Holiday Spending: To Give – Or Not to Give

Peggy R. Anderson

Extension Agent

November 17, 2010

Holiday Spending: To Give – Or Not to Give

The holiday season brings pressure to spend, but making a commitment to be financially responsible is likely to pay dividends.

Urging financial responsibility isn't the same as saying "Bah, humbug," said Carol Young, Kansas State University Research and Extension financial management specialist.

Initiate a conversation with family, friends and, depending on the situation, co-workers about gift giving before spending, she said.

While some families and friends will be comfortable drawing names, limiting the cost of gifts or gifts for children only, no one decision is right for every situation, said Young, who encouraged keeping the discussion upbeat, but practical.

Co-workers might decide to skip gifts and go out to lunch together or plan an office potluck to mark the holiday, and share food and fellowship without running up a bill, she said.

Be positive and creative, said Young, who encouraged initiating the conversation early in the holiday season so that everyone will be on the same page.

Expand Your Gift-giving Dollar

When the holiday season rolls around, many family budgets become strained. With a long list of family and friends, finding enough money to go around may be challenging. To help reduce the stress of your next holiday season, try making gifts instead of purchasing them. Consider these fun and economical gift ideas:

·         Create gift baskets. For the family member who loves movies, make a “night-in” basket. Get a large bowl for popcorn to use as the container. Add packaged popcorn and a coupon for a free movie rental. Gardening, sports or any other themed baskets also work.

·         For parents with young children, provide a homemade coupon good for free baby-sitting. Other ideas include coupons for helping walk the dog, painting or cleaning.

·         Create a recipe booklet with favorite holiday recipes. Copy the recipes onto festive recipe cards, punch a hole in the corner of the cards and tie them together with a red ribbon. Holiday photo albums also can be used to hold recipes,

·         Fill a holiday mug with packets of flavored tea, hot cocoa or coffee for those who enjoy warm beverages. Or tie a packet of soup mix to a large wooden spoon. Include a bowl and package of biscuit mix for a complete gift.

·         If you are computer savvy, create homemade calendars for family members. Those could include highlighted birthday and anniversary dates. Try adding family photos for a personal touch.

·         Repurpose old tins, filling them with cookies, muffins or other holiday goodies. A gift like this will be a delight to anybody who has little time for baking.

·         Make homemade mixes in a jar. Mixes for soups and cookies are popular gift items that are fairly inexpensive to make. The gift recipient will appreciate the attractive and thoughtful gift and also will value the convenience.

The NDSU Extension Service has a new bulletin entitled “Mix It Up – Food Mixes in a Jar” Here is one of the recipes for the mix and the finished recipe. The bulletin has copies of the recipes to copy and attach to your gift jar and four mix recipes; Country Chili Mix, Homemade Cornbread Mix, Cranberry-Oatmeal Mix, and Friendship soup Mix.

Homemade Cornbread Mix

1 c. flour

¾ tsp. salt

¼ c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ c. dry milk powder

1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. cornmeal

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. Place mixture in a clean quart-size jar. Cover the jar tightly with a lid, decorate it and attach a copy of the recipe card.

Recipe Card for Homemade Cornbread

1 container of Homemade Cornbread Mix

Additional ingredients:           1 egg

                                                1 c. water

                                                2 Tbsp. oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour dry mix into a large bowl. In a second bowl, combine egg, water and oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir well. Pour into greased baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown. For best flavor, use this mix within nine months

Makes 10 servings. Each serving has 150 calories, 4 g fat, 25 g carbohydrate and 330 mg sodium.

Schedule:

Wednesday, November 17 – Burke County

Thursday, November 18 – Burke County

Friday, November 19 – Burke County

Monday, November 22 – Velva – Professional In-service

Tuesday, November 23 – Divide County