You would not believe the stuff I’ve picked up over the last few weeks at garage sales and thrift stores. Whenever I browse now I repeat this prayer, Thank You God for the Joneses. If other people weren’t so concerned with keeping up with the Joneses, I wouldn’t be living so well off our single-income.

Dell laptop, 7 years old, great condition, loaded with software – $66
100% Wool J. Crew Men’s overcoat, new – $1 (retail $365)
Liz Claiborne Women’s Gorgeous black suede knee-high boots- $6
22″ color television – $25
Banjo – $110 (who knew a banjo retails for $500?)
Barbie Acoustic Guitar, …read more

Now is the time to start discussions about Christmas boundaries. No one cares about Christmas in July. If I remember this factoid correctly, most Americans just finished paying for last Christmas around March. That was only a few months ago.
Time for the family vacation. Then school clothes. Then, Holy Crap, Christmas! In fact, I’ve recently had two conversation with people who are already dreading the mass extended family gifting.
We use no credit cards. Period. Since our income doesn’t increase around Christmas we must be strategic about our giving.
I’m not taking a second job to pay for Christmas and though …read more

If you’re sane you’re in a near-panic over the flipping Christmas ornaments dotting the shelves of your local haunts.
Halloween has a few more days to arrive, but the Christmas push to buy more stuff is already making the national blood pressure rise.
Maybe my Boycott Christmas in June idea didn’t seem reasonable. But, now that it’s November, I’m thinking you might be considering a part-time job or scratching some extended relatives off the list.
Might I recommend a budgeting technique that will make sure you don’t end up doing the big recover from Christmas through March?
Write down the income you expect to get through January …read more

As per the Boycott Christmas in June post here are some extended family gifting alternatives to suggest.
1. Drawing names.You could draw names for individuals or families. I prefer families because the larger your family is, the less disposable income your family has to spend. I withdrew from one drawing because it was costing me $200 to participate. Some families set a limit. Some families enjoy a choosing a theme.
2. White Elephant. This is fun. However, it is wise to have a set of written rules agreed on before. Semantics can totally ruin Christmas. Some pitfalls to look out for include: are we giving gag …read more