Saving Money on Projects and Printables

If you’re like me and spend a good deal of time on the internet instead of in front of the television, you’re probably familiar with the many cool projects and activities available on line for you and the grandkids to do, or just things to print out by the ream to keep them busy when they’re visiting. At my house we’ve been doing Christmas Card projects, and that means that once again, my poor printer is officially out of the expensive color ink that costs more than $35 for a replacement cartridge. Paper for an ink jet printer is certainly cheap enough, but since the ink is not, some good tips on how to save on that will go far through the course of a year in saving money.

One of my favorite sites for cool projects and print-outs is Printables4Kids. It offers coloring pages, math worksheets, mazes, word puzzles and a long list of other fun things that will keep your printer plenty busy when the grandchildren are around. So it was with some appreciation that I found a recent post, 10 Ways to Save Money and Use Less Ink to be just what the money-doctor ordered.

Since I had to purchase a color cartridge just before Thanksgiving that is now telling me it’s empty again, I think I’ll go for the ink refill kit idea. Of course, I’ll probably make a total mess of it (and end up with some tie-dyes I hadn’t planned on), but this option does get Granny’s Seal of Approval for at least being a recycling project. Between that and figuring out where my printer is hiding it’s “draft” option, I should be able to print the amount of stuff I already do print every year, at about half the cost.

While you’re over at Printables4Kids, go ahead and look around at the list of great activities offered for things like birthdays, holidays, general craft projects, etc., and pay particular attention to the section entitled “Coupons and Deals.” Here there is the promise of saving even greater amounts of money on art and craft supplies, paper and ink, and other necessities that will help keep your younger generation brood safely occupied with fun projects as well as always excited to visit Grandma’s house (in addition to the usual cookies and stuff, of course).

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Some Last Minute Gift Ideas

In addition to the idea of giving of one’s self and time by volunteering through the coming year, and making use of the creative possibilities of do it yourself craft gifts and cards, and even enlisting the entire family in such projects, as the Big Day gets closer there always seem to be a few people on the list that just must have a gift you haven’t purchased yet. So I’ve been surfing around in search of good ideas and advice.

First, there are the young granddaughters. What’s a better gift than a doll? I found a blog called Doll Diaries with a list of the Best Dolls for Girls Ages 3-6. I especially like the fact that these recommendations don’t include Barbie or any of her oddly-shaped fashion-hound friends. It’s never seemed a good idea to me to push boobs, high heels and prostitute wardrobes on girls so young. The My Twinn and Bitty Baby dolls are quite adorable, I’ll be looking at those next Christmas for my little Miss Sunshine.

The Casual Keystrokes blog has a useful post, Clutter Free and Last Minute Gift Ideas that grannies will like a lot. Things like movie tickets for the underagers are easy, as are tickets to other activities and events kids love. Coupons for a nice meal out or night of bowling are good for grownups, especially the parents of your grandchildren who could always use some time off. How about including yourself as babysitter too?

Concert tickets, a spa gift certificate, there are a lot of good ideas here that work for any age group, can be obtained quickly and late in the Christmas shopping game. Check it out and see what you can come up with for those friends and relatives – and yes, grandchildren – that will be a welcome addition to the pile of gifts and won’t clutter up anybody’s living space.

Links:

A Holiday Gift of Self
A Fun Family Do-It-Yourself Christmas
Best Dolls for Girls Ages 3-6
Clutter Free and Last Minute Gift Ideas
CBS: Last-Minute Holiday Shopping Guide

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A Holiday Gift of Self

…that lasts throughout the year!

It’s getting closer to the Big Day, even as credit continues to dry up, jobs go away by the thousands, and ideas for alternative gift-giving are increasingly making the rounds. So today I’m going to promote an idea that will hopefully begin to catch on all over the country for Christmases present and future.

It’s called volunteering. Now, many families volunteer their services at Thanksgiving every year, preparing and serving T-day feasts to shut-ins via Meals On Wheels, at senior centers or at the city soup kitchen. Of course many others donate goods, like food and clothing, blankets and winter coats, etc. during the holidays. But not so much at Christmas, and I’ve always wondered why.

Sure, there’s not much call for volunteers at most charity operations on Christmas Day proper, but on most other days all year long there is a shortage of volunteers to do the work. Things like sorting and boxing donated food to be distributed to needy families and food banks, the preparation and serving of regular meals through all the agencies and charities that feed the hungry, manning the check-out at the church or secular thrift store, spending a few hours sitting with a disabled child or adult so their primary caregivers can have a much-needed time out, maintaining trails in parks and forests, even repairing and building homes with Habitat for Humanity. There are ongoing projects in most cities and counties all over the nation that would love nothing better than to have more volunteers than they need during day-to-day operations, at all times of year. I’ll include some source links at the bottom that should help readers in search of projects to volunteer for.

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