We are Out With Family Till After The New Year

From Everyone At Frugal Creative Living Wishing You and Yours a Very Merry Christmas and A Great New Year!

Christmas Tree Fake Vs. Real

Do you prefer a Christmas tree that's real or fake? Actually I was alittle shocked that there are some things to consider when making the choice. Check this article out for pro's and con's to fake and Real Christmas Trees!

FAKE CHRISTMAS TREE VS. REAL CHRISTMAS TREE...http://www.ehow.com/how_5713553_decide-tree-real-christmas-tree.html

Frugal Christmas- Near FREE Christmas Gifts

Check out great article to save money on ideas for Christmas gift giving. This year our families budget is extremely low we are getting back to the real meaning of Christmas. Holidays can be a time for family and friends even on a frugal budget. We will continue to pass on any original ideas for this Christmas season.

NEAR FREE CHRISTMAS GIFTS: http://www.ehow.com/how_5696429_give-near-christmas-gifts.html

Cheap Sweet Potatoe Casserole Recipe

This time the year sweet potatoes are in abundance and hit record low prices around the holiday time. Ever get tired of the just standard candied sweet potato dish found on most Thanksgiving dinner tables ? Here's a twist to snazzle up that sweet potatoes this Thanksgiving

INGREDIENTS

4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.

3. In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

4. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

Black Friday Deals...How Good Are They?

Will you be one of thousands of Black Friday Shoppers? Are you Going to snag the best deals?
Chances are you are not going to be one to get the best bargain! Its a sad reality that major companies play on peoples minds. Actually it makes me alittle angry!
Years ago I fell to the Black Friday Syndrome. You stalk the paperboy the day the sale ads come out. Waiting Waiting Waiting............ Yeah hes on time this morning! You greet him at the porch to get the hefty sized newspaper you've been longing for! A mad dash rush to the coffee pot pour your favorite special cup of java and to the kitchen table you go! Tossing aside the local news, classifieds and obit sections........ Buried deep in the middle............ YES the mother of all sale ads! BLACK FRIDAY DOOR BUSTERS!!! Target..... Kmart......Walmart......Best Buy......Sears........Toys R Us....... the list is endless!
Organizing the stack of ads according to your favorite stores....................... grab pen and paper making a list of everyone naughty or nice boy or girl on your Christmas shopping list..........Aunts .....Uncles...... kids........teacher gifts........grandparents........in laws you cant stand LOL they get the cheapest of all the door busters !
Does it sound familiar? You fill every spot something for everyone. Add up the total and thing WOW awesome we are gonna save a butt load for Christmas!
You call and arrange for your 3AM wake up call from local store. Mine has been typically Target lol. You set your alarm just in case you don't hear the phone ringing.
BUT HONESTLY WILL YOU BE THE ONE TO SNAG THE DEAL?
Chances are no! Stores use these deals Door Busters to get you in there. They know you are doomed to shop who don't shop at Christmas. They know its a fact of life .....paying taxes and buying Christmas presents are just facts of life everyone does it.
Be smart don't go into this thinking you are going to be the first in line for that Plasma TV or a washer / dryer pair marked down half the price for Black Friday. Stores limit the amount they sell at these crazy prices. "while supplies last" "no rain checks" "limited quantities"
The bottom line is what are the chances you are going to be the one to get something at super low price if theres only two in the whole store and theres 500 plus people standing in line at 4am!!!
For me personally I'm not playing these major retailers games anymore. I'm not feeding their need to trick me into the store with fake deals like this. We as customers have to play the game fair and so should they.
Whats your opinion???

Christmas Crafts Frugal Ornaments

Holiday season is fast approaching. With Thanksgiving being only a week away we are switching into Christmas gear at Frugal Creative Living. Not only can this be a stressful time of the year but also very expensive. One thing that tends to take money away from your budget is decorating for the Christmas Season. Ornaments for the tree can be very high priced why not get the free imagination out and gather the kids to make some!

8 ideas how to use old puzzle pieces to make ornaments....

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/treeornaments/tp/PuzzleOrns.htm

Recycle old scratched CDs to make custom ornaments...

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/cdcrafts/a/CDPhotoOrnament.htm

Light Bulb Reindeer ornament....

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/lightbulbcrafts/a/LightBulbReindeer.htm

Light Bulb Snowman Ornament...

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/snowpeople/ss/lbsnowman.htm

Small Appliances that Save Money!

With the increase cost of food and energy to cook the meals everyone is looking for money saving ideas. We looked at the facts around some of the more common small kitchen appliances

1. Crock Pot or Slow Cooker..... You can really save some time, money and energy with one of these. Crock Pot cooking has always been a less expensive form of cooking. Soups and stews are common recipes with low cost ingredients. To run a Crock Pot vs. heating up a full sized oven save energy costs. Purchasing lower grades of say beef or pork.....cooking them in a crock pot makes them as tender as higher priced cuts. Wow and a time savor too, throw the ingredients in it in the morning set to low or medium when you return from work you dinner is done and waiting to be served!

2.Bread Machine.... Making your own breads, rolls, pizza crust and much more can save dollars on the food budget. Many of us know this but lack the time to prepare such things for our families. Bread machines have become a no fuss way to make homemade without all the preparation times.

3. Coffee Maker......How many of us stop every morning on our way to work for a quick wake up cup of coffee. Brewing your own can save you lots of money. Don't have time to wait im the morning? Many coffee makers have a timer for automatic brewing. Make you coffee the night before set your auto brew timer for 15 minutes before your alarm clock and your brew is ready and steamy hot when you crawl out of bed in the morning. Huge saving over coffee shop prices!

4.Toaster Ovens...... These are not your teeny tiny toaster ovens of the past! Counter top models have greatly improved the user ability for these. Still saving income from energy costs when compared to full sized ovens. Perfect for heating up smaller sized left overs, making snacks, frozen pizza and alot more!

5.Make your own soda pop from your tap water! Soda pop is a million dollar a year industry. In our house we have greatly cut back but the cost for these drinks still cuts into our food budget. This is a great idea for people that tend to regularly purchase these drinks and its fun too!
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/32/make-your-own-soda-it-s-easy-fun-and-good-for-the-planet.html