Tips for a Terrific Holiday

Six Sensational Tips for a Terrific Holiday Season

1. Get the whole family involved. Have your kids address the holiday cards. Have everyone coming to the event bring a treat or dish to share. Let the kids make the ornaments and bake the cookies. It is more fun when everyone pitches in.
   
   
2. Take time for yourself every day. Make sure that every single day you have something to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be something big and expensive. It can be a hot bath, a new magazine or a phone call to a friend. Most people get so busy in the holidays that they forget to enjoy themselves. If you work out or go for a walk everyday make time to do it, don’t quit just because it is the holidays. Many people get depressed during the holidays.
   
   
3. Simplify your gift giving. As my son says, "Tell me what you want so it is easy”  “I like gift cards." Use a gift cards so that your friends and family don’t waste any more time or money buying things you don’t really want or need.  Or pick out a great gift for all the men (mixed peanuts and a wrench) and another for all the women (Thank You notes and cashews). Give everyone the same gift this year.
   
   
4. Examine your family holiday traditions. Ask everyone in your family what are the three most important things that really make the holiday special. Then focus on those things. Have a tree decorating party, bake cookies, go caroling, go for a drive to look at lights, put tinsel on the tree, watch a movie together, string popcorn or another family tradition.  Do what makes the holiday special and forget the rest of the stuff.  One really memorable activity or event is what really makes a holiday. You don’t have to do it all.
   
5. Be an angel. Go out of your way this holiday season to do a good deed for someone else. Bring cookies to a friend, the neighbors or an elderly person at the local retirement home, drop a canned food item in the food pantry box or share your baked goods with a neighbor in need. Do some small thing to brighten someone’s day. 
   
   
6. Set up an automatic holiday savings account.   Too late for this year, but next year you can be prepared by setting up an automatic savings plan at your bank. The bank will debit your account and put a fixed dollar amount in your savings account every month. This way you will have a stash of cash for the holidays in 2011!