Love this post. Working in a high stress environment can really lead to excessive spending later. I find myself some days wanting to go home and do expensive retail therapy to relax! I will have to try the interruption list this week and see how that goes.
I personally love even a 5 minute meditation break. Even if I don't have time to take a full lunch break- 5 minutes can really help re-center.
I really enjoy our dinner on Christmas Eve. We make traditional foods, have a feast, watch movies, talk, laugh and then open our presents at midnight. Then we just relax on Christmas day.
Christmas tree decorating, choosing special gifts on Christmas Eve day, recieving huge oranges for the kids at church on Christmas Eve, taking part in the church nativity, family, friends, making Santa's footprints on the stairs for the kids see on Christmas morning, a carrot for Rudolph and raspberry streusel on Christmas morning!
My giant extended family has a cookie decorating contest on Christmas day. It includes cash prizes. We all look forward to that! As far as things I could skip, would be my family's tradition of eating Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.
We get an angel (or two) off the Angel Tree at church and give a gift to a child with a parent in prison. I sing in the church cantata and make some of our Christmas gifts.
We always spend Christmas Eve with the in-laws. My favorite traditions are driving around to look at Christmas lights with our dogs, eating too many cookies, and just lounging around relaxing on Christmas Day.
My favorite holiday tradition is to give the kids and Grands Advent calendars filled with German chocolates. Even the grown kids love getting their special calendar.
My favorite Holiday tradition is when all of us girls in the family get together and do holiday baking for a day. Then we divide what we all made and send home baking boxes to our families. Several women in the kitchen all day at the same time is pretty interesting.
I have worked in auto sales for more than 10 years. Several years as both a salesman and several as a sales manager. This list is nonsense. The market has changed drastically and the only way to sell cars today is to stop selling! I preach the importance of helping our customers buy the right vehicle, not selling. And I can assure you that working for Toyota dealers for 5 of my 10 years, markup is not plentiful, even on very expensive Toyota models, rebates are small compared to domestic brands, and dealer holdback is not something we can easily give up or we couldn't meet payroll or keep our utilities on. Stop with the internet bashing of car salesmen and dealerships. Going in with a strategy to "beat the dealer" will only make it more difficult for you to leave happy in the vehicle you truly want.
For a long time, ours was open one present a day for the 12 days of Xmas (two on Xmas day). It allowed the kids to enjoy and appreciate each present and for us to celebrate all twelve days until Epiphany. My father also put a moratorium on socks and underwear as Xmas gifts, because if you're only getting one thing per day, who wants that. :)
When you refinance, look at two things: 1. how long it will take to recoup closing costs and 2. what your payment would be if you reamortized over the remaining period of your loan. If you have 14 years left on a 30-year mortgage, get a 15 year mortgage and amortize over 14 years. That payment will let you compare refinancing to your current mortgage. You can find many calculators online.
We wrap every tiny gift in each of our kids' stockings (we have 7 kids). It's fun to watch them open all the little things, and it is their favorite part of the day.
Love this post. Working in a high stress environment can really lead to excessive spending later. I find myself some days wanting to go home and do expensive retail therapy to relax! I will have to try the interruption list this week and see how that goes.
I personally love even a 5 minute meditation break. Even if I don't have time to take a full lunch break- 5 minutes can really help re-center.
frugalrockfinance.blogspot.com
I really enjoy our dinner on Christmas Eve. We make traditional foods, have a feast, watch movies, talk, laugh and then open our presents at midnight. Then we just relax on Christmas day.
Going to my aunt's for Christmas dinner and gift exchange.
We like to sing Christmas carols in December and open our presents on Christmas morning.
We love decorating our Christmas tree while listening to carols.
Watching the Peanuts and Garfield Christmas specials along with Rudolf and Frosty! And getting an ornament from somewhere we went during the year.
Christmas tree decorating, choosing special gifts on Christmas Eve day, recieving huge oranges for the kids at church on Christmas Eve, taking part in the church nativity, family, friends, making Santa's footprints on the stairs for the kids see on Christmas morning, a carrot for Rudolph and raspberry streusel on Christmas morning!
My giant extended family has a cookie decorating contest on Christmas day. It includes cash prizes. We all look forward to that! As far as things I could skip, would be my family's tradition of eating Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.
We have a huge feast with joyful holiday music playing in the background.
baking cookies
We have a casual (think lots of appetizers) Christmas Eve dinner and watch Christmas movies!
My husband and I always volunteer at a shelter before Christmas. You can read about it here http://participationmedalwife.com/my-favorite-holiday-traditional-elfing...
We get an angel (or two) off the Angel Tree at church and give a gift to a child with a parent in prison. I sing in the church cantata and make some of our Christmas gifts.
We always spend Christmas Eve with the in-laws. My favorite traditions are driving around to look at Christmas lights with our dogs, eating too many cookies, and just lounging around relaxing on Christmas Day.
My favorite holiday tradition is to give the kids and Grands Advent calendars filled with German chocolates. Even the grown kids love getting their special calendar.
We bake holiday cookies together.
My favorite Holiday tradition is when all of us girls in the family get together and do holiday baking for a day. Then we divide what we all made and send home baking boxes to our families. Several women in the kitchen all day at the same time is pretty interesting.
My favorite tradition is baking Christmas cookies with my kids
I have worked in auto sales for more than 10 years. Several years as both a salesman and several as a sales manager. This list is nonsense. The market has changed drastically and the only way to sell cars today is to stop selling! I preach the importance of helping our customers buy the right vehicle, not selling. And I can assure you that working for Toyota dealers for 5 of my 10 years, markup is not plentiful, even on very expensive Toyota models, rebates are small compared to domestic brands, and dealer holdback is not something we can easily give up or we couldn't meet payroll or keep our utilities on. Stop with the internet bashing of car salesmen and dealerships. Going in with a strategy to "beat the dealer" will only make it more difficult for you to leave happy in the vehicle you truly want.
For a long time, ours was open one present a day for the 12 days of Xmas (two on Xmas day). It allowed the kids to enjoy and appreciate each present and for us to celebrate all twelve days until Epiphany. My father also put a moratorium on socks and underwear as Xmas gifts, because if you're only getting one thing per day, who wants that. :)
I enjoy the candle lit Christmas Eve service, I could do without the waiting in line for anything! Lol
When you refinance, look at two things: 1. how long it will take to recoup closing costs and 2. what your payment would be if you reamortized over the remaining period of your loan. If you have 14 years left on a 30-year mortgage, get a 15 year mortgage and amortize over 14 years. That payment will let you compare refinancing to your current mortgage. You can find many calculators online.
Our traditions are trimming the tree, hosting a party, and attending midnight mass.
We wrap every tiny gift in each of our kids' stockings (we have 7 kids). It's fun to watch them open all the little things, and it is their favorite part of the day.
We drive around to look at the Christmas lights.