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Health & Fitness

Budget Mondays

Monday – 12/2/2013

It’s Monday – a painful day for most people, yours truly included. Sometimes it is made even more painful as we remember just how much money we ended up spending over the weekend.

Budget

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It’s one word that can make people cringe, angry and sad all at the same time, a rare occurrence indeed. There are plenty of reasons for this – people are told at work that their budgets are being cut, their ideas cannot be funded because they are not in the budget, and in our personal life, our budgets don’t usually quite match up to our desires.

Black Friday and the so-called Gray Thursday (shopping on Thanksgiving) are in the rear-view mirror, and now it is a sprint through the remaining holidays and New Year’s festivities. With these facts established, it is once again time to discuss some tips and strategies that can be used to make the holidays both festive and budget friendly. According to research by the Gallup organization (the same data firm that computes many of the jobs reports), Americans are planning to spend nearly $800 on gifts this year, and 30% of adults surveyed project spending over $1,000. Those numbers, while not nearly as high as some retailers would like, are tracking consistently with the amounts spent over the last two years.

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With those dollars signs now dancing in your head, let’s highlight some of the venues and activities that can provide some great, budget-friendly, and festive holiday entertainment.

•Community drama organizations almost always run holiday-themed plays. It’s budget friendly, community friendly, and gives back to local organizations.

•Local music ensembles always put on holiday shows — another great way to give back your community, and spend time with the people who mean the most to you.

•Lighting ceremonies are held in virtually every town across the county, with community spirit, local camaraderie, and a low-cost way to spread holiday cheer.

Enjoy!

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