I just finished the making the dip. You know, the kind made from Lipton Onion Soup mix and a vat of sour cream? Yeah, that dip. It’s for a big party my friends are hosting today to kick off ski season. I’m looking forward to this party not just because it’s an annual tradition in our neighborhood and a great way to catch up with everyone, but because it’s a serious feast.
I’ve heard rumors that someone’s bringing homemade egg nog and spiced cider. In addition to the dip and Ruffles with Ridges, I’m bringing my about-to-be-famous cream cheese frosted spiced banana bars. But there are far better chefs bringing taste sensations beyond imagination. Crab and corn bisque. Creamy new England clam chowder. Savory white bean turkey chili. These, along with pumpkin bread, pickled and garlic spiked vegetables and myriad other delicious morsels, should keep the crowd well-fed.
This is my first party of the holiday season. It’s also the day I choose to make a conscious decision about the holidays and food. Do I go insane, eating and drinking as much of everything I want and accept the consequences? Or will I decide that I’d prefer to live without consequences from the holidays and enjoy a little bit of everything I want to try? There’s no right or wrong answer, but it will certainly have a drastic impact upon my life over the next six months.
Case in point, January 2nd, 2006. That was the day I woke up, put on my ‘fat jeans’, and realized that unless someone was willing to convert the denim waistband to elastic, I literally didn’t have pair of pants I could get into. My shirts looked like sausage skin. I had slapped 14 pounds of junk into my trunk, and onto my belly and if memory serves, I grew my first (and hopefully last) double chin that season, too.
While it was a fun exercise in abandoning dietary responsibility, the consequences were pricey (spent over $800 on a new wardrobe), and time consuming (did double workouts for six months to get back into the clothes I really wanted to wear), and risky (gaining over a pound a weeks hurts your body). I also didn’t feel so cute.
While the holiday season brings dietary temptations left and right, this Frugal Baby can’t help but relate those temptations to the same ones we face in the shopping malls. I confess that more than one of my youthful Christmas pasts resulted in a hefty credit card bill that took longer to work off than those 14 pounds.
While I don’t suggest we stop the gift-giving traditions that put those gorgeous smiles on the faces of friends and family, let’s be reasonable and plan ahead. No one wants you to go into debt to buy them a gift anymore than you’d want them to go into debt for you. Use the following tips to create your money saving strategy for the season and avoiding putting a bunch of junk in your financial trunk this year.
- Know Your Number. Decide the total amount you’re going to spend this holiday season before you hit the shops. Make a list of the people you’re buying gifts for and decide how much you’re spending on each of them. Keep that list with you at all times so that spontaneous holiday shopping trips don’t result in breaking your budget. Shop keepers know the recession has most of us on tight budgets and there’s a vast array of nice gifts available for as little as $10.
- Get Crafty. Okay, we’ve all received sucky homemade gifts in the past, but there are so many cool gifts you can make that feel elegant to the recipient and go easy on your wallet. Crate and Barrel carries cool 8 ounce bottles with stoppers for next to nothing, just the right size to fill with homemade syrups or liqueurs. Cool photographs you’ve taken suddenly become perfect homemade note cards when attached to nice stock and tied up in a bow. Bath salts infused with essential oils make any girl happy, and no one is going to turn down a plate of rumballs if you’ve put it on a cute holiday themed platter from the dollar store.
- Host a Pot Luck Cook Off. Do you tend to play host during the holiday season but find your party planning dreams bigger than your bank balance? Host a pot luck and let your friends vote on their favorite dishes. Give a $10 gift card to the prize winning chef and crown them with a paper coronet or cardboard scepter. Yep, it’s silly. That’s what makes it super fun.
- Be Honest. This economy is hard on all of us right now, but some more so than others. If you’re out of work, worried about your savings, or just don’t feel like you can afford to participate in gift exchanges, tell that to those expecting to exchange gifts with you. There’s no shame in the truth, and keeping quiet about financial concerns only gives them more power. Chances are that you sharing your fears about holiday spending could inspire a similar revelation from them. We get together during the holidays to share our lives with one another and the joys of the season, not for the purpose of receiving gifts. Friends and family will appreciate your honesty and you’ll enjoy the celebration more for having lived within your means.