Crystal G

Friends and family have asked for a housewarming wishlist,and I wanted mostly practical stuff, so here we go:

LAMPS – We need quite a few of these as there is insufficient lighting in the house. One room doesn’t have any light at all . I have registered with Target since they had the best selection of lamps. I don’t expect people to buy these expensive ones, these are merely to give you an idea of the style I am looking for. Obviously not a big brass 70’s lamp

Picture frames – Also on the target wishlist Hopefully matching!

Front porch furniture (used is PERFECTLY fine, if you can find some sturdy stuff on freecycle or something). We’re particularly looking for some nice rockers for out front. All preferably wood, no plastic.

Solar candles for windows (something like these, approx 10 needed.)

Cushions for our dining room chairs (preferably plain dark brown or plain beige, organic fabric if possible)

CFL Lightbulbs (normal, flood lights, and 3-way bulb, can never have too many of these)

Lowes/Home Depot Gift Card (always useful for our upcoming projects)

Pur water filter for the kitchen sink.

A reusable mob (no sponges, no swiffers) preferably made of natural fibers that we can wash in the washing machine.

New cookware set, preferably glass or stainless steel (no teflon), and if colored, at least maroon or steel. We have sufficient cookware now, so this is not high priority, it’s just all of ours are mixed from various sets.

Organic cotton table clothes, nature colored but holiday decorative are fine. All preferably organic cotton or some sort of organic linen. A nice brown or sage runner for the dining room table would be good too.

Mats for front and back door (I like this one especially for the front door, but I also like ones with leaves and things).

A new biodegradable toilet brush

Bamboo Blinds (at least 5 for the upstairs.)

Bamboo or organic linen shower curtain for dads bathroom, preferably plain white or beige.

Detachable shower-head with built-in filter, one for each bathroom. These are hard to find, but not impossible. Filter should be on the head of the nozzle, and a few extra filters would be nice too There’s a list of some here.

A juicer for me

Pyrex Storage Bowls

Glasses with lids (no plastic cups, please)

A metal cleaning pale, no plastic. This is for putting cleaning supplies in to carry around the house, etc.

Media storage cabinet. Used is fine, but I’m looking for a bench style cabinet, not a tall one. Should fit under the windows. We have nowhere to put any videos atm. Even an old beaten up antique that is a bench with shelves behind doors that we can store videos is fine.

Keep on the lookout for a natural wood (not dark) headboard (this style.) Used is fine. Queen sized. (uncle is building this)

A gift card to Kennie’s Market or Giant to help us out on restocking the kitchen.

Metal trashcans for feed and storage. Plastic ones get eaten through by squirrels and things. Larger the better.

New broom. I’d like one of those old traditional brooms.

Dining room placemats, preferably rooster or native american themed, or just plain beige. Organic fabric if possible.

2 new dust pans. I like the copper looking ones.

Glass storage jars for kitchen. Something like this or this is even better. This is for storage of seed, flour, cereals, etc. No plastic!

Wooden Hangers for our closets, now that we finally have our first closets! I got one set from Target here. I’d like the same natural looking hangers.

Clear lamp oil for our lanterns.

Corner Cabinet

2 smoke detectors

1 carbon monoxide detector

Two memberships for me and my dad at Better World Club

A new blender

This bathroom set for my bathroom

An apothecary cabinet

Glass Canisters for the bathroom

Basket to hold toilet paper in bathroom

Baskets for the office

A set of Hermes Plates

This year I’ve cut our holiday budget in half as sort of an involuntary experiment.

When we were hit with the house crisis in July, I poured my excess savings, including my holiday funds into getting the house. I did not, however, touch my emergency savings, that stayed right where it is, to serve its purpose when we got this house. That purpose being any emergency fixes we had to do, or any other absolute emergencies that needed to be taken care of -now-.

So I had to start over my holiday fund after that, which brings me to about $300-$350 to spend on the holidays, as opposed to the $600 I saved last year. Prior to last year, I didn’t have a holiday fund at all and was always rushing around at the end of the year trying to figure out how to pay for the holidays. Starting up my holiday fund in January of 2007, and adding a little each month took -all- the stress away from the holidays for me. What a relief that was.

This year I’ve cut the budget in half (which I had been wanting to do anyway, as $600 seems overly extravagant), and now I have to figure out how to divvy it up between our normal holiday traditions.

Last year my totals were as follows:
- $200 given to my father to buy gifts
- $300 for me to buy gifts for my father, the sweetheart, my soon-to-be step-daughter, and my sister
- $100 to buy the christmas tree and to get my dad his christmas cards

This year I’m thinking of the following:
- $100 for the tree and dads cards, which include inserts with our new address and information on it for relatives
- $100 to my dad to buy gifts
- $100 for me to buy gifts for my dad and sister and my cousin Landon. The sweetheart will have to do without unless I find some good bargains. He’s difficult to shop for anyway, and knows that sending him gifts just isn’t practical right now since he’s planning on moving.
- $50 excess to catch any overflow on gift-buying or possibly stamps for the cards or holiday food

Not entirely too much difference, just in the amounts. I normally try to have all of my holiday shopping done by October, but given the house crisis for July/Aug/Sept that just didn’t happen this year. I have no idea what to get people, but I know it will all be practical/useful items. For my sister I was thinking of getting her one of those pre-paid Visa cards, and start teaching her about financial responsibility.

I’m actually looking forward to seeing how far I can stretch $350, and see if I can accomplish a well-thought out holiday with such little money. I hope to try and focus on home-made gifts as much as I am able, and I -always- wrap in extra fabric from around the house, or newspapers. I’ve developed a hatred for expensive wasteful wrapping-paper.

Thinking ahead, I will most likely continue to do the $600 holiday fund after this year, given that our gift receivers will be expanding. I still plan to not use as much of it as possible and tuck the rest into an extra bill payment or a charity donation at the end of the year. But Christmas with my father is a very ingrained and enjoyable tradition for me. I’m certain there is a way to remain financially responsible while still partaking in the secular frivolities of the holidays.