Category Archives: Money Watch

Frugal Christmas

Posted on December 7, 2008 by greenbucks| 23 Comments

I have started a series of Frugal Christmas posts about personalized Christmas gift tags, being on the lookout for that “perfect” chocolate chip cookies recipe so I can bake these as as gifts and handmade paper stockings as tree ornaments.

I hope to feature more of the things/ideas that I want to do.

To further perk me up, I have decided to do the Weekly Question about Frugal Christmas ideas/practices.

Check out this New York Times article: No Job and Fewer Gifts

So the Weekly Question is:

What frugal or practical Christmas tips (does your family practice) that you can share to cut down on Christmas-related expenses but not necessarily sacrificing on quality?

My answer:

Read more »

Posted in blogging101, family, Interesting Topics, Money Watch, Philippines, Urban Living, Weekly Questions

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Frugal Christmas: Handmade Paper Stocking Tree Ornament

Posted on December 6, 2008 by greenbucks| 15 Comments

For another Frugal Christmas post, I present “Handmade Paper Stocking Tree Ornament”.

Here is my post about Personalized Christmas Gift Tags.

My two younger children did these, two for each of them. When we were looking at these ornaments when we hung these, I thought the paper stockings look old-fashioned when put side by side to newer and more modern designs of tree ornaments these days.

Materials:

  1. red construction paper
  2. white paper scraps, preferably Japanese paper
  3. craft glue
  4. Scrapbook embellishments

I just instructed the kids about what they should do and they did these quite well. Another post will be dedicated to the instructions and tips.

For now, we sit back on our (almost) modern furniture and enjoy the crafts hanging on the tree that they made.

Yes, there is going to be another post about another handmade paper ornament that they have done.

Posted in family, Money Watch, Philippines, Photos, Visualizations

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Looking for Baked Goodies Recipes

Posted on December 5, 2008 by greenbucks| 3 Comments

I am on the lookout for the perfect chocolate chip cookies recipe or the perfect fudge recipe.

Why? I plan to give these away to relatives and friends.

Because I am determined to practice “Frugal Christmas” though of course, because I have forgotten the baking lessons I have had eons ago, I may even be spending more than I care to if my baking forays will end up as failures.

Not to mention getting those necessary equipments for these experiments mean another extra dip in my already dwindling resources, I am still determined to do these and not shop for other gifts besides those for my students.

Below is something I made that comes from a recipe for blueberry muffins but I decided to put these in mini loaf pans so the kids can have slices instead of muffins. Turned out ok, I guess since they ate everything. Or maybe they were just hungry.

If these are not too good to give away, if they are edible at least and not life-threatening ( 😀 ), my kids would be more than willing to have these for themselves. I know how they loved baked goodies.

For those people I know who are eternally looking for the best fat burner, hah, get ready to eat these baked goodies once I perfect the procedure. As if.

Posted in Dining, family, For Information, Money Watch, Photos

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Frugal Christmas: Personalized Gift Tags

Posted on December 3, 2008 by greenbucks| 6 Comments

Over at the FilipinoMomBlog.com, we have a started a meme called Fab Holiday Finds in an anything goes theme for the first week.

In this blog, I thought of follow-up posts to my entries in the meme.

Why? I plan to feature those things that I plan to do as a way of practicing a Frugal Christmas without skimping on quality.

Here is one idea: Personalized Christmas Gift Tags.

Click here for the cost and materials. Scrap booking embellishments are great to use with these ones.

Read more »

Posted in family, For Information, Interesting Topics, Money Watch, Philippines, Photos, Urban Living

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Bargain Bags

Posted on November 10, 2008 by greenbucks| 9 Comments

Sunday was spent fussing on a new dog, getting early Christmas gifts, lunching on grilled burgers and getting groceries and the clothes from the laundry shop. In between that, we found a place that sells bargain bags.

Blazing Products bags to be exact. The bags and other sports equipments being sold are old stocks. Some are good as new and look clean. The others need some cleaning up before being used.

There were also binoculars, flashlights, tent, rain gears and other camping and sports products to choose from. Hubby saw a compass and got interested. I wonder if they also sell talking watches.

We got a padded camera bag for me and a small sling bag for my son.

Below is a photo of some of the products being sold there:

That empty spot on the top shelf was where I got my padded camera bag from. The price? PhP400.00 or roughly below $9.

By the way, one can have a laptop bag made-to-order from them.

Posted in family, Money Watch, Philippines, Photos, Weekend Snapshots

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