Let’s face it. In economic times and stress, job layoffs, and businesses slowing, Christmas could hurt this year. Families worry about not being able to get a few nice items for their children, and it hurts inside when you know you are having trouble providing for your family. It feels like total failure-but don’t feel at a loss-this is definitely not something that will last forever. A job will come soon, and perhaps business will pick up. Think of it as a temporary set-back. Things could get better with time.

There is help for those families who are hurting at Christmas time. And there is nothing wrong with getting assistance if you are in need. While Christmas isn’t all about presents, parents still enjoy seeing the smiles on their children’s faces when they can get a few of their favorite things, or get a chance to sit on Santa’s laugh. While-the children are what make Christmas fun with their innocent souls.

To begin looking for help, contact a community action agency, public aid, or human services.  There are usually angel trees within your area that have tags on the trees. These tags contain boys and girls in which others can shop for. Names are never displayed and your identity is never known.  You usually sign a few forms to get your children’s names on the tree, and then someone else buys the gifts, and then you go pick them back up usually at that office.  Also, some areas offer special vouchers in which you can use to go shop for your children on your own. Some offer cards that have as much as $25 on them that will allow you to buy something special for your child.

Don’t forget about crafty items too. Children love crafts. -After all -they enjoy making them for us too. … If you have a knack for making things, try creating scarves or jewelry for your little ones-or even warm knitted socks–or a snuggly blanket.  

Almost all communities offer some sort of help for low income families or those in need at Christmas time.  Once you speak to the right people and groups-or even those at your church, you can receive the help that is needed for your family during the holidays. You can even get a food basket to make that precious yummy Christmas dinner too.  

• For more information on getting help for your family at Christmas time, CLICK HERE to learn about ways to get assistance during the holidays .
  

There is nothing more enjoyable than having a great discussion or a debate over a great book.  While it’s nice to wind down in the evening with a book cuddled under your favorite blanket during those cold winter months, or lounging in the sunshine in your favorite chair or hammock with a book-it’s even more fun to read the same book with others.

 It is in our human nature to share… That’s why writers write!— We like to share our words with others. Authors love to share their adventures!-whether it be romantic, scary, sad, inspiring, or humorous.  And readers will share their opinions about a book and even recommend them.  When was the last time you recommended a book to your friend? I do it all the time-especially if I loved the story.

So if you are looking for a way to share books, stories, and some fun get away time a few times out of the month, gather a group of friends, a list of books to read, some snacks, and a meeting place–and form a book club!  Let everybody have a chance to lead the discussion and choose a book for the group to read.  This way everybody gets a chance to shine-and host a meeting.  

Books bring people together-and even create new friendships….

• Why not start a book club today?…..  If you want to gather some friends, some great books, and some yummy snacks, follow this link to this great how-to-article, and LEARN how you can form your own book club.
  

Looking for a vacation, but the wallet is just a bit tight?  There are still ways to have fun as a family and take vacations without breaking the bank.  Sometimes, you can take vacations on off season times-just for lower prices.  Also in cooler weather times, you can still have fun vacationing as well.  There are always great cozy log cabins, and plenty of places to sit around the fire to roast marshmallows, weenies, and even tell ghost stories, or even old family tales.  Also, many hotels have large indoor pools, where you can enjoy playing in the water-even if it’s too cool to make it to the beach.

Throughout the fall time, you and the children can provide fall cleanup services for your neighobors such as raking leaves and bagging them-in the spring, you could mow lawns, plant flowers, or offer to help others wash their pets.  Clip plenty of coupons for savings, and check out travel booklets at visitor centers or restaurants for coupons on saving at hotels.

With some creative thinking, off-season planning, and plenty of change saving, it’s possible to take a vacation with the family and have plenty of fun without spending tons of money.

• For some tips on budgeting for a family vacation, click in this article link to learn how you can have fun without putting a hole in your wallet:

With a possible cold winter upon us, and fuel prices being somewhat high, energy prices could be hard on our budgets.  What some may not realize, is that there are government programs available for low income families who need helping paying for their energy costs.  AMEREN has incorporated a few programs to help for their customers such as BILL PAYING ASSISTANCE, HARDSHIP PROGRAMS, and the DOLLAR MORE Program.  You can contact Ameren to see where in your area you can apply for these programs.

Also, there is the LIHEAP program that helps low income, seniors, and disabled pay for their utility bills.  There are income guidelines you must meet to qualify and also documents you must bring with you at the time of application.  To find out about the LIHEAP program in your area, contact your nearest Human Services Agency, a Community Action Agency, or perhaps your own utility company.  Most utility companies are used to working with LIHEAP intake workers and are familiar with the program.

LIHEAP offers a one time payment towards your heating costs-it can help with your gas or electricity.  LIHEAP can also help pay for propane costs too. A person must have proof of their income for the past thirty days, a copy of their utility bill (gas/electric/propane), and social security cards for everybody in their household.

•  To find out more about applying for the LIHEAP program, click HERE. 

Every now and then, we can find ourselves in a bit of a rut.  And it is nothing to be embarrassed of.  Sometimes we experience job loss, layoffs, high medical bills because of no health insurance, or basically because we can’t afford the cost of rising food prices in our low budgets. There is assistance for food if you need just a little bit of help for awhile.  Later on, you can always make donations as your way of paying back. If you are needing help with food right now because you have other bills that need to be paid, or you are currently job searching, here are some resources to help you get some food for your family….

• Angel Food Ministries:  They offer food boxes for only $30.  There are no income guidelines.  All of the food is fresh, and they have fruits, vegetables, and meat. There are even extra food packages that you can order along with the basic $30 package.  Angel Food Ministries is found throughout the United States.  If you want to find the nearest Angel Food ministries distributor in your area, click here.
• Apply for the LINK CARD .  This allows families to purchase food at retailers that accept food stamps.  The LINK CARD allows low-income families to buy food for their family if they are having some sort of set back.  Wal-Mart and usually your local grocery will accept food stamps.                                                                                  Want to know how to apply for the LINK CARD? Click here .

Still need help with food assistance?

Continue reading this resource article  for more ideas on getting assistance with your food purchases.

Christmas might be a sore spot for some families this year. While many want to get together with their families, it could be hard to try to exchange gifts like in previous years. Gifts aren’t an important part about Christmas though-its more important to spend the holiday with those that you love and care about.

If you are in charge of hosting a Christmas party this year for your family, you may be looking for some tips to help cut down the costs of putting it on. Below are some tips to help break down the cost of this year’s holiday party….

• One of the first things to do is to get a head count and the names of those who will be attending. Try to hold a family meeting or make phone calls to see if you can get members of the family to bring different types of food dishes, desserts, or appetizers. This will keep you from having to purchase and cook so much food.
• Send out emails and creating a calling tree to let everybody know about the upcoming Christmas party. This will save on having to buy a lot of stamps for invitations.
• Have a donations jar at the party for those who may wish to contribute to the cost of next year’s party. This can get you a hard start on cutting costs for next year.
• If you would like exchange gifts, have everybody who is attending draw a name. This way everybody can have a gift, and everybody is buying for many people.

Still looking for more tips? Check out this great resource article to find out how you can save money when you plan your Christmas party.

Christmas may be tight for most families across America and the world this year. Rising fuel prices, a shaky economy, and food prices that are continuously going up here and there are just making things hard to catch up with. While Christmas isn’t always about the gifts, many families include gift-giving as part of their tradition though.

Instead of heading to the retail store to purchase your gifts this year, how about using our imaginations and creating gifts for those that we would like to give to this Christmas? A person doesn’t have to have some kind of special craft talent in order to create a gift either-all it takes is a little bit of instruction, some accessories and tools, and a bit of love to create a gift for the holidays.

Some ideas include making personalized coffee mugs, writing a heartfelt poem or note and putting it in a frame, making a piece of jewelry, or making a photo page. Read more below to see if you could use any of following ideas….

• Personalized coffee mug. Find a coffee mug from a store like the Dollar Tree or Dollar general. Make sure that it is a solid color so you can easily paint decorations and designs on it. Buy some paints -such as acrylic or anything that can work on glass, a paintbrush, and a few stencils of your choice. Get some lettering stencils also if you feel uncomfortable painting them yourself.
  For dads, you could simply paint the word, “dad,” and add designs to it-or mom, grandma, grandpa, friend, etc. Find out everyone’s favorite colors, and you can design them accordingly. This is a fun and simple gift to create. Everyone can always use a new mug!-Whether it be to drink out of –or to store stuff in-Warning: do not put into the dishwasher–the paint will come off.
  

For more handmade Christmas ideas, continue reading this article , to see what kind of creative gifts you can make this year….

Fall is a great time of the year for memories as the change of the season brings on something totally nostalgic. There’s time by the fire for making smores, roasting weenies, laughing, apple cider, and plenty of story-telling. Autumn is the perfect time for family gathering, and reunions. While we may think of reunions being held in those hot summer months, they also can be held in the midst of early fall. The weather isn’t too hot, or too cold, but its perfect for fires, taking walks in the park, and just lingering a bit longer with those that you love.

There are some tips that can help you decide how you are going to have your fall gatherings and reunions, and they are actually quite easy to plan. The toughest part will probably be getting everybody together!…

• The first thing you probably want to do is pick the date of the gathering. Think early fall such as September or October. November is more for those Thanksgiving gatherings and you wouldn’t want to interfere with those.
• Begin looking around at parks, talking to family members with large yards that are great for gathering, or checking out community centers in case of rain.
• Have plenty of snacks for making smores, food for roasting weenies, and the utensils to do it. Ask other family members to see if they could volunteer to help pay for costs or to help bring the items.
• Look for places or people that can help make hayrides possible. There’s nothing better in the fall time than an old fashioned hayride! Bring a jacket though for those cooler Autumn breezes!

Want some more tips?

Check out this wonderful article for more ways to host your Fall Family Gathering….

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your home this year? Perhaps you are just a bit worried about the the prices of food, decorations, and just how are you going to fit everyone in your home.  The prices of food seem to be rising, and it’s getting harder to afford the everyday necessities in life.  While we want to spend the holidays with those we love, some of us just  may not have the money that we need to host our big holiday bashes.

Even if prices seem to be on the increase, and our salaries aren’t growing with them, we still can gather our favorite friends and family together for the holidays.  There are just some tips we need to follow, and also our wallets just need to be  kept a little bit closer, so we spend less.

If you are expecting company this year, try asking everybody to bring a side-dish or dessert , so that you can focus on the main course-like turkey!…  Letting everyone bring a different dish will add variety, and put less stress on you and your wallet.  Worried about place settings and silverware? Also, tell your guests to bring their own settings-whether it be their own from home or just paper plates and plastic forks and spoons.  

Don’t forget to keep track of sales and coupons starting late September all the way through November too! … Most grocery stores begin having sales for those entrees at Thanksgiving, and you can begin to  stock up.  This will save you from some stressful last minute shopping as well…..

Looking for more ways to save money on your Thanksgiving dinner?

Check out this article to read more . 

Fuel prices are high on our trips to work.  The cost of food seems to be getting higher, and even eating out is burning a hole in our pockets at well.  When we have been working hard at work all day, during lunch, it can be hard not to just drive to the nearest fast food join and grab a quick burger.  Families across America are cutting back, and we have to decide in what areas we can cut back. One area to save money in is how we eat lunch at our places of employment…

It’s actually healthier to pack your lunch, than to rack up calories eating out at a restaurant.  By buying goods in larger bulk at stores like SAMS, you can save per day on what you spend on eating.  Purchase bread and lunch meat for making sandwiches, carrots for healthy snacks,  and bring bottled water to drink on.  There are also healthy frozen food entrees you can eat for lunch if your place of employment has a microwave available too.

Brown bagging it also lets you mix up your lunch options.  You don’t have to eat at the same place every day.  Taking your lunch is also safer since you prepared your meal yourself.  If a restuarant is busy and understaffed-the food isn’t always at it’s best…

Purchase a small little lunchbox or cooler along with an ice pack, and your lunch will stay cool until you eat it. If you are lucky that your employer provides a refrigerator, then you can store lunch items there as well.  If you’d rather not eat at your desk or area, then drive to a nearby park, or somewhere with different scenery. Get out and enjoy the great outdoors if the weather is nice.  Taking your lunch and eating outside gives you a breath of fresh air from being closed up all day……

If you are looking to save money for lunch-then how about brown bagging it? …It can save you $ and even be healthier for you!

Looking for more ways to save money at lunch when you go to work? 

Read this helpful article, ”

How to Save Money Buying Lunch