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How to do it
Dec. 10th, 2009 02:02 pmWe're a single-income family of 3. We don't really have much in our lives... just stuff we've been able to scrounge and salvage, plus a lot of stuff from steep "a guy who knows a guy" discounts. We have no shame over digging furniture out of dumpsters, and take great pride in our "Green" recycling of perfectly good stuff. Name-brand products RARELY come in to our home, because really who can tell the difference between Oscar Meyer and Happy Piggy brand Bologna?
So when we decided that we should celebrate Molly's 4th Birthday in Disney Land next year, we knew that SOMETHING had to give. "Friend of a Friend" has gotten us our hotel and flight very cheap, and old friends have committed to trying to get us a break on admission to the park. It all came together very suddenly and perfectly! However, despite living on $200 less per month (the amount we're socking away till the trip), it still looked like Christmas would have to be canceled in order for us to do this.
By "Canceled", I mean just for Crystal and I. We'd still get a tree, still decorate, still make sure that Molly got plenty of presents under the tree... but for Crystal and I, our Christmas presents were gonna be the knowledge that in just a few short months we'd be at The Happiest Place on Earth :)
But then we started REALLY buckling down, mainly because I love Christmas and love my wife and couldn't think of NOT getting her something for Christmas. So we both started going NUTS. We signed-up for every Bank Incentive that was out there offering money or goods for opening accounts. We sold a BUNCH of stuff on Craigslist and Ebay. We put up Christmas Lights for cash. We did Microsoft Studies for gratuities. We scoured the net and the real world for the absolute best deals on stuff.
And by golly, we're gonna have the BIGGEST CHRISTMAS EVAR this year! We even have money left after this to put in the bank for MORE DISNEY!!!
So really, I think the BEST gift we've gotten this year is the knowledge that yes we CAN overcome just about anything if we really put our backs in to it :)
So when we decided that we should celebrate Molly's 4th Birthday in Disney Land next year, we knew that SOMETHING had to give. "Friend of a Friend" has gotten us our hotel and flight very cheap, and old friends have committed to trying to get us a break on admission to the park. It all came together very suddenly and perfectly! However, despite living on $200 less per month (the amount we're socking away till the trip), it still looked like Christmas would have to be canceled in order for us to do this.
By "Canceled", I mean just for Crystal and I. We'd still get a tree, still decorate, still make sure that Molly got plenty of presents under the tree... but for Crystal and I, our Christmas presents were gonna be the knowledge that in just a few short months we'd be at The Happiest Place on Earth :)
But then we started REALLY buckling down, mainly because I love Christmas and love my wife and couldn't think of NOT getting her something for Christmas. So we both started going NUTS. We signed-up for every Bank Incentive that was out there offering money or goods for opening accounts. We sold a BUNCH of stuff on Craigslist and Ebay. We put up Christmas Lights for cash. We did Microsoft Studies for gratuities. We scoured the net and the real world for the absolute best deals on stuff.
And by golly, we're gonna have the BIGGEST CHRISTMAS EVAR this year! We even have money left after this to put in the bank for MORE DISNEY!!!
So really, I think the BEST gift we've gotten this year is the knowledge that yes we CAN overcome just about anything if we really put our backs in to it :)
