages that are wrapping paper hogs!

Make Your Own

A couple of years ago someone gave us big rolls of paper. It’s actually newsprint that’s not printed on. They got quite a few rolls of it for a project and shared the leftovers. Give the kids some festive colors of paint and they will turn huge sheets of paper into lovely wrapping paper. And it’s got a personal touch.

Clearance

Wrapping paper is one of my favorite things to stock up on after Christmas when it’s 75% off. If you buy your wrapping paper after the season every year, then you’ll never have to pay full price for it! Wrapping paper is super easy to store in an attic, garage, closet, or under a bed. I am always quick to grab the clearance wrapping paper that isn’t overly seasonal so it can double as birthday, wedding, or baby shower wrapping.

Check the Thrift Store

I have found lots of great wrapping paper at thrift stores, even in the Christmas season when you would think it would all be gone. It’s usually priced at $.50- $1 per roll and I’ve found some pretty big rolls!
A sub-tip here would be to check thrift stores and yard sales in the off season too. Like I mentioned earlier, wrapping paper is easy to store.

Make Reusable Fabric Gift Bags

You can find both sewable and no-sew versions online. These are great when you’re giving gifts within your immediate family, you can just collect them up and use them for next year. There’s no waste and no future purchase necessary. My kids do a less fancy version of this for family birthdays sometimes. They’ll sometimes just wrap presents for the siblings in in pillowcases.

Be a Smart Shopper

If you need to buy wrapping paper this year, be sure to BE SMART ABOUT IT. The rolls of paper may look the equal, but there are lots of rolls of paper that have very little actual paper on them, especially in multi-packs with a variety of prints. Look at the number of square feet on the roll and the price so you can figure out the price per square foot.

If math wasn’t your forte, you’ll take the price and divide it by the number of square feet on the roll. The answer will be the price per square foot. Compare the price per square foot of several rolls. It’s likely (but not definite) that the larger rolls will be cheaper.

What about ribbons and tags and bows? If they’re necessary for your wrapping style, you can use many of these same tips for ribbons, tags, and bows. If you’re not overly concerned with aesthetics, the easiest thing to do is just write right on the gift with a sharpie! I don’t think anyone will complain. In fact, in our family at least for the gifts from mom and dad, we use a different wrapping paper for each child, so a tag or writing isn’t even necessary.

With these 6 tips you should be able to reduce what you spend on Christmas wrapping. I would love to hear your best tips in the comments!

The post How to Save Money on Christmas Gift Wrapping appeared first on Six Figures Under.

The Christmas season can feel busy and hectic with all of the parties, activities, and celebrations.  It can also feel expensive with all the gift giving, food preparation, and travel.  Here are some simple frugal Christmas traditions that your family will love and your budget will too!

Welcome back to our Frugal Festivities series where we’re sharing 25 days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget!

Okay, now let’s talk about family Christmas traditions that won’t break the bank.

Looking at lights

When I asked my blog readers to share their favorite frugal Christmas traditions, this one came up a lot.  No matter where you live, there’s probably an area near you that is known for having an amazing Christmas light display.  If you don’t know where it is, ask around.  I promise you’ll find one!  Walk or drive around the neighborhood as a family to oooh and ahhh at the lights together, then have hot chocolate at home together!

Caroling

Caroling from door to door definitely isn’t the popular holiday tradition it has been for past generations, but it’s still a favorite.  You might not feel comfortable caroling to the doors of strangers, but caroling to the doors of old friends or neighbors is a great way to share the Christmas spirit.  If you’d rather stay indoors and gather around the piano, singing carols together in your own home is also a well-loved tradition.

Homemade cookies

You can make this one as simple or complicated as you want.  You probably already have most of the supplies you’ll need right in your pantry.  Sugar cookies are a favorite with my kids.  They love using our Christmas cookie cutters and decorating their creations with frosting.

This isn’t just fun for kids, one of my blog readers, Darcy, says for the past 10 years she and her 4 grown daughters get together and bake Christmas treats, then divide it all up to take home. They always end up with a big variety of cookies, candies, and Chex mix to take home.

Nativity play

I love the tradition of acting out the nativity. Whether you’re with a family of three or an extended family of thirty, it’s always a special experience to watch or be in a nativity play. Costumes make everything more exciting, but it doesn’t take much more than a few bath robes, sheets, and towels to outfit your cast. And maybe a baby doll if you don’t have a live one!

Making ornaments

With just simple craft supplies and household items you can make a whole slew of beautiful ornaments for your Christmas tree. Just do a search over on Pinterest and you’ll be blown away!

Advent calendar

There are so many different advent calendar ideas out there. If you don’t already have a family favorite, do a little search on Pinterest to see all the great ideas for advent calendars you can easily make. Even a simple paper loop chain is a fun way to count down to Christmas! Kids especially love to count down the days to Christmas and with just a little extra thought it can be a great opportunity to teach and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Watch Christmas movies as a family

One of my readers, Shannon, shared that her family loves watching Christmas movies together. There are so many great Christmas movies, I’m sure your family has some favorites that can become traditions if they aren’t already.

Christmas themed puzzle

Another reader, Linda, shared that she gets a Christmas themed puzzle from the dollar store that she leaves out for family to put together. What a fun project to work on during family time together!

How about you?

What are your family’s favorite simple, frugal Christmas traditions? Let us know down in the comments and maybe your traditions can spread to other homes!

The post Free or Frugal Christmas Traditions appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Gift giving for grandparents can get expensive, especially when you have a big family.  We talked about giving family gifts on Day 5 and Day 6 of this Frugal Festivities series, but today I want to share some additional ideas for meaningful gifts that grandmas and grandpas can give to their grandchildren that don’t cost much, or cost nothing at all.

Okay, now let’s talk about gift giving for grandparents. I’m a mom of 6 who won’t be a grandma for many years, but I do have lots of experience being a granddaughter.  I’m going to give you three basic ideas that you can run with and make your own.

Share Your Personal History

Share your personal history with your grandchildren!  This one doesn’t cost anything but is a labor of time and love.  You don’t have to write your entire life story this Christmas, but you could start with the first few “chapters” of your life and leave them ready for more to come in the future.

Write down the stories from your childhood.  Share the memories that shaped who you are.  Add in pictures, if you have them, to help bring your story to life.

If writing isn’t your cup of tea, how about video?  Record yourself sharing your life stories!

This will be a priceless treasure for all of your posterity and will surely outlast any toy or game you could give them.  With this one, you do the work once and you can gift it to all of your grandchildren, no matter how many you have.

And don’t even tell me that your life isn’t interesting or that your children and grandchildren won’t care about your life.  It is and they will.

Special Homemade Treats

Another idea for granparents to give their grandchildren is to make special homemade treats for your grandchildren.  The parents (your kids) will appreciate getting a consumable gift that won’t contribute to post-Christmas clutter and your grandchildren will enjoy the consuming!

My mother in law loves making fruit leather with the fruit from their garden and orchard.  Every year the grandkids look forward to unwrapping grammy’s special fruit leather.

Whatever your specialty is, share it with your grandchildren.  If there is a story behind it, be sure to share that with them too.  It will make it that much more special!

One-on-One Dates

Finally, if your grandchildren live near you, schedule one-on-one dates with them.  You don’t have to do anything costly on your dates.  Make cookies, play games, do art projects, read books, go on a hike.  The important thing is that you are giving of your time and yourself.  You grandchild feels your love and senses his or her importance.

How about you?

I would love to hear your ideas for gifts that grandparents can give that don’t cost much.

What frugal gifts have you given as a grandparent or received as a grandchild?

The post Meaningful Gifts for your Grandchildren that Don’t Cost Much appeared first on Six Figures Under.

When money is tight, we often give the least to those who mean the most.  Instead of forgoing neighbor gifts or teacher gifts, we decide not to do anything special for our spouse.  Sometimes the stress of thinking of another gift causes us to enter into a gift-giving truce with our husband or wife.

Here are some strategies to save on spouse gifts, while still giving thoughtful and meaningful gifts.

Focus on Needs

When finances are tight, we often avoid buying things for ourselves even when they would normally be justifiable needs.  Chances are, if money is tight, both you and your spouse have legitimate needs that are going unmet.

If you have a little bit of money set aside for Christmas gifts for each other, focus on things that your spouse really needs instead of spending it on frivolous niceties.

Make Something for Each Other

If you enjoy a good challenge, setting a “handmade challenge” for Christmas gifts might be totally up your alley.

Even if you aren’t crafty, a thoughtful love letter, a creative book of the top ten things you love about your spouse, or a compilation of favorite photos or memories is something anyone can do.  You’ll find that handmade gifts from the heart will mean much more than any gift you could have bought.

Give the Gift of Time

Most of us are spread so thin these days that the people who mean the most sometimes get very little of our time.  The gift of time, especially when it’s scarce, is more valuable than what you could buy in the store on any budget.

Remember when you were a kid and you made coupons for mother’s day that your mom could redeem for breakfast in bed, mowing the lawn, or a big hug?  Why not do the same for your spouse?  You can get creative and make it fun, thoughtful, and personal.

How About You?

• Do you and your spouse give each other gifts?
• Do you have a price limit or rules about spouse gifts?

Originally published 17 Dec 2014, but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

The post Frugal Spouse Gift Ideas appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Originally published 19 Nov 2014 but updated to be included in the Frugal Festivities series.

Does the thought of making a homemade pie overwhelm you?  Pie-making used to feel like a big task to me when I took into consideration making both the crust and the filling from scratch (and in our family, there really isn’t another way besides scratch).

Several years ago, I learned a new recipe along with some tricks that have simplified pie-making for me.  The key was making pie crust dough in bulk and then freezing the dough balls.

Making pie crusts in bulk has some wonderful benefits:

• It’s less mess– just clean up once!
• We have pie crust dough in the freezer all year for homemade pies, quiches, pot pies, etc.
• Measuring is a cinch.  I am not a fan of measuring out shortening because it’s messy, so I love that my bulk pie crust recipe takes a whole can– no measuring needed!
• Pie-making is half the work, but still with the tasty benefits of a homemade crust.

If you’re a visual or auditory learner, the short video below will quickly teach you everything you need to know about making pie crust in bulk, otherwise keep reading for the bulk pie crust tutorial in words and pictures. There’s a printable recipe at the bottom of the post.

Bulk Pie Crust– Makes 20 crusts

Let’s get started with the ingredients!

•  1- 5lb bag of all purpose flour (hold back about 2 cups)
• 1- 3lb can vegetable shortening
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 Tablespoons vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups water

You’ll want to get out the biggest bowl you have (seriously!).  Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together.  Using a pastry cutter if you have one (if not, a fork will suffice), blend the shortening with the flour mixture.

When the flour mixture and shortening are combined, set the bowl aside.

In a separate bowl (I always use the shortening container to minimize dirty dishes), beat together the water, eggs and vinegar using a fork or whisk.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.

Continue to blend using hands and fold dough into a ball.

Cover dough ball with plastic and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Use the reserved 2 cups of flour to flour your surface and hands, though you probably won’t need it all.  Divide your giant dough ball in quarters.  Divide each quarter into 5 equal parts.  You’ll have 20 equal-ish pieces of dough.  Roll each dough portion into a ball.  It’s okay if they’re not perfectly even.  You can use the smaller balls for top crusts and the larger ones for the bottom crusts.  For a flakier crust, be careful not to overwork the dough.

Wrap each ball individually in plastic wrap, then place balls into a freezer bag.  Store in the freezer indefinitely.  I’ve stored mine for over a year without any problems.

Each dough ball makes one pie crust or top.

To use, remove the dough balls you need from the freezer and allow to thaw on the countertop or in the refrigerator.  If I’m in a hurry (not that that ever happens!), I have also microwaved them for a few seconds to thaw.

Tip– Stick any extra dough “scraps” from making your crusts in a freezer bag back in the freezer.  Add to the bag every time you have scraps.  You’ll probably get another pie or two from all the scraps.

4.9 from 13 reviews

Making Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk

 

Print

Making pie crust in bulk allows you to freeze enough balls of dough to last the whole year for fruit pies, pot pies, quiches and more! This recipe makes about 20 crusts.

Author: Stephanie @ SixFiguresUnder.com

Serves: 20 crusts

Ingredients

• 1- 5lb bag of all purpose flour (hold back about 2 cups)
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. salt
• 1- 3lb can vegetable shortening
• 4 Tbsp. vinegar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour (don't forget to hold back 2 cups), sugar and salt.
2. With a fork or pastry cutter, combine the shortening with the flour mixture.
3. In a separate bowl (I use the empty shortening container to minimize dirty dishes), beat vinegar, eggs and water.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.
5. Continue to blend using hands and fold dough into a ball.
6. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.
7. Divide dough into about 20 balls. Each ball should be enough to make a crust.
8. To freeze, wrap dough balls in plastic wrap, then store in a freezer bag indefinitely.

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The post Easy Homemade Pie Crust in Bulk– Frugal Festivities Day #12 appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Sometime between my childhood and my adulthood stocking stuffers went from inexpensive to extravagant.  I’m pretty sure it all has to do with marketing.  Suddenly every company that makes a product that could fit in a stocking is marketing their wares as “stocking stuffers.”  Nevermind that that gold bracelet costs more than all of the other gifts under the tree!

Let’s resist what the marketers are trying to tell us and get back to what stocking stuffers used to be.  Your budget will thank you!

I’m going to share with you some ideas of classic and creative stocking stuffers that are affordable and don’t try to upstage the rest of Christmas morning.
I would LOVE to hear your best ideas for frugal stocking stuffers down in the comments.  Let’s all help each other out!

Apples and Oranges

There are plenty of sweet treats around the holidays, so why not encourage a little healthy snacking with an apple or an oragne (or both!)?!  Both my husband and I both grew up in families with this tradition, so I’m guessing it’s pretty widespread. It makes me think of the Ingalls children from the Little House series who were delighted with such simple things. Apparently it’s functional too.  Having something heavy in the toe of the stocking helps to weigh it down and hold it open.

Non-Christmas candy

You can save a lot of money by getting candy that’s not marketed as Christmas candy.  Since I have a lot of stockings to fill, I prefer to buy large bags of candy and divide it up myself into little ziplock bags.  For example, you get a lot more for your money when you buy a big bag of M&Ms than when you buy a bag of individually wrapped packages (think Halloween candy) or worse yet, when you buy Christmas branded candy (think M&Ms in the clear plastic candy cane container).  Your money will go a lot further if you take a few extra mintutes to divide it into smaller portions yourself.

Small puzzles, brain teasers

There are lots of dollar store type toys that I consider just plain junk and definitely don’t want to see all over my house (times 6 kids), but there are a few things that we always seem to get a lot of mileage out of and those are brain teasers and puzzles.

Books

You can squeeze a paperback book into a stocking with no trouble at all.  Books are one of the things you can buy used in great condition and no one will know or care.  If your kids are like mine, they go through books like candy (almost), so they would read me out of house and home if I bought all new books.

Hair things

If your girls love bows, bands, and clips for their hair, they make a great stocking stuffer.  They’re small, useful, and inexpensive and they can be a lot of fun!

Hot wheels cars

If you have little ones that are into cars (or big ones), Hot Wheels are perfect for stockings.  They are cheap, fun, and fit nicely in a stocking.

Toothbrushes

While it’s not very “fun” necessarily, a new toothbrush is a great stocking stuffer (also great for Easter baskets).  For us it’s as traditional as the orange or apple!

Socks

Here’s another necessity that goes nicely in Christmas stockings.  If you’re opposed to giving “boring” gifts like socks and underwear, you could give a “fun” version rather than just the run-of-the mill.  How about a pair of fuzzy socks or a colorful pair with their favorite characters.

Popcorn

My kids would be thrilled with their own individual packages of microwave popcorn that they could have to themselves and eat whenever they want.  Or if you want to make a little more effort make some popcorn balls with jello (just google it–it sounds weird but it’s actually really yummy)!
I hope that give you some ideas to stuff your stockings without breaking the bank!

What are your ideas for saving money on stocking stuffers?  Share your best frugal stocking stuffer ideas down in the comments.

The post Frugal Stocking Stuffers appeared first on Six Figures Under.

What if I told you that last year my kid who doesn’t love reading (I’ve only got one of those) said one of his favorite Christmas gifts that year was a book?!  I want to show you exactly what we did to turn a book into a most amazing gift.

We’ve done the same thing for each of our older kids (who can read) for the past couple of years and each one has been a hit.  I’m going to share with you specific ideas for kids of varying ages and interests, so feel free to use these exact ideas for people on your giving list!

We don’t buy a lot of “new” books around here.  Most of our kids are voracious readers and would quickly read us out of house and home if it weren’t for the library and the thrift store.  BUT in this case we do buy a new book because I’m looking for a specific book in most cases (though if you find the right book used, then by all means get it!).

Pick the perfect book

The first thing you’ll need to do is pick an awesome book.  The kind of books we’re looking for are books that teach something exciting that your kids want to learn.  Let me give you some examples and then I’ll share with you the key to making this gift awesome.

My son who doesn’t love reading is currently 10 and is a maker at heart.  He loves engineering, building, inventing, and projects.

Some of the books I looked at for him were:

• Rubberband Engineer
• Duct Tape Engineer 

• Maker Lab

The one I decided on was Rubberband Engineer, but I’ll probably get the other two in the future!

In a minute we’ll look at lots of other ideas for kids with other interests.

Address the problem

Now if you’re a kid like my son and you thumb through a book full of really cool projects with great instructions and pictures on Christmas morning, what are you going to want to do?

You’re going to immediately want to get started on those projects!  But while the supplies are fairly simple and inexpensive, you don’t have the things you need to make the project you want to start with.  So you flip to another page, eager to try that project, too.  But same problem– you don’t have the supplies you need.

After this happens a few times you give up and shelf the book.  You ask your mom to pick up the supplies next time she’s at the store, but she’s busy and doesn’t remember.  Your cool book isn’t nearly as cool anymore.

Make it a magical gift

The key to making this gift awesome is that you include supplies needed WITH the book!  Of course you don’t have to include everything you need for every project, but having a good arsenal of supplies to start out with– so that you can do some of the projects– makes a huge difference.

So when we gave our son Rubberband Engineer.  We also gave him:

• packs of paint stirrers (also available at Home Depot)
• big bag of rubber bands
• mouse traps
• rubber tubing (found at Walmart where pet fish are sold)

We wrap the supplies right with the book so that the kids immediately know that they have what they need to get started with their projects.

More Examples

Here are some examples of some of great books and the supplies that go with them:

 Braids & Buns, Ponies & Pigtails Hairdo book

• comb
• hair brush
• hair elastics
• bobby pins

Kids Book of Hand Lettering

• brush tip markers
• pad of paper

The Drawing Book for Kids

• sketch pad

Kids’ Paper Airplane book

Baking Class

Awesome Science Experiments for Kids

The possibilities are endless!  Just think about the interests of your child, find a book gear toward kids that teaches that topic in a fun way, and include some of the necessary supplies along with the book!  If you’re kids are like mine, they’ll dive right in and get started while there’s still wrapping paper all over the floor!

What type of fun “how to” books would your kids love?

The post Making “How to” Books into Magical Gifts appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Want to host a Christmas party but think you can’t afford it?  Think again!  I’m going to share some tips with you that will totally bring down the cost of hosting your own Christmas get-together.

Welcome back to our Frugal Festivities series where we’re sharing 25 days of Christmas Cheer on a Budget!

In January, to start the new year off right, I’m hosting the Frugal Fresh Start Challenge.  Every weekday in January we’ll be tackling a new way to be more frugal, budget and get your finances in order.  Sign up for the challenge so you can download the workbook before we get started on January 1st.

Okay let’s talk about hosting on a budget! I would love to here your tips and ideas in the comments!

1- Go digital with Invitations

Buying or making cute paper invitations is fun, but then you’ll have to pay to mail them.  At $.50 each for postage, it adds up fast.  Go digital.  Use Facebook, Evite or another free website to send your invitations. Your guests will also appreciate a simple way to RSVP.

2- Buy white

Instead of buying seasonal plates, cups, and napkins, just buy plain white.  Not only will buying plain white be cheaper than the seasonal colors and prints, but it will be great all year long, so you can make good use of the leftovers.

3- Go Potluck

Planning a meal for a big group of people gets expensive fast, not to mention it’s a lot of work.  Save time and money by assigning out various side dishes, drinks, and desserts.  People will be more than willing to help!

4- Skip the Meal

Instead of having a big meal have desserts or appetizers instead.  You can still simplify the cost and effort by asking guests to bring their favorite Christmas dessert or appetizer.  Your guests will be excited for the opportunity to share their favorites or specialties with the group.

5- Be your own entertainment

Instead of spending money on entertainment, play interactive games, do karaoke, sing carols, play minute-to-win-it games, or have a white elephant gift exchange.  Pinterest and Google will give you tons of ideas for party games for any group.

Our experience

We host an annual Christmas carol sing-along that we call “Carols and Cookies.”  We send out a digital invitations through Evite which makes responding easy for guests so we get a good count of how many are coming.

We ask our guests to bring a plate of their favorite Christmas cookies to share. We make a giant batch of hot chocolate and spiced apple cider and provide several plates of cookies to get the cookie table started.

We go plain and simple with paper products.  And it’s a blast! There’s a Christmas movie on for the kids, a piano to accompany those who want to sing, and Christmas treats with games and friends.

Don’t wait to get invited to a Christmas party.  If you want to get together with a group of friends or family, don’t be afraid to plan your own!  If your space isn’t adequate, collaborate with a friend. If you want to host a Christmas party, don’t let your budget stop you!  You can make it work.

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A gift that fills a need or a want is good, but with some extra effort you can make that gift great.  The best part is that taking your gift from “good” to “great” doesn’t cost any extra money.

Adding a personal touch takes a gift up a notch or two.  For me, the personal touch involves words. Words that convey feeling and emotion.

Most people say the same things in their cards– the standard greetings, the same well-wishes, just enough to fit nicely in the card without being too full or too sparse.  We figure the purpose of the card is to say who the present is from and share an appropriate customary phrase or two.

Have you ever been at a gift-opening occasion (birthday, Christmas, baby shower, wedding, etc) where the gift opener read the cards out loud?  Amidst all the standard greetings, the recipient starts reading an un-assuming card, when she suddenly stops reading aloud and becomes emotional.  There may be smiles, there may be tears.  Her face lights up, there is a giggle or a thoughtful sigh.

That card was different from the others.  It conveyed more than just the appropriate seasonal phrases and the to/from details.  That card warmed a heart and touched a soul.  The gift in the box will take on a new level of meaning because of the depth and the thoughtfulness of the card.

Has this happened to you?

Let me tell you how my husband made a good gift great a couple of years ago to illustrate this principle.

My birthday is in August, around all of the back-to-school mayhem. As I was picking up school supplies for my kids (and of course stocking up on extras), I fell in love with a set of 21 different colored Sharpie markers.  I was tempted to buy it for myself, but I felt silly buying something for myself when my birthday and anniversary were just around the corner.

There was no way my husband would ever think to get me colorful Sharpies as a gift, so I dropped some hints.

You might remember that I’m not a list-maker when it comes to gifts, which my husband thinks is funny because I make lists for everything else you could possibly make a list for.  He really appreciates hints, though, so I dropped some hints about the Sharpies that I wanted.  There is no way he would ever think of that one on his own.

I told him how I really wished that I had Sharpies in lots of colors when the kids made shirts to enter in the fair.  Did you know that if you draw dots with Sharpies on T-shirts, then spray them with rubbing alcohol, they bleed and make cool designs?  They do.  You can see a tutorial here.  There are also cool mugs you can make with Sharpies.  The list goes on and on (do a Pinterest search for Sharpie crafts if you don’t believe me).

I figured my hints were obvious enough, that he would probably get me the markers I had my eye on.

I was right, but he did much, much better than that.

My wonderful husband is very vocally affectionate, always telling me the many things he loves about me. He has an amazing gift to always speak kindly.  He has honestly never said anything hurtful to me, ever. Anyone who knows him will tell you that he never says hurtful things about anyone.

My point is that I really am blessed beyond anything I could ever imagine, so I should be content with the love he showers on me.

Yet I still ask for more.

I always tell him that I want him to write love notes to me so that if anything ever happens to him I can have his precious words to read over and over.  He knows that heartfelt, written love notes mean so much to me.

Instead of just giving me the set of markers, he made it personal.  For each of the 21 colors, he wrote several sentences sharing something thoughtful, meaningful, or sentimental. It brought tears to my eyes and is a special treasure of memories and love through his eyes.

I love the markers– they are useful and just what I wanted.

The three typed pages oozing with love and memories?  They are priceless.  I love that man!

Go the Extra Mile

As you are giving gifts this holiday season, take a little extra time to put sincere thought into them.  Whether it’s a gift for your spouse, your kids, or your next-door neighbor.  Really touch someone’s heart by giving a piece of yours.  The words you share will likely outlast the gift itself, as they become a pick-me-up later down the road.

How About You?

• Have you given or received a good gift that was made great with heartfelt personalization?
• Is anyone else a sucker for love notes?

This post contains affiliate links for products or services that we use and love.  For more information, see our disclosure policy.

Originally published 18 December 2015 but updated to be added to the Frugal Festivities series.

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