I don't think we all need $1K.
It's all about budgeting and money management.
Sometimes we all do need to really look at how we eat, how we shop and especially at how we do our budgeting. I used to be lazy at how I budgeted, I used to shop on an empty stomach and would buy the junk food. This consumed a lot of money.
I eat a good meal before I shop. I shop only on the outside square of the store. The outside square of the store has the important food from the Food Guide such as fruit/vegetables/meat/dairy products. The inside of the store has junk products such as cookies, cereals, ketchup, chips and so on. This is where you definitely need to look at how you shop.
Coupon clipping - do this a lot!!
www.save.ca for Canadian consumers and
Canadian Freebies, Shopping Deals, Coupons, Contests & Free Stuff Canada for Canadian consumers. Those two sites I go to daily for freebies, coupons and tips on how to save money. Believe me, they work! I save money a lot.
Use the food banks - I do. They help us a lot. I use the local Food Bank and at the college's food bank. They definitely help us a lot.
We don't use cable because we simply cannot afford it. We watch DVDs over and over again because we choose to do this. We use the local library's free DVD rentals.
We make our own pizzas, chicken fingers, french fries, Chinese food and so on. We like this because we control our sodium. I bring my lunch to college because this tucks money into our savings.
We use a mason jar as extra savings each time we choose not to buy a cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks or Tim Hortons. I put the extra savings in the Mason jar and at the end of the month, we tuck that extra savings away for Christmas shopping or use that treat for ourselves such as a new DVD movie.
This is where the power of the dollar doesn't have to be negative. Be crafty and use your creativity to your advantage. Make your Christmas gifts instead of buying them.
People appreciate handmade gifts rather than store-bought gifts.
Hope this helps! Those tips I provided actually put money into our pockets rather than us paying money out of our pockets.
Merry "frugal yet cost-effective" Christmas!!!
