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This holiday season why not give a gift that is helpful to the recipient during the entire year? Ever thought about giving a gift to someone that will help them cut costs on everyday expenses? There are many gifts that may be able to facilitate this type of giving.  They can range from something as small as a coffee cup or as large as a set of fancy golf clubs and many others with price points in-between. Here is a small list of very practical gifts that keep on giving:

·         Decorative cup, bowl or picture frame (prices vary)

·         Digital picture frames ranging from $50.00-$150.00

·         iTunes gift card of any amount

·         A filtered water pitcher which I recently saw on sale for $10.00 that may help reduce purchases of bottled water.

·         Magazine subscription of 12 months or more starting at just $2.99 and up depending on brand and deal. For example Cosmopolitan currently has an online promotion of $5.00 per year.

·         Portrait Club Membership (JCPenney has a two-year membership for just $29.99). I like this for new moms. It could save thousands in photography charges.

·         Houston Chronicle home delivery (now selling for less than $40.00/year when calling promotional ordering number)

·         Internet TV box such as Roku or Google TV that would enable the recipient to watch on demand TV without a cable bill if they have wi-fi access. These boxes normally sell for under $100.00.

·         A year subscription to Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime streaming for less than $100.00 per year.

·         Annual family membership to The Children's Museum for under $100.00.

·         Yearly pass to The Houston Zoo runs from $59.00-$89.00.

·         Clothing store gift cards of any amount.

·         I know this one is cliche, but some people still do like receiving small kitchen appliances (prices vary).

Probably one of my favorite gifts this year would be the iPod touch. There are so many uses such as downloading free e-books, access to great resource apps, games, educational activities for children and music. This device can even take the place of your home phone if you have wifi, a phone app and keep your iPod charged regularly. This device keeps on giving in so many ways. If I had to pick a second favorite it would be the portrait club membership for sure. I am partial to baby pictures.

I am sure there are hundreds of ideas that could be added to this list. My goal is to get you thinking outside of the box this year during gift-giving and possibly help the beneficiary in reducing some of their spending on items they may plan to purchase.  I would love to hear ways that you give gifts that keep on giving.

It's that time of the year again when I go through my children's closets and prepare to donate clothing that they no longer fit or wear. We usually also take this time to sort through toys and accessories that are no longer in use. We have always made it fun for our children to donate their underused items and have explained to them very early on that there are many other children that can put their gifts to better use.

Our family also makes it a point to make donations to certain organizations in need or families in crisis situations. Our goal is to teach our children a valuable lesson in compassion and giving.  Here in The Woodlands there are many places to donate items and if you are looking for a bargain on secondhand merchandise there are also many opportunities.

Here are a list of centers that we have personally used throughout the years that I would like to highlight and recommend:

·         Hand Me Up Shop on Rayford Road in Spring - A nonprofit store that donates clothing to the community and has great prices on clothes as well as everyday items. 

·         Goodwill - Also has great prices and has often had a fair amount of used electronics, media and bikes during the times I had visited this location.

·         Interfaith of The Woodlands - Accepts donations and gives back to the community in numerous ways. Please call to make arrangements with this organization.

·         Freecycle.org - Allows you to gift items in your area and also receive items for free that you may be in need of.

·         Woodlands Online - A great site for local giving, selling or purchasing used articles. This site allows you to list items for free.

·         Kid to Kid - From what I have seen this seems to be the place to find the largest selection of maternity and baby items as well as clothing, toys and outdoor play equipment.

·         Salvation Army - A great resource if you would like to donate large items such as furniture without having to transport the cargo.  They will arrange for a truck to pick up your donation.  They also partner with other organizations to help families in need.  Years ago they helped us donate furniture to families that were in need after Hurricane Katrina and were great to work with.

It is important to remember that because these are donation-based resources, the type of merchandise they receive is always moving and changing so deals may vary.  I would suggest to check back with these stores on a regular basis if you are looking for something in particular.

My hope is that I have given you enough resources to encourage you to start donating locally. There is such a rewarding feeling to both declutter and gift to our local community while looking for great deals. Have fun taking inventory at your home!

Freezer cooking is a method of meal planning and preparation in which a person(s) makes multiple meals at one time and freezes them to use at a later time. These meals can be either pre-prepared or pre-cooked.  Personally, I prepare fully cooked meals and crockpot meals which are mainly pre-assembled but are not cooked until the meal is to be served.

Here are the steps I take in using this process of meal planning:

1.     Pick two different types of meat that my family regularly consumes. It may be the type of meat that is currently selling for a good price at the supermarket that particular week.

2.     Plan your meals weekly, biweekly or monthly, depending on how much you are going to be preparing for your freezer cooking. Try to pick certain veggies, cheese, beans or other ingredients that can be used in several dishes of your meal plan as to purchase in bulk and not waste food.

3.     Purchase the ingredients including spices and marinades that you will need for your meals. Make sure you have enough containers to store all of your dishes.

4.     Take one day or part of your cooking day to cut all vegetables/meat and cook any pasta or rice.  Place them in the refrigerator to chill overnight or until cold. Take this chilling time to go over your inventory and meal plans one last time before the cooking begins. I would discourage freezing hot or warm dishes before chilling regardless of whether the meals are fully cooked or not.  In my experience, the food is better kept if the frozen dishes were chilled before freezing.

5.     At cooking time decide which food items you will cook and completely assemble versus the items you will add in on the day you will eat each particular dish. This would be a good time to assemble any crockpot meals that you will put together and not cook this day. Place the crockpot meals into plasticware or freezable bags until ready to cook and serve. For optimum storage I would suggest to lay the bags flat until frozen, label them with a freezer safe marker and stack them like books in a library.

6.     Let the cooking begin! Fully cook any meats, assemble and cook your remaining dishes. After the meals have been chilled place each day’s dish in the freezer and freeze any leftover veggies in baggies that you may not use for awhile. Chili, soup, stew and casseroles are dishes regularly used for freezer cooking.

If you are up for the challenge I would suggest trying this for at least seven meals and use the meals throughout a two-week period to see how convenient this method is compared to cooking per day. Some benefits of freezer cooking are saving time, money and energy.  Also consider that this method  will result in eating out less thus potentially leading to a healthier lifestyle!