Yesterday on Facebook, we had a great conversation about how each family rings in the New Year. I asked each of them and they have agreed to let me post how their family spends New Year’s Eve. Maybe you can use some of these ideas for your own party!

• Carol: Our church has a celebration every year. Last year was a carnival theme and this year we are doing a luau. Every year we have a slideshow of pictures of everyone throughout the year at the church activities. It’s great fun.
• Lynda: We traditionally spend it with some close friends – when by ourselves, we ring in the new year with communion & then lots of noise! NY’s Eve is my spiritual b-day, so very special to me…
• Heather: We go to bed! Our theory is it will happen again next year so we don’t want to lose sleep.
• Joycelyn: This will be the first year since our kids were born that my husband and I will go out to dinner on New Year’s. We will also watch New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with my kiddos and open champagne at midnight.
• Jenny: As a family we make a list of different family activities then put them each on a slip of paper. We take turns drawing a slip and then we all do the activity together. The kids and I make all kinds of party food to eat too. Some of the activities have been playdough (toddlers here), board game, Wii game, trace hands and decorate the paper, write resolutions, do a puzzle race (each person has a 100 piece puzzle to do). It’s not complicated but it’s about family so it’s really fun for all of us. And it’s the one night of the year the kids stay up late!
• Heather: We will being going to a friends house for games and goodies. The kids enjoy playing games too. We usually ring in the new year with Dick Clark on tv. We will toast and kiss our spouses!
• Candy: Pizza party at home with the kids.

Thanks guys for sharing those wonderful ideas for celebrating New Year’s Eve!

Have you seen my new E-Book that just hit the Schoolhouse Store today?

This E-Book is full of organization articles and forms from my 2009 Digests, all in one place and ready to help you get organized for the new year! It’s on sale right now for only $5.95! (The price will be $7.95 after the sale). You can get yours today by clicking HERE.

BUT WAIT!

If you haven’t already purchased the January Digest you can get a great deal on my  Organization Bundle, which includes the January Digest AND Molly Gets Organized for only $9.95. (The regular price is $12.90).

If you would like the Organization Bundle, just click HERE.

Here’s a super idea from the talented sisters over at Roots and Wings Co. Buy Christmas chocolates NOW at drastically reduced prices. It will keep, and can be creatively repackaged for Valentine’s Day. You can give quality chocolate to all your sweeties for pennies on the dollar.

Check out their post to see just how they repackaged Christmas candy for Valentines–adorable–and a big money saver!

Do any of you get All You magazine? I got a free subscription this year and this month’s issue has some really neat information about coupons. I thought since the end of the month is here, I would share with you some of those helps!

First, since it is the end of the month, you need to make sure and purge all those expired coupons. Nothing can be more frustrating than getting to the store, grabbing a coupon, only to realize it has expired. Many coupons will expire on December 31st so now is the best time to get those out and use them.

Did you know you can trade coupons you don’t plan on using for coupons you are going to use? There are several sites where you can trade coupons with others. One of those sites is A Full Cup. Another one especially for baby coupons is Baby Cheapskate. Just click on the link that says baby coupon traders. Other message boards that All You readers suggested were My Savings, Fatwallet, Hot Coupon World, and Mommysavers. I have never traded coupons before, so if you have I would love to hear how your experience has gone.

They also suggested that you can buy or sell bulk coupons on Ebay. I have never personally bought any from there, but I have sold them on E-Bay and made a little money in the process. Be sure if you are going to sell coupons anywhere that you state you are not really selling the coupon itself, but you are selling your time and effort in cutting them. Also check Yahoo groups for coupon trading groups.

What do you do when it comes to collecting coupons? I would love to hear your stories.

The winner of the Homestead Blessings giveaway is Melissa Logan! Congratulations Melissa.

Here is what her favorite Christmas cookie was:

1. On December 16th, 2009 at 8:47 am 4 Melissa Logan Says:Its very simple, but I truly LOVE spritz cookies! You can do so much with them and I make probably a million of them during the holidays. Give them to neighbors and people at work,etc.

I will be contacting you shortly on how to claim your prize!

I made a few changes this year that will make the after-Christmas clean up easier. For one thing, I tried to use primarily ornaments and decor that can stick around into February and still look okay–things like these little snowmen tucked into the mug rack, and these angelic figures playing among plain white bottlebrush trees. They’re just more “winter” than “Christmas.”

As we were pulling out decor from storage this year, I just set aside stuff that I wasn’t crazy about, or that was inconvenient or awkward to deal with–like a lighted star we put up in a high window every year with suction cups, and every year it falls down at least once! All such items are going to Salvation Army. I have finally clued in that life’s too short to keep dealing with the same aggravations over and over! There are even a few things that I did put out (like the snowmen candleholders that I never did buy the pillar candles for) that are also going to a new happy home where they will be loved and appreciated more than they are here!

I tried a new gift wrap approach for several of our presents this year. I used plain white boxes of different shapes and sizes from the dollar store or retailers. For example, my dollar store sold packages of 3 white shirt-sized boxes for $1.00. Then I tied festive ribbon around the boxes, and attached simple tags. The boxes have been folded down flat again, and the ribbon rolled up to be used next year. They are going in a large flat box under the bed. The gift boxes can be used for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. and pretty soon we’ll have a “library” of ribbon for every type of event!

I had garland around the front door, and as much as I prefer the handy pre-lit garland, I couldn’t justify buying it when I still had decent looking fake garland, and lights that worked. This year I tied the lights and pinecone/ribbon trim to the garland, and will put it away all still tied together, so that next year it just needs to be pulled out of the box and hung, all together.  I should have figured that out years ago!

As I put things away this year, I’m being VERY selective. If I don’t LOVE it, I’m not keeping it. I’ll admit to being sentimental–my favorites are things like the popsicle-stick reindeer head ornaments my kids made, and ornaments we have picked up as souvenirs on family trips (such great reminders of happy times when we pull these out each year–and they are such small easy-to-pack souvenirs to bring home from trips.) So those types of things (that may look cheezy to other people) will make it back in the box, but more generic Christmas-y stuff may not. I’d like to think I’m simplifying (rather than just getting lazy!)

What about you? Do you have any tips for cleaning up after Christmas?

Have you ever heard of Amazon Video on Demand? I had never seen it before until today! I got an email from someone with a free video code to use to watch a movie, so I decided to check it out.

Basically, what Amazon Video on Demand does is become your rental store. Instead of running out to get a dvd from the movie store, you can go to Video on Demand and rent a movie to watch on your computer. Right now, you can use the code AVODGIFT and you can get a free movie download!

Click HERE to go to Amazon Video On Demand and get your own free movie to watch!

Luke 2:11~For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

1 John 4:14~…The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Ephesians 2:8,9~For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

2 Corinthians 9:15~Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

I’ve made some changes to my monthly Money-Saving Digest in 2010 and can’t wait to tell you about them! Especially since the January 2010 Digest is now available. I’m so excited about the changes! First, a peek at the new cover. The 2009 Digests had a blue grid background, while the 2010 Digest sport a yellow notebook page as the background. That way you can tell them apart at a glance. Isn’t it pretty?

The cover isn’t all that’s changed, though. There are big differences on the inside as well. I’ve decided that I would like each Digest to function as a “tool” to help you in your quest for frugality. So, along with the usual helpful and inspirational money-saving articles, you’ll find all kinds of goodies that you can put to immediate use. “Like what?” you ask. Here are the biggies:

• Each and every issues will have 4-5 forms for you to print out and put right in your Home Binder. If you don’t have your free Molly binder cover, grab one! These forms will help you organize and save money.
• I’m really excited about our new Kid’s Corner in each issue. The Kid’s Corner will offer two money-saving lessons or projects for you to do with your children. One activity for younger kids and another for older. Finances are often an overlooked subject in education is such an important area to feel competent in. We hope these lessons help.
• And, as a time-saving and planning help for Mom, each issue now contains a full week of menu plans WITH a shopping list. Save these up and build a wonderful menu plan library.

You can view specifics on the January 2010 Digest HERE. I just know you’re going to LOVE the updated format. If you take advantage of even a few of the tips in each Digest, you’ll recoup your investment in no time. Guaranteed! Here is a sneak peek:

I also have some fun new changes for the blog (and future Digests). I’m going to start using a “Molly Meter” in my posts. I realize that not everyone wants to go all-out when it comes to saving money. Even baby steps can make a huge difference in the budget. On the other hand, some of you are seasoned savers and want hard core saving tips. The new Molly Meter will rate blog posts and Digest articles by the amount of money they can save you.

I found a new gluten-free website this week while searching the Internet. Simply Sugar and Gluten Free has lots of great recipes, but this one caught my attention this morning!

Doesn’t this look scrumptious? You can find this recipe HERE and more like it when you visit this website.