Yearly Archives: 2009

Christmas Presents That I’m Excited About

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I got the usually presents for Christmas… jeans and a few work shirts.

So why did I call the title “Christmas Presents That I’m Excited About“?  Because they are my son’s presents (mostly)!

I have a secret confession to make:  I like living Christmas vicariously through my son.  Yep, it’s true!  And this year was awesome for me my son!

We He got the following presents:

  • Mind Flex – This is a game that where you connect an apparatus to you head, then concentrating on a ball, it then rises and falls based on how hard you focus on the ball.  This is an awesome game for kids that love Star Wars.  It’s the closest thing that I’ve see that will let a kid “Use the FORCE“.  I can’t wait to try it soon!
  • Golf Clubs – I’m just an occasional golfer, even my 9 year old son “putts” better than I do.  But he’s been using odds and end golf clubs, with a set designed for his height, he might match my score next year.  We’ll see, it should be great fun (not to mention the bonding experience of such a father and son activity).  I have taken my (then) 5 year old daughter to the driving range already too.
  • Air Hogs Police Helicopter – This is actually my son’s 4th one of these.  The first three were handled a bit to roughly, and they didn’t last long…  My son has better control now…  I’ll get to play with this soon too.
  • Foosball Table– He actually got this 2 years ago, but he was too small to use it.  We have a ping pong table setup downstairs, and he now gives me a run for my money on it, so now I’ll build the Foosball table, and we’ll play that too.  Besides, I might actually invite some old friends over and we’ll play perhaps will play it some too.
  • Star Wars Legos – I won’t play with this (or build it…), but I have to admit, these sets are cool to explore once they are build.  My son loves all of the Star Wars sets.
  • Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” – Okay, this isn’t my son’s… this is my wife’s present.  I’m a big fan of Stephen King.  My wife collects his novels in her own personal library.  Stephen King is one of the authors that I read as a college student, and I’ve been hooked on them ever since.  I won’t get to this for a month or 2, but I’m patient…

Of all the presents, the one that I will enjoy the most is the Golf Clubs.  Actually the time spend golfing with my son this summer is what I’m excited about.  He is just growing so fast, and I want to spend as much quality time with him as possible.  Hopefully, this will be another memory created for him (along with our Christmas Traditions memory), so he can look back and remember those times fondly.

We’re lucky, I found a relatively cheap course to go to.  Then again, we even have fun just going to the driving range.  We conclude our golf outings with a quick trip to a local ice cream place where I buy my son a chocolate peanut butter pie treat (his favorite).

This coming year we’ll try to go every other week, either to the golf range or actually playing golf.

So really the best present that I got this Christmas is the time that I’ll get to spend with my son playing golf next summer.  Of course, I’ll do the same with my daughter once she gets older too…

That is why I’m really excited for next year to come!

 

Saving Money on Eating Breakfast Out

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Every other Sunday, we like to go out to eat breakfast.  After trying a few places, we now go to a old fashion family restaurant almost exclusively.  Here’s why:

Restaurant like ours

 

  1. For the amount of food we get, it’s even cheaper than McDonalds (we still go to McDs every now and then too though, the kids love that place).
  2. The waitresses are kind and really hustle.
  3. The owner is a very friendly and greets us well.
  4. The food is best tasting in town.  Their pancakes are big and fluffy (perfect really)!
  5. Oftentime we’ll see people we know.
  6. I get that nostalgic feeling that I slipped back into time to a place when my grandparents would have gone if they were alive.
  7. It’s fairly close to where we live.
  8. There is so much food with the meals that my wife and I order, that we ask for additional plates, and give our food to the kids (except for a order of hot chocolate).  Just lately, we’ll order my son an addtional pancake, but we still share our food with him (mainly eggs and bacon)
  9. We are helping a small business in our city by patronizing it.
  10. The restaurant is downtown in our small city.  it gives it a charming appeal.

Yes, we still go to McDonalds every now and then, but the kids are starting to realize that the food is better at this local place we go to.  Now they are starting to ask to go to the local family-owned restaurant instead of McDonalds more often.

Hopefully, this will be a place of memories for my kids when they are adults.

We do a few things to make it memorable for my kids.

  1. We have them take up the bill and pay the cashier.  Then whatever coin change it left, they get to keep.
  2. We let them stack the creamers and sugar packets to make interesting structures (my daughter is great at this).
  3. We get the kids a hot chocolate (they love the whip cream), every time we go.
  4. As we leave, my son and daughter always grabs a mint candy on the way out.

Not every place in town is a good as our restaurant, but if you can find one it’s wonderful!

Try to look beyond the decor, and see the family trying to make a living selling food well prepared.

Thinking about 2010 New Year, Random Thoughts

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I can’t believe I writing this article on Christmast Day (for tomorrow’s post).

I only have 6 more days left of the 2009 year to formulate my plans for next year.  The following are just some random thoughts I’m having:

  • The MoneyReasons.com site hasn’t progressed as much visually as I had hoped, so that will be a top priority of the first quarter of 2010.
  • I’m thinking of developing a patternized posting format.  Currently (with the exception of a few series I have), I kind of write about what I think of on a day by day basis (kind of like living paycheck to paycheck).  I’ll be going for a more structured approach next year.
  • I still haven’t formalized (or organized) my financial plan for the extra money I’ll have at my disposal after our mortgage is paid off in Feb. 2010…  This is something I don’t want to rush in though, after all, this will be a new financial foundation for me.
  • I’ve been thinking of changing what I invest in for my kids, but this will take a back seat to my mortgage-free finance planning.  Besides they are in good stuff for now.
  • This might sound odd, but I’m excited about starting to get back into shape (diet and exercise) via frugal means.
  • I have to post a “Reasons to save Money” post soon.  I feel a bit like a hypocrite not having that list and having a blog called Money Reasons.
  • I want to be more socially creative than I am presently.  Writing to this blog (almost) daily, has improved my communications skills (I hope).
  • I definitely want to expand the Dividend/Goal Funds I’ve been working on…  See my Lunch Experiment/Spot Budget post for details of one such fund.

Well, back to Christmas for me 🙂

-D

Christmas Day 2009

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Well it’s finally here!  Christmas Day!

Christmas Day

 

Time to go to see friends and parents, watching the kids unwrap presents, and eating good food!

What a tough last few years!  I can honestly say I’ll be glad when 2009 is over.  Here’s to 2010!  Hopefully, employment and the stock market will be up!

I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays if Christmas isn’t your thing)!

 

-D