Ok you live frugal but Christmas is right around the corner. Now what.

[Chickerdoodle13]

There are a couple stores around here that are awesome. One is called Ollie's and the other is Five Below. Five Below has awesome toys all for $5 or less. Many of the toys are things that were overstocked at other stores, so they are mostly all popular stuff. Ollie's is sort of the same thing, but some items may be a little more. However, they are having a toy sale right now and many of the toys were very reasonably priced. If you have those stores near you, I would certainly check them out.

I always told my parents that if we were ever having a hard time money-wise, it would still be a wonderful christmas if we just spent money on a nice dinner. The gifts are not important, but spending time as a family is.

 

[HeatherLynn]

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That sounds like a great idea. I must have missed that one last year. Let us know if you make one.

 

[Raiquee]

I made beer bottles filled with homemade vanilla extract. Cost me about $5 a bottle to make, and will last the recipent a looooong time of nilla!! I also have two bottles I made for myself as well!

 

[HeatherLynn]

How do you make vanilla extract? We use a good bit and its wicked expensive for the good stuff.

 

[sonew123]

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That sounds like a great idea. I must have missed that one last year. Let us know if you make one.

Ok -you got it..It's simple really..Everyone can swap with eachother..You list what you have to offer and others PM you with offers...not like the normal swaps..BUT the tricky part-choose wisely from whom..I had fabulous luck last time and all my traders came though for me Like Im looking for double lines fleece hats and mittens--I KNOW there's tons of folks out there who make them...Im on the hunt..BRB and Ill post the link here

 

[sonew123]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7840002#p7840002

Here you go

 

[cravenchx]

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I do the same thing with homemade Kahlua,
a six pack for the cost of the "AH Hem special
additive" and six gifts for about $21 bucks!

 

[Raiquee]

Buy vanilla beans, slice them length wise, put them in clean sanitized beer bottle. Cover with the cheapest vodka you can find. Cork, shake daily and will reach full flavor in 6 months, but can be used after 6 weeks. (Actually I just used some in the granola bars I baked today, and they aren't even a week old yet!!!)

 

[cravenchx]

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How many beans per bottle?

 

[Raiquee]

I put about 6 beans per bottle, but I think a few more would have been better.

I got my beans off ebay, a seller called vanilla products. Bought 60ish beans for $20 shipped! Great Deal!