Everyone has a little "elf" in them!

Struggling to think up new gift ideas on a budget? Check out one of the Penny Pincher's favorite sites on this subject:

www.learnvest.com/living-frugally/guerrilla-guide-to-the-holidays

They have suggestions and complete instructions for 8 "DIY" holiday gifts sure to cheer even Scrooge himself!

The goodies include:

Home- baked biscotti
Homemade bath salts
Infused vodka
Photobooks
Granola

...and more! Fun to make and great to give!

Cards for Heroes

As always, I am looking for ways to make a difference without going broke myself! This particular option is easy, inexpensive and yet very important. When addressing your holiday cards this year, address a few extra - each one to the following address - to go to a veteran or active military man or woman to add some cheer to their holidays:

Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20191-5456

To be included, your cards must be postmarked no later than Dec. 9th! Cheers!

So before I rush you into December...

Admittedly my last post may have pushed all the holiday stress buttons, so let's step back into November! "Woman's Day" (11/17/11) had an easy, interesting way to decorate your Thanksgiving table...one of many in that issue I might add!

If you are using a solid color tablecloth (red looks great), spray paint whole walnuts (in shell obviously) with gold spray-paint and lay them around the table. They add a feeling of texture and color to the dinner table! Go a step further and try it with miniature pumpkins or squash!

Here comes Santa Claus...

Now my regular readers may recall, I am always early in my Christmas preparations - particularly cards and gifts. (This is NOT to insinuate that I like Christmas decorations and music the day after Halloween in my grocery store!). But, in case you are wondering, yes, my shopping is done, all out of town gifts have been shipped (I detest lines at the post office) and I will mail my already addressed cards out on December 1st.

But for the more normal holiday shoppers out there, here are some ways to sparkle up your wrapping for very little expense (way to go Martha Stewart!):

• Use silver garland to create pom-poms for bows.
• Layer colors of tissue paper when wrapping to give a unique look.
• Use knotted paper "rope" to make really easy, stylish bows.

Check out more at marthastewart.com and start wrapping!

Helping Military Families with Expired Coupons!

So to celebrate Veteran's Day while sticking to my "penny pinching" theme, I have a great program to tell you about (thanks Charlie!!!) Our US military commissaries will allow our enlisted soldiers and their families to use our expired printed coupons for 6 months past their actual expiration dates! Help our troops by sending your expired coupons to selected co-op operations for military family support centers overseas. Even better, start a larger collection program - collect at your workplace, organizations you are part of, schools, places of worship...it's easy and doesn't cost more than a little postage (and, for military bases, the postage is the same as US postage...no added expense)!

Here are some of the addresses:

COMFLEAT DET
Yokohama
Family Service Center
PSC 472, Box 8
FPO AP 96348-1150
______________________

Navy Family Service Center
U.S. Fleet Activities
Sasebo
ATTN: Coupon Distribution
PSC 476, Box 62
FPO AP 96322-1114
______________________

ANSBACH 235TH BSB
Unit 28614
APO AE 09177
(Germany)
_______________________
NAPLES NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY
PSC 810, Box 53
NAS Naples
FPO AE 09619
(Italy)
__________________________

For additional locations go to:
http://couponing.about.com/cs/aboutcouponing/a/militaryexpcoup.htm

And don't forget to thank every veteran and active military member you see!

Fun food fast!

In the Phoenix area, we can boast that we have our own Food Network star, Robin Miller ("Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller"). But what is really cool about this is that she specializes in 30-minute simple family meals. A few of her favorite tips? Check these out:

• Double recipes and freeze half for a second meal.
• Always have "must-have" items on hand (herbs, pasta, rice, olive oils, vinegars, etc.)
• Build meals around seasonal foods - they will taste better and cost less.
• Freeze 1/2 cup measures of ingredients such as onions and peppers to make quick soups or stir-fries without all the chopping.

For more of these helpful hints, check out Robin's latest book, "Robin Takes 5."

Seven Memory Improvers

USA Weekend published seven ways to improve your memory (Aug. 26-28, 2011). I can be scatter-brained sometimes, but I am in favor of avoiding that! Here are their techniques as recommended by experts in the fields of cognition and aging:


1 - Paint a mental picture to help you remember a name or date.

2 - Switch things up - change your PC font to one that is actually harder to read as it forces you to concentrate more on the info you are reading.

3 - Talk to yourself (uh...no problem there for me!).

4 - "Use it or lose it" - the more you work your brain the healthier and sharper it will be - learn a new language, play Scrabble, take on online course - exercise for your brain!

5 - Don't be a loner (they even suggest that Facebook and Twitter count as social activities because written communication keeps your language skills sharp).

6 - Take a walk - studies suggest that regular exercise might slow or even prevent memory deterioration!

7 - Get a good night's sleep (zzzzzz)

So...summed up: sleep well, study more, exercise, be sociable and work your brain!

Check out usaweekend.com for more info and some puzzles to get you started!