Christmas Trees

Christmas Trees! Should I buy a real one or an artificial tree? When we were first married money was very tight so we decided to buy an artificial tree. This way you could use it over for the next year. Then my husband’s parents said we needed to buy a real tree when the children came around. Now that my children are almost grown up, do I need to have a tree at all? Every family has traditions, but depending on where you are in your life you can  decorate for Christmas any way you like. Today I will tell you all the ways that we have decorated for Christmas over the years.

When I first met my husband he never had a tree so I surprised him the next year with an artificial tree. This is where I saved a lot of money.  I bought the tree after Christmas on a clearance sale. I waited until almost all the trees were gone and then bought my tree at 75% off. I also bought all my decorations and garland at 75% off. This tree was used for over 6 years before we decided it was time to sell it at a rummage sale.

When the children came we were told they needed a real tree. As you know real Christmas trees are very expensive. They can range from $30.00 dollars and up. This gets very expensive when they are only up for a few weeks. To save on a real trees try cutting down your own. What we did as a family was find a tree place that sells trees cheaper if you have the whole family buy their trees there. We had over 6 families buying a tree at the same place and they gave us a discount.

Now that my children are grown up we decided not to have a Christmas tree. 21 years ago I received a fern as a gift, and it was only 6 inches tall. Today my fern is over 8 feet tall and is now my Christmas tree. I put an angel on top and bows and candy canes on for decorations. This has become my Christmas tree now for the last 3 years.

Have a very Merry Christmas from Suzie Homemaker.

How to Buy Cheap Clothes and Shoes

                When I was growing up with two older sisters and a younger brother, money was tight. I was taught from a very young age to save and to look for bargains wherever you could find them. Since I had the two older sisters I received a lot of handed down clothes, some I could not wait to grow into. Every summer I could not wait for the rummage and yard sales to begin. This is where you can find new to slightly used clothes at the fraction of the cost. For all the new moms out there, this is where you can save a lot of money on baby clothes. The only time my babies received new clothes was from the relatives. My children were brought up on rummage and yard sale clothes. Since I had two girls this was double the savings because everything was handed down to the second child. Another great place to look for adult and kids clothes is thrift shops and your local Good Will store.

            If you do not want to do the thrift shops or rummage sales try this out. Go to your favorite stores at the end of the season and shop the clearance sales. What I like to do is watch for certain items and wait until almost all of my size is gone then I buy. Some stores keep lowering the price until they are almost all gone this is when you get your best deals. Just be patient and watch then buy those items at a very low price. Another great way to save is to watch for stores to have their 80% to 90% off sales and they give you a store coupon which gives you and extra discount. I have walked out of stores with more than 10 items for under 50 dollars. I buy next year’s clothes at the end of the seasons and save a bundle of money.

            Buying shoes is a little harder but not impossible. End of season is another good time to buy but also watch for sales. Again be patient, some stores keep lowering their prices just to reduce stock. Buy when you think the price will not go any lower. Watch for some shoe stores to have buy one pair get the second pair half off. This is where you can sometimes even use sale items and still get the second pair at half price. My last two pairs of shoes cost me under 20 dollars. I have even bought tennis shoes recently for $3 dollars a pair so I bought two pairs right away so when the first pair wears out I have another pair available.

            To this day, I have never bought anything unless it was on clearance or 80 to 90% off. To pay full price for something is a waste of money. I pride myself on getting the best deal I can possibly get. This is like a game to me to see how much I can save on kids to adult clothes and also shoes. Be a smart shopper and save money in the process. Check out more saving ideas from Suzie Home Maker coming soon.