Alone For the Holidays - Three Ways to Ease the Blues

Will you be alone for the holidays this year? Unfortunately, many of us may have to experience the season without familiar loved ones sometime in our life. If you have magical memories of festive celebrating, you may feel anguished at the thought of spending the time alone. Here are three ways to help ease the blues.

Be prepared

Be realistic with your emotions and realize there may be ups and downs. You may convince yourself that you can handle it, but you can expect that any familiar sights, sounds or aromas can trigger wistful thinking. Take an inventory of your most vibrant memories. Close your eyes and envision the event. Where was the setting? Why was it special? What senses to you recall? Write down on paper that you can refer back to a list of these memories. Pick a specific item from each of the memories that made it so special and plan to have it one hand. For example, if the smell of gingerbread cookies filled the air on Christmas Eve, have gingerbread dough on hand ready to bake. If you watched a special Christmas movie, plan to have it on hand...

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Christmas on a Budget

I cannot believe it is that time of year again... Christmas! This year more and more of us are looking to save money wherever we can, and Christmas is no exception. During the distant times of an economic boom our spending at Christmas increased. Some people told me in the past they spent $1000 on each child, hundreds on food and even more money on New Year's Eve! Our budgets have been cut, our consumer confidence is low, but our kids and our own personal expectations for Christmas remain high. When one is somewhat broke, this can be a problem!

At this time of year, we want to break the budget and enjoy ourselves while make our homes sparkly and spicy. I would like to show you how to create your perfect Christmas without breaking the budget...I have been using these techniques and saving money through out the year -- not just at Christmas. I own an event planning company and over the years I have developed many ways to save money when planning events. I want to show you how to adapt these ideas to plan yourself great Christmas on a budget.

Your Christmas budget -- set your budget and STICK TO IT. In the past I have gotten caught up in the spirit of Christmas and ended up doing my Christmas shopping twice!!...

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