Contest Entries
The best money-saving, gift-giving idea I've had was last year. I was low on funds for Christmas and a payday loan wasn't sufficient enough to buy for all the people I had on my list so I decided to hand make all the gifts. I bought 24 glass jars, flour, cookie mix, ribbon, and printed 24 pictures of my daughter. I layered the cookie mix into a pretty design in the jar and then decorated the jar. I hung my daughter's picture with a ribbon and made her picture the gift tag. I gave it to family and friends and they loved it! Nothing like a homemade gift to show someone they're special! I was even able to buy a few extra items since the cost of the cookie making jar was minimal!
As a single parent of a teenager each year becomes more difficult as college approaches. This holds true for more than one reason, because of saving for college and because teenages always want more expense gifts. And since this year he has dental work to get done he is more understanding of the financial end of it!
Since both myself and my son realize the Christmas can be expensive we have come up with a way to make holiday giving more personal than commercial. We each pick out one gift that really means a lot to each of us and that is what we get. For example, it means more to me for the two of us to attend mass together on Christmas day so that will be my gift! For him he really wants to be able to get a new computer for school, but knows he will need money so he asked for a gift card so he can do errands to be able to put money on it each week until he has enough on it to pay for the computer!
I think the best money saving gift idea is homemade. When I was a student in school I was always broke and now I have a family with three kids, I need to watch my pennies. I send my family home made gifts every year. Me and my kids made homemade christmas cards and they turned out to be the favorite thing at xmas. This year we are making homemade ornaments. I found clear ornaments at the dollar store and we are coloring with paint. My kids are very creative and now my family can't wait to see what we come up with every year. Plus, you get to spend time with your kids!
I will have no or very little money for any gift buying for others this year. I took a vacation from work and due to a misunderstanding I thought it was a paid vacation so that when I returned from a two thousand mile trip I found out that my direct deposit was only half of what I had expected and was barely enough to cover the minimum payment of my payday loan. I took out a title loan on my car to help pay for my rent and other living expenses and have not been able to recover completely from the mix-up. I cannot even fathom how much differently this Christmas would be if I had the winning prize money (or even half of it for that matter)!
I decided to enter this contest because everyone could use extra money at this time of year. When you work all your life and everytime the holidays come and you have to struggle to come up with ways to purchase your gifts, a payday loan could come in handy. I remember driving to work and thinking this was going to be the worst Christmas I'd ever had. How was I going to give gifts with no money? Then the thought came, "Give the gift of faith." Question, how do I do that? Give the Word of God to those you love because, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Great, we all need faith, but how do you buy it, without funds. Thanks nationalpayday.com. I have the gifts of faith that I believe I have been lead to give to those I love. It is the gift that will last an eternity. In reading the other entries I feel that my entry pales compared to the others, but I wanted to share with others that we always do not have to give material things in order to make others happy and bless their lives. I hope this inspires other to pass on the gift of faith this holiday season.
