Posts from — December 2006

Christmas time is here and so are Christmas parties. And what is one of the most popular games to play? Dirty Santa of course!

I love Dirty Santa. It is one of my favorite Christmas games. The dilemma I always run in to is “What gift can I bring that fits in the budget?”

Generally the host of the party sets a Dirty Santa gift limit of $5-$25 (Although I have a friend who’s family sets a limit of $150 which makes for a pretty interesting game.) The lower the limit, the more creative and resourceful you have to be.

I never like ending up with junk from a Dirty Santa game. Thus, I present my Top 10 Dirty Santa Gift Ideas Under $5.

1. $5 to Starbucks – This is so simple. I know many people don’t like giving gift cards, but I think that Starbucks is a different deal. Everyone loves Starbucks. Believe it or not, this is usually one of the hottest items at parties that I attend.
2. Candy/Chocolate – This one is great. For $5 you can buy a lot of candy. This is also a great gift idea if there will be kids playing at the party.
3. A Candle – Candles are great gifts. Who doesn’t love candles?
4. Scarf/Gloves – Stop by any major retailer and you can find racks full of cheap scarfs, hats, and gloves. Try to get something that is unisex though. Or, for a good laugh, get the brightest, pinkest set that you can find. (Works especially well at a party with a lot of guys.)
5. Hand held/travel games – Games are another popular one at Dirty Santa parties. These could be anything from a puzzle book to an electronic poker game.

 

6. A Christmas Ornament – An ornament is great for parties where you have no idea what else to get. If you are totally stuck, this one works perfectly. It’s very general, practically everyone has a Christmas tree, and it’s cheap!
7. Coffee Cup – Another very general gift that works well for office parties or any other place where edible underwear is just inappropriate.
8. A Picture Frame – Grandma loves these. If you need a serious gift and a small budget, this one fits the bill.
9. Cookies – Much better than giving America’s Finest Fruitcake Loaf. Cookies are similar to candy. Adults as well as kids can appreciate them so it works well for all age groups. However, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea at a diabetic party
10. Music – CDs and MP3s fall into this category. You can find all sorts of Christmas music for super cheap at large retailers. You could also give a few free songs from iTunes or another online music service.

So there you have it. The Top 10 Dirty Santa Gift Ideas Under $5. Didn’t find what you were looking for? Try eBay below!

Do you like your [tag]credit cards[/tag]? Do you use them for a lot of your [tag]spending[/tag]? Do you carry a [tag]balance[/tag] on your cards each month?

Let’s just start with some numbers to get our brains in gear. The average American has around $9,312 in credit card [tag]debt[/tag] (USA Today.)

It doesn’t take long to accumulate that. Some holiday shopping, a few nice restaurants and a family vacation will rack up the credit card debt quickly. Doesn’t seem like much?

Now what if we only pay the [tag]minimum payment[/tag]? The minimum payment on most cards is typically 2% of the total balance. That puts our starting payment right around $185 per month. Keep in mind that this amount will decline as the balance declines. For our calculations we’ll use an average credit card rate of 13%.

Alright, if we were to only pay the minimum payment on our credit card, we would pay the last bill 291 months from today. That’s 24 years and 3 months away! Our final [tag]interest[/tag] charge? $10,087.94. So our vacation just doubled in cost!

Now it really gets extreme if you have a high interest rate on your credit card. [Read more →]

We all want to be more productive right? What is it made you a better money manager or if it improved you income? What if I said: “If you wake up 1 hour earlier, you will make more money?” Would you do it?

Well, if you remember 1 week ago I set out to become an early riser. I set out with the premise that if I could become an early riser I would be more productive. I would increase my personal discipline which in turn would help me to be a better business owner and a better financial manager.

I’ve committed to trying this for 30 days.

Here was the commitment that I made to myself: “From December 5th until January 4th I will get up at 5am. Because of this I will be more productive and I will make more money.”

So far….I’ve halfway kept my promise.

Here’s the update:

• Tuesday, December 5th – I’m up, it’s 5:07am and I’m preparing to write the introduction to my challenge. It wasn’t too terribly tough to get up, in fact it was rather nice. We’ll see if this continues. [Read more →]