this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

This post was originally published in December of 2007. With budgets tightening this year, remembering what really makes the season special is more important than ever.

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”
From How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Who knew the Grinch was frugal? Okay well maybe not, but we can all learn a great lesson in frugality from this wonderful Christmas story. Christmas can be special without going overboard in your spending.

Here are some ways I plan on making this Christmas truly special without going into debt.

Watch Christmas Shows - On Tuesday night, I let Bug stay up late and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. He loved it. Last night I taped How The Grinch Stole Christmas and we watched it today. Another winner. Taping these shows doesn't cost a thing and watching them can be a fun family activity.

Bake and Give Away Some of the Goodies - Bug loves to help me in the kitchen, and I love to bake, so making special Christmas treats to share with others will be something both of us will enjoy (and The Tall One will enjoy eating some things I don't normally bake).

Making a Special Christmas Breakfast - I think anything I can do to set Christmas Day apart from other days will help make the day something we look forward to. When I'm hosting Christmas (or we're on our own) I always make orange rolls, something I don't make any other day.

Make Crafts - I try and do art activities with Buggy, but they really are few and far between. Making December a month of crafts will make it fun for him, we can use what me make as gifts and we'll have some fun things to decorate the house with.

Talk about Jesus - This will be a big one. When I ask my kids what Christmas is about, I don't want the answer to be "Santa Claus". I think Santa Claus has his place, and we like him at our house, but I want my kids to know there's more to Christmas

Do Something Each Day - I plan on thinking of 24 things to do to celebrate Christmas, they will include all of the above. Each day we'll do something. I think this could be a great tradition for my kids and give them something other than presents to look forward to come December.

Gifts are great, don't get me wrong. I just want me and my family to have more reasons to love Christmas other than getting new things.