Surprise him!

Okay, ladies: listen up! I am here to tell you what men want for Christmas. It isn’t cologne and it isn’t some awful looking tie. Please! It could be NFL playoff tickets, but we know that prices for them are through the roof. Instead, us guys want stuff that is both useful and practical something we won’t pretend to like and hide away in our closets, but stuff that we will use all the time. I’ve made a list to make it easy on you as I know how hard it can be for us guys to communicate to our gals.

NFL Tickets – No, wait! You can go to eBay and get “discounted” tickets for a mid-January meeting between the Giants and some other team for a lot less than what you’ll pay through a neighborhood scalper. How many fans do you think will put up with ten degree Meadowlands cold on a January day to see the Giants. Oh, yeah, I forgot: plenty. Tickets are likely to go for one or two thousand a piece!

Hockey Time – More down to earth in price are NHL hockey tickets. For grins, get him LA Kings tickets. Nothing beats watching a hockey game in June when it is 93 degrees outside!

To The Islands! – No, not Staten Island and certainly not Long Island. A January or February trip to a warmer climate will be both reasonably priced and fun. One rule: have the grandparents come to your house to watch the kid.  Junior getting the flu is no reason for you not to go! [Blush!]

Get Tools – Yes, if your man enjoys tinkering around the house, get him an electric saw, a power drill, or anything else that he can use to fix that darn, lose railing in the family room! [wink, wink] If you aren’t sure what to get him, a gift certificate will do. Sounds tacky? Well, it certainly beats a “thanks, dear” when he opens up his gift and finds a water pump inside!

Stuff For His Truck – What a guy really wants is something for his truck. Nah, let him get his own gun rack and ammo; I’m talking about a cold air intake or a performance chip. Something that brings power to the ole pick up! What am I saying? Get him something that he can really use that will bring a smile to his face. Performance exhaust systems, Altezza lights, roof rails, side window vents, fog lights, truck liners, step rails, brake dust shields, hitches, alloy wheels, a set of new tires, head light covers, hood protectors, and an engine pulley are some of the items that are sure to be hot this Christmas. He’ll be happy and he will think you know something about his truck – hey, you are the one who wants him to talk with you, right?

Still not sure? Then ask. Chances are I already mentioned something that he wants. If you are low on cash a set of new truck mats will suffice, but please let him pick the color.  Somehow Summer Rose floor mats just don’t match his Silverado’s interior!

Written by Nick Randolph

The post What Guys Really Want For Christmas! appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.

My girlfriend is one of these new budget conscious families. She and her husband Pete set up some ambitious financial plans with the goal of paying off their credit card debt. They split their family income up into categories

Don’t ruin your budget

and were doing just great. That is until the holiday season came along.

As Shanelle scanned the family Christmas list she realized that the ‘gift giving category’ her and Pete had agreed to early in the year wasn’t going to cut it.

Pete, Shanelle and their two children sat down after dinner that night and laid out the situation. Christmas was a month away and the budget was clearly not going to buy the family the kind of presents that they were used to. They needed to make some decision together as a family. What did they want more? Expensive Christmas gifts or a shrunken credit card balance?

The secret to keeping a budget during the holidays is to:

• Have a clear vision of your priorities. Remind yourself and your entire family of the reasons you had for getting on a budget in the first place.
• Make a complete gift shopping list and then prioritize it according to your relationship with that person. Immediate family comes first, extended family, friends, co-workers, etc. Start at the bottom and cross off any names that absolutely don’t need to be there – then assign a portion of your budget to each of the remaining names.
• Get creative with your gift giving. A day in the kitchen with the oven at 350 degrees will take care of a lot of people on your shopping list. A plate of homemade Christmas cookies is a welcome and touching gift.
• Give up keeping up with the neighbors. The surest path to a blown budget is to start comparing what you’re doing with what someone else is doing. Remember, they’ll likely be crying come January.
• Don’t start shopping too early. Many a Mom has spent their entire holiday budget before Thanksgiving thinking she’s a smart cookie to get it all out of the way. Then the Christmas sales kick in and she’s kicking herself and thinking ‘Well I can spend just a little bit more can’t I?”.

• Final rule: No impulse buying. If someone gives you an unexpected gift, it doesn’t mean you have to run out and buy them something – that’s what ‘Thank You’ is for.

By keeping their goals in mind and recruiting the support of their children, Pete and Shanelle survived the holidays within their budget. As their gift to each other they wrote an extra payment to the credit card company. If they keep that up, they’ll be celebrating a debt free Christmas next year.

By Cozette M. White

The post How To Not Blow Your Budget This Christmas appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.

Easy Space Organizer

First and foremost, ensure you get enough rest throughout the holidays. If you’re not sleeping properly, you could become sleep deprived which will add to your stress level. Rather than staying late at holiday parties, it would be better to leave early so you can get your rest.

Make a master list of what you have to do for the holidays. Once you know everything that needs to be done in a given time you’ll be better prepared to accomplish them. Here are some things you may have on your list:

* Food – Are you having a gathering at your home? What will you serve? How many people will attend? What special foods will you prepare? What shopping will you need to do above your normal grocery shopping?  Again plan ahead of time so you can put a budget together and so that you are not stressed.

* Preparation – There are many foods which can be made ahead of time rather than spending an entire day or weekend cooking. Pies, cakes, cookies and casseroles are some items you can prepare days to weeks ahead and freeze. Take them out before you need them to give them time to defrost.

* Decorations – Purge your current decorations for worn out or broken items. List things which need to be replaced and plan when and where you will get them. Then make plans on when the decorations will actually be put up.

* Gifts – Decide who you will be giving gifts to and what you will give. If you make a list to refer to each year it won’t be like recreating the wheel over and over again. Once you know what gifts you need to purchase, you can plan to go shopping.

* Shopping – Go shopping when the stores aren’t as full. Most stores are busy after 5 p.m. or on the weekends. Try going during a weekday if possible. Or you could do all of your shopping online so you don’t have to deal with crowded stores at all.

* Cleaning – If you’re planning on having company over, you may want to enlist help to get your house cleaned up. Paying someone to do the job can be a viable option if you’re running short on time.  According to services rendered in the past by Sparkling Clean Cleaning Services And Carpet Care in Los Angeles, CA, professional services may run you anywhere between $65 and $250, depending on the size of your home.

* Deadlines – Set some deadlines as to when you would like to have things done. Decide when you’ll have all gift buying done, when you’ll wrap things and when you’ll make goodies. The more you have planned out, the more likely you are to actually meet those deadlines and keep your sanity.

No matter how many holiday parties you have to attend and no matter how many gifts you have to buy, you can learn how to stay organized and sane this holiday season. There’s no sense in working yourself to a frenzy or feeling like you have to do everything by yourself. Get help if you need it so you can enjoy your friends, family and festivities as well.

The post How to Stay Organized and Sane This Holiday Season appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.

For many families, travel is part of the holiday season. Some travel to visit family, while others like to take a trip during the holiday season. Traveling (as you probably well know) is not only hectic during the holidays, it’s also darned expensive.
Whether you’re heading to grandma and grandpa’s or you’re hitting the slopes this holiday season, you can save money.

Here are seven tips to save money on holiday travel.

#1 Buy early. Book now, before the holidays are on everyone’s radar. You can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars buying your tickets and booking your hotel rooms now. Check out individual airline websites for prices. Also check travel websites for deals.

#2 Buy a package. Often you can get a great deal on travel if you buy a packaged deal. On many sites, that will include hotel, rental car and flights. Depending on where you’re going, it might also include show tickets, lift tickets or activities.

#3 Book the trip yourself. Yes, travel agents are a wonderful help when you don’t know where you’re going. They can tell you the best places to stay and often get a good deal. However, if you know where you’re going and what you want to do when you get there, book the trip yourself using one of the many travel websites.

#4 Be flexible. This is particularly helpful if you buy early. Be flexible with the dates and times of your travel. If you’re able to fly on a Thursday instead of a Saturday, for example, you could save a few hundred dollars on air travel alone.

#5 Change your mode of transportation. Can you travel by train or bus instead of air? If so, check out the rates. You may be able to save hundreds on your trip and have a new adventure to talk about.

#6 Bring food from home. If you’re traveling by car to your destination, grab a cooler and pack it with food from home. You’ll save tons of cash because you won’t have to eat out, and you’ll be healthier too.

#7 Rent a house. Instead of booking a hotel room for your trip, consider renting a home or condo. There are websites available that list vacation homes for rent. This is a great way to save money because you can cook your meals at home. Additionally, depending on your destination you can save money by renting a home instead of a hotel room.

Vacation travel doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Plan early, research your options and look for packages and deals that make sense. You may just have the best holiday yet!

The post Holiday Budget Travel Tips appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.

If you’re looking to save money this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned Christmas Club. First offered by banks during the Great Depression as a tool to bring customers back, they’re still around decades later. Here’s what you need to know about saving money this holiday with Christmas Clubs.

A Christmas Club is essentially a special savings account for Christmas season spending. They’re generally offered through local banks and credit unions. Additionally, a Christmas club is considered a short-term investment. Meaning unless you’re saving for a Christmas ten years from now, you’re going to close the account once the holiday season is over.

Most Christmas Club accounts begin in January. This provides you with eleven months to save up for the holiday. You withdraw your money on November 1st and make your holiday purchases. You can also often roll any remaining money over into another account. If the account is at the same bank, there may not be any fees applied to this transaction.

The benefit to a Christmas Club is that you’re earning interest on the money you’re putting away. Thus you’re making money. This is of course money you can use to spend on gifts. However, the other significant benefit to a Christmas Club is that when you put away $5, $10 or even $20 a week into the account, saving is easy and it adds up.

When the holidays roll around, you don’t have to stress about where the money is going to come from. Additionally, if you plan your savings right and stick to your budget, you don’t have to charge anything to your credit cards. Imagine a holiday season without debt!

How to Compare Christmas Clubs

When seeking a Christmas Club, you want to look at a few key facts or data points. The first is: what is the interest rate your money will be making? The more interest you make on your money, the more money you’ll have to spend.

The second item to compare is how much you need to open the account. Some banks or credit unions offer different account options. For example, they may offer one account with a $5 minimum balance designed for children to save, and a $100 opening balance for adults. The adult account will likely earn more interest.

Also take a look at the dates. Does the account close in October? November?

Are there any fees associated with the account? This is important because the fees can offset any interest you’ve earned, making the account essentially void. It becomes nothing more than a safe place to put your money.

Finally, can you add money to the account with direct deposit? When you can automatically have a predetermined amount deposited into your account each week, it makes saving extremely easy. Instead of having to set aside money and go to the bank each week, the money is taken from your normal account.

Christmas Clubs are an effective means for saving for one of the most expensive times of year. A little money set aside each week can mean a world of difference when the holidays roll around.

The post ABCs of Christmas Clubs appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.

Are you tired of giving the same old commercialized brand name gifts to friends and family? Are you looking for something unique and personalized to give this year? On a budget and trying to be creative? Here are five great places to help you get started on your quest!

#1 Etsy – Etsy is a website that sells vintage items along with handmade items. There are some real artisans here. You can find everything from home goods to beautiful pieces of art and jewelry on Etsy.

It works much like eBay in that each seller has their own store. Etsy takes PayPal, which makes paying for your purchases quick and easy. And you can contact the artist or seller to ask questions. One of the wonderful things about Etsy, besides the variety of products you can purchase, is the unique nature. Many items are one of a kind items that you just cannot get anywhere else.

Additionally, there’s something satisfying about helping small business owners and artists make a living. The Etsy website is http://www.etsy.com/

#2 Foodzie – If you love food or the person you’re buying for is a real foodie, consider visiting Foodzie. Much like Etsy, Foodzie is a website set up to help chefs, bakers and food artists from around the world sell their wares.

You can buy anything from kicking hot salsa to amazing cookies and baked goods. Candies, cheese, meats and just about everything under the sun is available at Foodzie. It’s a great place to try new food and to buy unique gifts at a low cost.

You may want to try the food before you give it as a gift to make sure it’s what you’re looking for. You can also read reviews posted about the sellers to help minimize risk. Like Etsy you can pay via PayPal.

Consider using Foodzie to create one of a kind gift baskets. The website is http://foodzie.com/

#3 Ebay – If your recipient loves vintage, consider shopping on eBay for their holiday gift. Many of eBay’s items are auctions; however, there are also some great buy it now offers. Antiques, vintage jewelry, and even photographs and movie posters can be found online at eBay. It’s a fun place to do your holiday shopping.

#4 Charities – Every year more and more charities are promoting themselves as a gift giving option. You can donate in your recipient’s name to anything from the Red Cross to buying a cow in Africa to feed a family. You can help children learn, deliver water to families in drought-ridden areas or help the homeless. It’s a kind and rewarding gift.

#5 Your local gift shop – Finally, don’t forget to wander the shopping district in your own home town. Local small gift shops are jam-packed with unique gift ideas and again, it’s just plain fun to support local small business owners.

There’s no end to the unique gifts you can give to your friends and family. Check out these five ideas today and get started on what may be the best holiday yet.

The post Five Great Places to Get Unique, Budget-Friendly Christmas Gifts appeared first on Dr. Cozette M. White.