Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Telephone (251) 937-7176 or

928-0860/943-5061 ext. 2222

FAX (251) 937-7285

Amanda Outlaw

Regional Extension Agent, Urban

November 22, 2011

Money Management for the Holidays

Before you can take down the Halloween decorations, it’s time to put up the Christmas decorations. Before you can take the turkey out of the oven for Thanksgiving dinner, you are making plans for the infamous Black Friday shopping day. But have you planned and saved for this event? How will you pay for the gifts on your wish list? We have written articles in the past about budgeting and saving for the things that you need or want. But have we listened and taken action? As we enter into another phase of our down economy where people are still without jobs and are losing their homes due to foreclosures let’s revisit those ideas from some of those past articles and see if we can gently remind ourselves that holidays are more than just buying gifts and overextending your budget.

Money management is a daily ritual that we must pass on to our children for the future and the present. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has published a yearly Money Management Calendar that can help even the most inexperienced consumer get on track for daily, monthly and yearly budgeting. Ok, I said the dreaded word budgeting. But sticking to a budget can make life so much easier if we really work with what we have and list our monthly expenses that we know we must pay to survive. Prepare now to resolve to open a savings account so that when unexpected things occur we have a resource that we can use to help defray that cost. Many consumers still think that they have nothing left to save after paying for the basic necessities, but if you will talk with your financial institution and set up monthly withdrawals from your checking account to go into your savings account the sting of saving is lifted.

Helping your children understand that saving is a way of life for your family will help them now and in the future, especially if their goal is to go to college one day and be an independent adult not leaning on you for their every need. Students are still acquiring more credit card debt before they finish college so let’s set an example and only charge what you can realistically pay off within one to two billing cycles.

The key to daily money management is discipline. Can we do without that trip to the fast food restaurant on the way to school or work? Yes, it calls for us to be disciplined by getting up a little earlier and preparing breakfast and making our own coffee. For the holidays if we haven’t saved for those great gift ideas this year,  make a plan to save for it next year. Remember the greatest gift you can give is sharing yourself with others. Spending time with a relative that you haven’t seen for a while, doing something for a charity or food bank, visiting a nursing home may only cost the price of gas to get there.  

The advertisers are on the move because it’s a job for them. The most powerful effect of advertising is just to create a good feeling about a product by surrounding it with other things that you like. It is also important to point out that affective conditioning is most effective when you don't realize that it is happening. So be aware and don’t spend what you don’t have but spend your time with those you love and give them the gift of your time.

Check with your local library for a money management calendar or contact Amanda C. Outlaw, Urban Regional Extension Agent, to schedule a workshop on Money Management as a family affair at outlaac@aces.edu.

A Christmas Carol With a Kick

The 4-H Creative and Performing Arts Club (CAPAC) of Baldwin County is presenting “A Christmas Carol with a Kick” on Tuesday, November 29th, 7:00 pm at the Daphne Civic Center. This dramatic comedy  based on the Charles Dickens’ classic, is set in the American West, and is sure to be a fun way to begin celebrating the holiday season! Admission is free. Concessions will be available and donations are accepted. CAPAC is a non-profit educational club, sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, comprised of 4-H’ers ages 5-18 and presents a fall and spring production for the community each year.

Email address: aoutlaw@aces.edu

Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5061, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Baldwin County Extension Programs are supported by the Baldwin County Commission.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity educator and employer