Well hopefully this finds you basking in the glow of the recent holidays! Either that or you are like me and pretty much exhausted due to all the activities! What I have found that is very fun and frugal as well is to look out for the best after Christmas sales! I save back some money each year to get things that either we did not get for Christmas that we wanted and needed or to find excellent sales on clothing and other items that I have been holding off on until now.

Case in point, my daughter has really been wanting an Aeropostale hoodie. They have been retailing for around $40-$50 each. I just found an excellent after Christmas sale and bought 3 hoodies for $12-$15 each. This way she gets 2 hoodies and I found one for myself that I could not resist buying. They have their T shirts on sale for $5 right now and jeans for $19.98! They also have a coupon you can get $10 off a $40 purchase in their stores at the present time.

Bath and Body Works is one of the only places I buy shower gel or bubble bath. I love their scents and after learning how to make my own bath products I am very picky on what I use here which is purchased retail. Right now they have their shower gel/body wash and other products in their Signature Collection on sale for $6.00 each or 3 for $15.00. Their tubes of lotions are $3.00 right now. You cannot beat that deal! I have a $25.00 gift certificate and I am definitely going to take advantage of that one! Join thier email list and you can be in the know as to when they have these great sales as well!

Those are two examples of ways that you can make your bucks go further! The key here is to not spend them all before Christmas so you can have some extra goodies in your hands by the time the New Year roles around! So check these out and I bet that you will agree they are two of the best Christmas sales around!

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I know that it has been a while since I put out any menus. I have been recuperating from some health concerns and surgery. I have been fixing a lot of one pot meals or casseroles since I have been busy with all the Christmas preparations. This is a great recipe that can be made easily and is a good hearty meal as well.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (cooked and chopped)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup milk

1 box Minute Rice

1 8 ounce box Velveeta Cheese

2 small bags frozen broccoli

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook chicken breasts in the microwave, chop into chunks and set aside. Prepare Minute Rice according to directions on the box. Pour rice into a large casserole dish. I use a 9×13 pan. Mix Cream of Chicken soup and the cup of milk. Add chicken and broccoli to the casserole dish. Pour soup mixture over it. Chop the Velveeta cheese into chunks, add to the casserole dish and stir to mix well. Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese is nice an bubbly.

Serve with a nice loaf of french bread and you have a meal. This can be made and frozen for up to two weeks.

Enjoy!!

With the economy being sketchy and budgets being tight for most of us, it is important to be able to save money every place that we can. I have found a great way to save money on the purchases that I was going to make anyway! I found Ebates which offers shoppers a certain percentage of their purchases back for using their site.

They are offering some great deals right now. I bought some great Christmas gifts on Old Navy online. They have some fantastic sales going on now.  By using Ebates I was able to save another 6% on my purchases! This does add up! I have racked up over $20 on Ebates just on my Christmas purchases alone!  Ebates also gives you $5.00 right now for making your first purchase through them. They send you out a check when you request it!  You cannot go wrong doing this!

We all are having to tighten our belts this Christmas season. I think everyone is looking for ways to save money on gifts this year.  What I did was sit down and think about what I could do or make that would be needed or appreciated by my friends and loved ones.

When I worked in the massage industry, I became very interested in learning about natural bath and body products. What I found was that I could make my own product for a fraction of the cost of those fancy mall “high end retail” store cremes and have much better quality products. I also found that many other people loved my products when they tried them. This found its way into me making gift baskets for special occasions for sale. I also made custom baskets for people.

So I have pulled out my recipes and made batches of items that I want to use this Christmas. I have put some of those recipes on Ehow and have shared how I make different baskets there as well. There is no reason that anyone cannot make these with a little ingenuity, some insider secrets, and a little knowledge!

I have always gotten raves on products I have sold and given away in the past and have had many people come back for more. I am sure if you decide to make gifts for your family and friends they will be very happy that you did! Your wallet will thank you too!

How To Make Spa Baskets

How To Make Chocolate Lovers Baskets

How To Make Smelly Jellies

How To Make Reed Diffusers

How To Make Fragrant Pine Cones

How To Make All Natural Body Butter

How To Make All Natural Lip Balm

How To Dip Your Own Incense Sticks Or Cones

There are enough ideas there to get you started. The main thing to remember is to be creative! You can make gift baskets out of just about anything. Figure out what the person you are giving the gift to enjoys. Then purchase or make items that incorporate that theme and make up a basket. They will love you for it!