Ways to Save on Christmas Entertaining

Our group of amazing Knoxville money saving momma bloggers is at it again. This post comes from Gabrielle at Couponing for Critical Times. She shares ideas for frugal get-togethers and ideas to save on decorating your home for Christmas. If she weren't so darn nice and gracious, she would be intimidating with all her great ideas! She is the Martha Stewart of Knoxville (without the likelihood of spending time behind bars ;-)

One of my favorite get-togethers she mentions is a cookie swap. I've never hosted one, but our moms group does one every year. It's an easy thing for moms to do when you have kids with you. You might also suggest a gift card exchange of a designated value and play a game of "dirty Santa"--when you get to steal each other's gifts.

My favorite tip for decorating is to "Go Natural." We're going to cut our own tree at a farm on Saturday and I'll ask for some extra clippings. I've never had the courage to make my own swags, but this year I'll give it a try. I have everything she describes on hand; so it won't cost a thing. We'll see.

Thank you to all the other contributing writers to this series: Coupon Katie, Coupon Mommie,Couponing in Critical Times,Coupons Are Money, Frugalissa Finds,Frugally Farming Family,Knoxmoms.com, Knoxville Mamabelle,Knoxville on a Dime, Sharing Savings with You.

If you've missed a few, scroll down my posts in December and November.

Stretching your Christmas Budget, Volunteering Ideas, and Library Programs

Miss me? I've just returned from a mini vacation in Hawaii with my hubby (our first without the kids since we didn't have kids--8 years!). I went completely unplugged: no cellphone, no emails, no blogging, no Facebook, not even an internet search for local restaurants. It was refreshing, but it's not in my DNA to cut technology out of my life completely. I see great value in sharing ideas and building communities through it.

In that spirit, I'm playing a bit of catch-up from my period of being unplugged, and I'd like to highlight three great posts from local mom bloggers to hopefully help you save time / money / hassle or to simply inspire you this holiday season.

The first is from Julie at Sharing Savings with You. As a librarian, she has two posts about all the FREE events at the library in December, Merry Merry at the Library: one for Knox County and one for Blount County. We'll probably try to catch Santa at the Karns Library on 12/8 at 4pm. Bobby may be catching onto the fact that there are "several Santas" but the one who does the library rounds is really great!

Next is from Coupon Katie: Setting & Stretching Your Christmas Budget. Can I confess that I've never actually set a budget for Christmas before? Shock! Gasp! Moan! I still haven't really sat down with a list and made final decisions about what I'm giving to whom. If you're a procrastinator like me, you should really check out her tips.

Finally, Christy at Coupons are Money posted: Ways to Volunteer this Christmas Season. It's a great list to peruse for inspiration for how to involve your kids. If you don't have plans tomorrow, consider helping with the Coats for the Cold event for KARM 12/4. Even if you find quick, simple ways to teach your children the value in giving back, I encourage you to do so. This Sunday is the annual Stuff a Stocking event at our church. Parishioners have brought specific items (I donated a slew of items I've acquired for free the past few months through Couponing for Charity), they're spread out on a table, and then we all go round and round stuffing each stocking with an assortment of goodies. The kids especially like this because it's easy and dynamic and we're finished before they lose interest.

Thanks to all the great bloggers contributing posts this season: Coupon Katie, Coupon Mommie,Couponing in Critical Times,Coupons Are Money, Frugalissa Finds, Frugally Farming Family,Knoxmoms.com, Knoxville Mamabelle,Knoxville on a Dime, Sharing Savings with You.

Free Holiday Events and Activities for Kids in Knoxville

As I've previously mentioned, a group of local Knoxville bloggers have teamed up this holiday season to bring you all sorts of ways to save effort, time, and money. Today's post comes from Ali at Knoxmoms. It's a very extensive list of activities--most of which are FREE.

We'll be doing the Festival of Lights at the Cove and Santa at the library; we'll see about the others. One parade she did not mention is the Karns Christmas parade on Saturday, December 4 at 10am along Oak Ridge Highway. Anyone can participate; you just show up at the Ingles parking lot by 9am. Our son will be in it with the Chung-Do Black Belt Academy.

If you missed some of the other holiday posts, here are links:

• Frugalissa Finds: Black Friday Tips
• Knoxville on a Dime: Online Holiday Shopping

And look for posts from these bloggers in the near future:

Coupon Katie, Coupon Mommie, Couponing in Critical Times,Coupons Are Money, Frugally Farming Family,Knoxville Mamabelle, Sharing Savings with You, and myself.