Doesn’t feel like Christmas.

We’re in the midst of one of those awful winter thaws, with temperatures in the low to mid-30s and even some rain at times. Blech. I hate these things because of how slippery the roads and sidewalks get. Thank goodness for my Icebugs; haven’t had a fall yet despite surfaces that my late dad inelegantly described as “slicker than snot on a doorknob.” (As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small fee for items bought through my links.)

Lousy weather + seasonal affective disorder are probably two of the reasons why I haven’t set up my small tree. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas this year. Yet gray skies aren’t totally to blame: Post-election anxiety has been kicking my butt.

How in the world did this guy get elected again? Every time he opens his mouth, I flinch and wonder what fresh hell will emerge. Don’t get me started on the folks who work with him.

I may lose readers for making these statements. But it’s how I feel about this con man.

Back to Christmas, though: DF has been practicing holiday carols on the piano, to prepare for an extended family get-together. Hearing songs like “The First Noel,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” do make me smile.

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The $1 Christmas tree.

I’ve felt oddly detached from the holiday this year, to the point where I didn’t have the motivation even to put up my Christmas tree. Normally that’s pretty important to me, but this year I just wasn’t feeling it. Knowing that, DF politely offered to help me set the tree up – which is silly, really, since this is a two-foot tabletop model that takes all of five minutes to decorate. (Not counting the lights, of course, which take 15 minutes just to un-knot.)

Still I demurred, until I noticed that on Friday he’d cleared away his Advent candle wreath and draped a white tablecloth over a box to provide a great place for the tree. He suggested that it would be easier to reach this way; normally the tree is set atop a cedar chest.

Sometimes a partner just knows what you need. That clean, conveniently vacant pedestal was the gentle push I needed to get going. And he was right: It was easier to reach, and to decorate even though the lights were still a pain to un-knot. It’s just their way.

Decorating the tree got me humming carols, and before I knew it I was finished. As always, we turned out the indoor lights and plugged in the Christmas tree lights in order to get the full effect.

Not bad, for a Charlie Brown tree (apologies for the dual image created by our double-paned window):

And here’s a daytime view, which doesn’t have the double image and which better showcases our ultra-white Christmas:

 

Just got back from my niece’s house, where I watched as she and her kids opened their holiday gifts. My own contributions to that celebration were, of course, almost completely paid for through gift cards from rewards programs, a bit of judicious re-gifting and the Expo Hall** at the Financial Bloggers Conference. I love giving presents, but I do need to keep an eye on the bottom line as I approach retirement.

My niece’s Christmas tree is much taller and more impressive. It’s also pre-lit, which is something to keep in mind if I ever replace my own tree. Somehow I doubt I will, because that  tabletop model means something to me. I bought it for $1 at the annual rummage sale held by the Lakeside School in Seattle, shortly after I had fled my marriage. Dropped another buck on a sandwich bag full of small Christmas tree ornaments, too.

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9 cheap indulgences that bring joy.

A recent Twitter thread caught my eye: “What’s a cheap indulgence that brings you joy?” The usual suspects showed up: ice cream, coffee, bubble baths, good pens, pretty notebooks, dark chocolate.

And a few less-obvious choices showed up, too:

People-watching at the pub

Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards

S’mores Pop Tarts

Soft cotton sheets

Pretty hardback copies of favorite classic novels

Boston Baked Beans from the dollar store (“It has had me in a chokehold”)

Here was my contribution to the thread: “Pay-one-price day at Cinemark with my BFF or one/both of my great-nephews – and kettle corn, of course. Bonus joy points if I am using a discounted gift card and a coupon cashed in from movie rewards points.”

I’ve long been a fan of cheap joy. Given the past couple of years, and the no-real-end-in-sight nature of the pandemic (and its impact on finances), I think it’s more important than ever to find affordable delight.

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Extreme Frugality: Post-holiday sales edition.

Each year retailers set out millions of dollars’ worth of holiday presents, décor, cards, wrapping paper and foods. And each year there’s always some (or a lot) left over. Hence the annual post-holiday sales, where we can save some (or a lot) of money.

I wish I’d written this for Dec. 26, when stores were fairly bursting with red and green bargains. But it’s not too late. While holiday retail inventory is down, it’s not out: Sales are still happening both online and in-store. The discounts are deeper, too.

Sure, some of what you’ll see went unsold for a reason. It was tacky. It was garish. It was expensive. It was mystifying (see “corgi-butt bottle opener”). But plenty of perfectly good stuff simply doesn’t get bought, and post-holiday sales can stretch next year’s holiday budget and certain year-round needs as well.

For example, if your winter boots have started to let in snow at every step, you’ll likely find screamin’ deals on replacement footwear at this point. Or if someone you know is going to graduate from college, get married, move into a new home or have a baby in the coming year, now is the time to go shopping.

As always: If you don’t need it, it’s no bargain. Why buy another 10 rolls of wrapping paper when you’ve already got two dozen? Or extra holiday ornaments when every inch of the tree is already crowded? And you can display only so many nutcrackers or old-time Santas before your family stages an intervention.

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Extreme frugality: Holiday attitude edition.

(This is another in an occasional series of articles focusing on saving serious dough. A little background can be read here.)

Part of me thinks it’s a bit late to bring up the holidays, since some people have already finished their shopping and have their decorating plans well underway.

Then again, I expect lots of people have barely begun, because 2020 has sucked as relentlessly as gravity. Heck, April lasted something like 22 weeks and the pre- and post-election antics have left my head spinning. How about yours?

Money is a bigger-than-usual issue this year. #ThanksCOVID Layoffs, work slowdowns and dismal business returns have left some people frankly terrified. Should they spend on gifts and tinsel when they’re worried about being able to make the rent next month?

Spoiler alert: Some do. CreditCards.com surveyed 2,369 U.S. residents and almost half were willing to acquire debt (or sink deeper into it) to prepare for Dec. 25.

Here’s another sign of the times. Recently the Buy Nothing Facebook group to which I belong split into three smaller groups. One former member reports that her new group has very few giveaways but is replete with requests – many of them for food.

That led me to wonder how many of those Buy Nothing giveaway items are going to constitute a big part of Christmas for some households, both in that group and in my own. Certainly I’ve seen responses like, “This would be a great Christmas gift for my son” or “We’d love to get those decorations because we don’t have any and it’s been a tough year.”

So maybe it’s not too late for me to write about this topic. Maybe it’s the perfect time. 

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Giveaway: Alaska-made jewelry.

You’ve heard me mention my friend Linda B. a lot on this site. I do this because she’s the best friend ever. And since she’s also a jewelry artist, I decided to make the next Alaska-themed giveaway all about her work.

Jewelry is a great holiday gift because those who wear it never seem to have quite enough. A new color, texture or pattern, or a change in metals, can stimulate the eyes during this dark time of year, and turn a plain outfit into a canvas for wearable art.

Jewelry is easy to wrap, if you’re giving your presents locally, and easy to mail if you’re shipping your gifts. It can be given to folks of all ages. This particular batch of pendants and earrings is probably not right for toddlers with newly pierced ears or elementary-aged kids who’d likely be happier with pop-culture themes or shiny shiny rhinestones.

Linda came to jewelry art relatively late in life, beginning with freeform bead-weaving in her 50s and later developing a fondness for hammered metal embellished with beads and metal shapes. For a time she dabbled in what I think of as “resin captures” – putting shells, dried plants, charms and other oddments into forms and sealing them in clear resin. (Think of the mosquito in Amber from “Jurassic Park,” although nowhere near as deadly.)

But she made her living as a journalist and editor here in Anchorage, and since retiring she’s also become a playwright who’s regularly featured at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, the 8 By 10 Theater Festival in Fairbanks (she’s the only person to have been selected – in blind judging – all 15 years), and even in an off-Broadway new plays festival. 

The winner of this giveaway will get his or her choice of one pendant from the six pictured below, and also half a dozen pairs of earrings (only one of which is pictured – I’m not one of those bloggers who likes to make people scroll and scroll and scroll).

It was hard to choose even half a dozen from the many pendants Linda has on hand. Normally at this time of year she’d be selling them right and left at local crafts shows, but the pandemic put paid to that custom in 2020. Her work is available at several gift and art stores around the state, too.

But finally I bit the bullet and chose these:

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Monday miscellany: Holiday hiring edition.

“Get a side hustle” is a common personal finance suggestion, whether it’s for paying off debt or building wealth. A whole bunch of those side-gig options went away when COVID-19 struck, according to veteran PF writer Kathy Kristof.

But “several industries are now picking up steam,” Kristof writes on her SideHusl website.

“Some are back from the dead, while others are simply ramping up to new highs for the holidays.”

Among them: warehouse work, delivery, pet-sitting, mystery shopping and, of course, holiday retail. In her article, “Jobs that are revving up and reviving,” Kristof doesn’t just make the observations – she also gives links to the sites where you can apply for these gigs.

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Holiday shopping in the time of COVID.

(Surviving and Thriving has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Surviving and Thriving and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses and recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.)

Some 71 percent of U.S. residents plan to go online for most of their holiday shopping this year, according to a new survey from CreditCards.com. Will you be one of them?

I sort of hope not.

Local stores have already been hammered by the novel coronavirus. Some are barely hanging on. If there’s another stimulus check – and even if there isn’t – I plan to do much of my shopping here in town.

Note that I said “much.” A bunch of my gifts won’t actually be physical gifts, but rather gift cards that I get from rewards programs like Swagbucks and MyPoints or from my rewards credit cards.

But I’ll also be visiting some local shops with beautiful and/or practical gifts.

Sure, I could go online for pop-culture items for my nephew and niece, or cash in some of those rewards points for chain pet stores. But I’d much rather head over to Bosco’s or the Anchorage PetZoo and leave my dollars here in town.

 

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A festival of pie.

Tomorrow we’re attending a Thanksgiving celebration hosted by DF’s son and daughter-in-law, and we’re not going empty-handed. He’ll be doing a turkey in the oven plus prime rib on the Weber, and I’m bringing three pies.

Not just any pies, mind you. These are Alaska pies, made with fillings grown less than three miles from where they’ll be consumed.

Specifically, they were grown in our own dirt. The apple pie filling was made mostly by DF over many days in August and September. He sliced the Norland apples and mixed them with sugar, cinnamon, and a dash of ginger and nutmeg, then froze the result in pie-sized portions.

Lots of pie-sized portions: We have enough filling for more than two dozen desserts. Although the trees are less than five years old, the weirdly warm summer had them producing like gangbusters.

The second pie will be raspberry and rhubarb, with a hint of cinnamon. The berries went nuts this year, too, producing nearly three dozen quarts for the freezer, a bunch eaten fresh, and still more picked by family members. (Especially DF’s granddaughters, who love eating a path through the patch.)

And the last pie will be the best pie: pumpkin. It’s one of my favorite flavors anyway, and this one is special because it was the first year we tried to grow pumpkins. Although it was a jack o’ lantern cultivar rather than a pie pumpkin, that didn’t seem to matter much. Frankly, I had my doubts when I made a test pie a couple of weeks ago, since the pulp was a bright yellow. (See the illustration above.) But apparently it’s the cinnamon, ginger and cloves that are mostly responsible for the orange/brown hue of pumpkin pie filling.

 

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Rage purging.

(Surviving and Thriving has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Surviving and Thriving and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuersOpinions, reviews, analyses and recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.)

A recent post on my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook page mentioned “rage purging.” The woman was getting rid of a bunch of stuff because she wanted to be able to park in her garage again.

Further down on the page someone was giving away a 16-quart tamale/seafood steamer – never used, she said. I wondered if it had been a wedding present that got set aside and forgotten, or whether she’d bought it herself while thinking, “Gosh, I’d use this all the time.”

These posts plus early hints of Christmas stuff in the stores made me want to write a public service announcement:

Stop buying stuff you don’t have room to store.

Stop buying stuff you will likely never use.

Stop buying stuff, period.

About that last: Obviously I don’t expect anyone never to buy stuff again, unless they’re absolute wizards at the Buy Nothing page and Freecycle. But soon we’ll be buffeted by massive marketing campaigns designed to part us from our dollars, so I’d like to suggest we all take a look at what we need – and, more to the point, what we want.

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