Categories
budgeting money for Christmas Christmas December Getting To Healthy gift ideas healt Holiday Shopping Old San Juan Puerto Rico Therapeutic Thursdays vacation where to start holiday shopping

Vacation, Take two of these and Call me in the morning.

photo credit: Emilio Santacoloma via photopin cc

It’s Therapeutic Thursday here on My Pocketful of Thoughts today!  Therapeutic Thursdays are reserved for all things that give you a sense of well being potential Holiday gift ideas.  Today I’m sharing with you what my boyfriend, Daniel, and I are doing for this holiday season.  Perhaps it will inspire you to think of a potential Holiday Gift for someone on YOUR list.

Throughout the year we can get extremely busy.  It’s like the saying, “If it’s not one thing it is another.”  It is great to be super busy, whether its work, pursing dreams, playing bowling, and volunteering at our church.  Sometimes I think having all these spinning plates though can be hazardous to our health.  It is important to know your body’s limit.  Daniel and myself are still learning and pushing the body’s limits to just help one more person.  It’s our gift and our curse. 

The time we do spend together is precious.  Which is why this holiday season we are giving the gift of doing absolutely nothing in a beautiful destinationIf I were a doctor I would prescribe to most of my patients a VACATION;  Take two of these and call me in the morning.  While we do need to keep moving to STAY active, we also need to drop everything regularly to make sure that the body can heal itself properly and rest.  If our cell phone is about to die, we do not try to make just one more call, right?  Ok…maybe I do but only because it guarantees a short phone call. 🙂   Our mind automatically starts looking for the charger as soon as the light starts flashing red.  So why not treat our bodies like we do our cell phones.  We can get a replacement if the cell stops working but we can’t trade-in for a new body if our batteries die.

What better gift is there to get, than spending quality time with our loved ones, right?  Cue in the music … why spend the money on gifts when you could spend the money on a trip that will build memories to last a lifetime. You can avoid the rush at the mall and save time from having to track down the item that seems to be on everyone’s list?  In the past, that has been my favorite gift, the gift of an activity.  We have built some great memories over the past years with those kind of gifts.  I always look back on them with love in my heart. 

One year Daniel surprised me with Broadway tickets to In the Heights during our stay in NYC.  The play was amazing, a definitely must see.  This January we used one of his Christmas gifts from me, a photography shoot class in Grand Central Station with Sundays in NY, read all about it when you’re finished here.  This year we both know what we’re getting, as we planned it early on, a vacation to Puerto Rico.  We will be doing a combination of absolutely nothing, eating, lying on the beach, sipping yummy drinks, sightseeing, and eating some more.  We owe it to our bodies to just have a time out, heal and rest.  Time outs are not just for kids you know!  If this sounds great for one of the people on your list check out the Travel Discount Page in the menu above, its full of my favorite sites on where to get deals from activities to traveling.
If you’ve done something similar in the past, drop a line in the comments section, I’m always looking for inspiration on my next gift.

Until then,
PS Wednesdays on the My Pocketful Of Thoughts Facebook Page is Where Are We Going Wednesday, the entire day shares posts full of great travel tips and things to know.  Stop by today and check out what great things you missed yesterday.

If you like what you’ve read, warm my heart and follow the blog!  Likes are great for those who don’t want to comment.    Just go to right side panel, look for FOLLOWERS and click Join This Site!      
       
Join the My Pocketful of Thoughts community by giving a LIKE to the FB Page! Just hit like and feel free to share it with lovely like minded people by hitting send below.

Join in on the conversation, click here to get started.

Categories
budgeting money for Christmas Christmas discount shopping Holiday Shopping lists Making a list and checking it twice where to start holiday shopping

The Ghosts of Holiday Shopping

photo credit: allerleirau via photopin cc

Happy Black Friday!  I hope that the day finds you productive AND safe!  Today I have decided to stay home and not buy more things I do not need.  I know, I can’t believe that I just said that either.  I have a few gifts left to buy and I’m still brainstorming on the list.  Today I’ll be sharing my past posts in case you needed a little extra help in getting going for ideas of how to start, where to start and where you can find some deals.

My Naughty and Nice List – giving you the information you need to start your list, step by step.


Where Can I Start My Holiday Shopping? – Gives you the first idea of where to start your holiday shopping if you’re looking for unique gifts.

Black Friday Shopping– My thoughts on Black Friday Shopping.
The Giving Season is Upon Us…where to shop for your holiday gifts for you and for everyone on your list! – Self Explanatory AND some tips in the PS portion of the post.
Where to Shop…Parte Dos! – A continuation of all the great sites available to you to get great gifts at a discount.  Remember to check how long items will take to ship and the return policy.

This is enough to get you going.  Stay tuned next week where I share some of my favorite gifts that I’ve received, the gifts I have given and a special giveaway.  Happy Shopping!

Until then,

If you like what you’ve read, warm my heart and follow the blog!  Likes are great for those who don’t want to comment.    Just go to right side panel, look for FOLLOWERS and click Join This Site!      
       
Join the My Pocketful of Thoughts community by giving a LIKE to the FB Page! Just hit like and feel free to share it with lovely like minded people by hitting send below.

Join in on the conversation, click here to get started.

Categories
bad for your heatlh budgeting budgeting money budgeting money for Christmas children Christmas credit cards debt Holiday Shopping Making a list and checking it twice Money Mondays presents

My Naughty and Nice List

Happy Money Monday!  Here on My Pocketful of Thoughts, Monday’s are reserved for all things money-like.  If you stopped by here this past Wednesday, you read in the Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway post that I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping.  If you have small children on your list you should check out the post later and enter to win one of their toys.  Today, I’ll begin to share my planning process with you.

photo credit: armadillo444 via photopin cc

How to start planning your holiday shopping:  

First, make your list of who you want to purchase gifts for.  To start your list, just grab a piece of paper and pencil in the people you think you might have to get gifts for and in pen write everyone you know you are definitely getting gifts for.  Every year my list is modified, but for the most part it remains the same.  My parents, boyfriend, nieces and nephews, my closest friends and on occasion someone new.  I say to pencil in potential people to buy gifts for because these are the people you’re on the fence about.  Maybe you’ve never gotten them a gift in the past but perhaps over the year you’ve gotten closer.  It’s better to have an extra gift or two than to not have anything at all.  

Next is to put together a BUDGET.  Most people do not do this.  For years I did not budget and I would charge my gifts to my credit card and in January I would have this crazy bill.  Please avoid this.  It is bad for your credit health.  While it is the holiday season, you do NOT have to go overboard.  Most people are on a budget this year and are not expecting extravagant gifts.  If you think someone on your list might be expecting a grand gift, than I would suggest having a conversation with them early to let them know you’d like to set a price limit.  One year I was on a super tight budget; I asked my friends if we could share a meal together instead of exchanging gifts. Spending quality time and making memories with loved ones is priceless.

How to plan your budget: 

photo credit: 401(K) 2012 via photopin cc
  1. In pen, write next to each person’s name the max dollar amount you wish to spend.  
  2. In the corner of the paper, write down the amount you wish to spend total on holiday gifts. 
  3. Take the amount you wish to spend total and divide it by the number of months you have left until the holiday season starts.  
  4. If the number you get after dividing it into a monthly goal to save for is too large and not feasible within your current income, then reverse engineer your thinking.  
  5. If I can afford to put aside $50 a month, starting in January than I can spend $600 on gifts.  If I started saving this month, that changes my budget to $100 total.  I would then erase the people I wrote in pencil and reduce the amount spent on each person.  

If you could, I would suggest having your money squared away before Black Friday, so you can snag the crazy deals!  
Lastly, Take your pencil and write in potential gifts in your budget range for the people on your list.  To save money I suggest thinking of a theme for your holiday shopping.  If I have a handful of ladies on my list, I might think of buying luxury lotion from Bath and Body, there I might score a deal of Buy 2 get 1 free.  This may allow you to be a little more generous than your budget would have normally allowed.

    This is what I do to start planning for the holiday season.  I also carry the list around with me in my wallet, so I can jot down ideas throughout the year.  How do you start planning your holiday shopping?

    Until then,
    If you like what you’ve read, warm my heart and follow the blog!  Likes are great for those who don’t want to comment.    Just go to right side panel, look for FOLLOWERS and click Join This Site!      
           
    Join the My Pocketful of Thoughts community by giving a LIKE to the FB Page! Just hit like and feel free to share it with lovely like minded people by hitting send below.

    Join in on the conversation, click here to get started.