Holidays Tips

Keep Track of Christmas Gifts

Every year, you plan to do Christmas on a budget. Every year, you end up overbuying for a few people because you forgot you already picked up a gift. Then, you spend more money on the rest of your friends and family to even things out. The solution to keeping your Christmas budget on track is simple.

To avoid buying Christmas gifts for people who have already been taken care of, you need to keep track of all of the presents as you buy them.

• Begin by making a list of every person you'd like to give a gift to this year. Putting the list in alphabetical order is the best option, but you may prefer to group the people you are buying for by what their relationship is to you.


• Write a dollar amount beside each name. For example, you may want to budget $25 for Christmas gifts for a toddler and $5 for a gift for a coworker.


• Carry your list with you everywhere. As you find a gift, check the list to make sure that person still is in need of a gift and that it doesn't go over the budgeted amount. Once you are sure the gift is right, buy it and check that person's name off on the list.

Super Bowl Sunday Party Food Themes

As you open yet another bag of chips and reach for the cheese, you can barely hold back a yawn. Ten years of making nachos, hot wings and other traditional treats for Super Bowl Sunday has taken its toll. What you need are some new and exciting food ideas to shake you out of this boring party food rut you are in.

One fun idea for a very different Super Bowl Sunday food menu is to research local food preferences for the teams involved. Perhaps people from one team's home town chow down on artery clogging mega fries, while another team's supporters can't do without a fiery guacamole dip. Slipping a few of these dishes onto the buffet table can revive your enthusiasm for creating a great party spread and can introduce your guests to some new foods that just may end up being permanent additions to the menu during future events.

Another idea is to have each guest bring a dish that is traditionally served by his or her culture or is popular in his or her hometown. Of course, this doesn't work very well if you are only inviting family members to the party. In this case, you may need to assign a different region to each guest when you issue invitations.