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.

My First Article in the Knoxville News Sentinel!

I've been freelance writing for several years now, but today marks the first time one of my articles has made it into the Knoxville News Sentinel. Yeah! The title is: "East Tennessee money-saving momma bloggers share tips." It was my opportunity to highlight the talents and contributions of several of the talented bloggers in our area. Unfortunately, I couldn't include them all, but so is the reality of print media.

Click here to read the article. I do want to clarify that I had asked them their "unique monthly visitor" numbers and what was published was their "monthly traffic" numbers. The numbers should be much higher for everyone (in the thousands to tens of thousands).

It includes profiles on: Living on More for Less (note: she recently changed her website and this is the correct link), Coupon Katie, Frugally Farming Family, Couponing in Critical Times, Knoxville Mamabelle, Frugalissa Finds, Knoxville on a Dime, Adventures in Momville, and Coupons are Money. Though not featured in this article, you should also check out Coupon Mommie, Sharing Savings with You, and Dollar out of a Dime. What impresses me most about all these women is the spirit of collaboration. Some might consider us competitors, but there is truly a sense of camaraderie among us.

I also hope you enjoy my video featuring a few of them below. Feedback appreciated.