Question: Did anyone catch the Oprah show? It was actually pretty decent about getting out of credit card debt, & putting value on *real* family values instead of just *things.*
It was refreshing! 
Answer: It certainly was refreshing! They had alot of good ideas and ways to save money.
I think the biggest surprise of all was how much money can be saved by collecting and saving all your old spare change. Over time it can really add up.
Nowadays they have those “change sorter/counter” machines in many supermarkets. For a small fee it counts all your change and you bring the slip to the courtesy desk and get the cash for it.
Pretty neat, and no more wrapping coins. Yes I saw it and was truely amazed! I was very touched by the one daughter that would rather have spent holidays with the family doing things instead of receiving expensive gifts. I also couldn’t believe that so many people allowed themselves to go into so much credit card debt (I am freaking out that I have a balance of $1000 on one credit card)! Now I have some motivation to go through my closets, drawers, shelves to get rid of anything I haven’t used for the last year (except my old school books), and hand it over to those who would get good use out of it.
It must have been a sign from above when we had so much snow today that I couldn’t go into work 
Although, I have to admit that despite my generally frugal ways, I used to drink about 3-4 cups of Starbucks coffee a week (sometimes lattes or mochas – so even more expensive than plain coffee). Sometimes it is good to remind people about how a small thing like that can save a lot of money. I quit because when I was pregnant, coffee gave me indigestion. Now I don’t do it because I try to be more frugal and make my own coffee. I didn’t see the Oprah show (not a fan, so I never see the Oprah show), but sounds like a fairly sensible suggestion might have been buried by the overwhelmingly unrealistic nature of these people’s spending problems. We MIGHT spend $300 – cash, not credit. All four teenagers are either working and realize the value of a dollar or not working (going to school) and don’t have the funds anyway. We’re buying them two gifts each – reasonably priced gifts. My parents are semi-retired and have seven grandchildren, and we decided this year there would be no gift swapping there. My grandmother’s gift is a cinch. Every year she expects the same gift – three ladies’ cloth hankies (the kind old ladies carry). Total cost for that gift: less than $3. DH’s parents live 8 hours from here, and he is an only child, so we will get them something. Have already picked out his mother’s gift ($15). Will spend about the same on his dad. As for the gifts DH and I swap, he’s already picked his out and is putting it on layaway, plus he gets a 10% discount because he works at the store. Since I’ve been trying to de-clutter my life and get more frugal, I can’t honestly think of anything I need or want for Christmas. I just want to see all our kids (3 of them live 2 states away from us) and spend time with them.
I have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who runs up huge bills during the holidays. IMO they are not trying to give love and good feelings, they are craving it for themselves and feel they must lavish expensive gifts to get that back. How very sad.
Related posts: