Christmas Season always explodes on me. It seems like we have just eaten our second turkey concoction, like Turkey Tetrazzini or Turkey Carcass Soup, when BAM, everyone has their Christmas lights up. I realize I need to search for my Advent Candles to prepare properly.
I’m not too fond of the tension of the Christmas season. It overwhelms me with all the Christmas cards that kind people send and the plethora of goods that catalogs and stores think I need. How many red tea kettles or jolly Christmas mugs do we require? How many new Santa sweaters can I adorn in one month? What presents do I give to the vast majority of people in my life who need nothing?
THUS–The Frugal Catholic’s 2012 Christmas Gift Catalog 🙂
Write a letter to your loved one about how much they mean to you, including wonderful memories. Cost $FREE
Present them a gift card and plan to go shopping with them on a certain day, such as the day after Christmas. (My husband does all the family shopping in 20 minutes at the Safeway Gift Card Rack, and the day after Christmas, we all go into Seattle and shop for whatever the child wants. It is a FUN family day, and the card money amount doesn’t have to be very big to enjoy it. ) Cost $20-$30
Give a loved one a gift via Catholic Charities or Catholic Relief Services. Cost $20
Look through the book displays at your local thrift store and choose a good Catholic Christian book. Most books are nearly new. Cost $2--$3
Friends usually welcome inexpensive candles from the drug store or a box of interesting tea or coffee from the grocery store. Cost $2
Gift them a gift certificate of daily prayer for their needs or a note confirming that you'll say The Rosary or The Divine Mercy Chaplet dedicated to them for a week or a month. Cost $FREE
With the extreme pressure we all feel at this season, it is important to reflect that our Savior was laid in a manger, a feeding place for animals: a troth from where they gleaned nourishment. That is the most vital aspect of our Catholic faith. Jesus has given us Himself–body, blood, soul, and divinity–AS OUR DAILY BREAD: The Eucharist IS our spiritual nourishment, that DAILY BREAD as we say in The Lord’s Prayer. All else of this season pales when we reflect on what truly is the greatest gift and the ultimate Giver. It is but for us to receive. Cost $PRICELESS
KJV John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
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Martha Wild King, M. Ed., Author
The Frugal Catholic: Learn to live on less to give and save more.