No more time to shop, no money to shop with… you are down to the wire now! There is no more time to create a beautiful handmade gift, so you must work with what you have! Idea #1: take all of those cherished finger paintings, drawings, popcicle sculptures and construction papered turkeys!

Gather them all up, take them to kinkos, and make color copies of them. Have them spiral bound with a clear plastic cover and vuala! You have a collection of artwork that can be given to a family member or to the person who created them. If you have an all in one printer, print them yourself. It’s a great way to save money! Instead of having the pages spiral bound, you could also bye a portfolio book with plastic sleeves to slip the pages into. If you can’t make copies of the artwork then you can take pictures and put them into a photo album. OR collect all of your favorite photos and make an album that has both pictures and artwork!  Idea #2: buy a digital photo album and burn all of your selected photos onto a cd. Wrap separately so there is more to open and the element of surprise lasts longer! Happy Holidays to all!

It’s time for a new book quoting the quotable for 2008. Fred Shapiro has created a mammoth 12,000 quotes, researched to be the so-called best of the best in The Yale Book of Quotations (retail cost of book, $50). (Edited by Fred R. Shapiro; Foreword by Joseph Epstein)

Here are his Top Ten Most Notable Quotations of 2008 as an excerpt:
1. “I can see Russia from my house!” — Sarah Palin on her foreign-policy credentials, as satirized by Tina Fey, NBC “Saturday Night Live” broadcast, Sept. 13, 2008

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The average 401 K loss has been reported in the media. Today the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came out with more information on Retirement funds which you will find below. Its’ tough times, particularly for those of us who thought we had actually planned well for our retirement. It seems there is a House bill to help. Of course, it rests with fees not people and of course, nothing has been done with it yet but see the finformation.

I think one of the things you can do, is write your Congress Representative and, or Senator. Let them know what you are feeling, offer your thoughts on what should be done. The first bailout bill was defeated due to a number of people writing and calling their representatives. Let your voice be heard. Read the full story

Everyday I look at my 401K and feel deep pangs of pain in my stomach. I had this all carefully planned and those derivative, sly, money gropping, greedy CEOs of companies, and stock brokers on Wall Street who lined their pockets without concern for law, people, or justice stole it from me. Today I made a change, not good for Wall Street, but good for me….I transferred all current 401K funds and all future funds to US Treasury Bonds. I may not make money; but the risk of losing my money has decreased enormously. Read the full story

Ok, the economy is in the trash. The rational politicos agree that the Bush bail out that puts 1 person in charge with no oversigth and accountability is NOT the way to go. The news is depressing. There seems to be no end in sight. Everyone and there mother has a thought as to what should be done. We need help! For those of us who had hoped to retire and thought we had this all mapped out, we know now, that is a dream, not a reality. Enter Cloris Leachman. Read the full story