Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells – Christmas… - Life on the Road

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells – Christmas…

Posted on Jul 20, 2009 - 10:01pm by Marshall J. Gruskin in Trucking

is only about 4 months away. Despite your present financial circumstances, that should give you ample time to buy the people you love, like and respect in your life “a little something.” But you have to get in the Christmas spirit now and plan accordingly. As an example, I always save change in a coffee jar. The jar eventually becomes a gallon jug. The jug over time becomes a 5 gallon water cooler bottle. And I take that down to my local supermarket and use the CoinStar change machine to turn the coins into cash. Over the years on the road, I have bought a lot of nice stuff by saving change, including Christmas presents.

Some stores are bringing back layaway. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is not one of them. The list changes regularly, but K-Mart does offer it. Layaway, by the by, according to http://www.todaysbudget.com/, “started back during the Great Depression when folks didn’t have enough cash to make a purchase all at once.” Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar. Call your favorite store and ask them if they have a layaway plan. LifeOnTheRoad does not recommend any one site for purchases, but check out http://www.elayaway.com/. That is an online layaway service for all kinds of stuff.

I also use the “envelope” method of Christmas savings. It’s like the old Christmas Club where you deposited (showing my age) $5-$10 a week when you got paid and deposited it into a short term savings account that you closed a week or so before Christmas. With the envelope method a $1 a day goes into the envelope. That’s $365 available for Christmas presents every year. But you have to be disciplined – you cannot touch your “stash.” You just have to tell yourself to pass the chrome shop and wait on the train horns.

Santa, by the way, is in good spirits right now. It’s been a tough year. He finally made it down to Las Vegas. That’s him in the picture – not this one – the one on top – having some “quality” time in Wayne Weisser’s pool. Since Wayne came off the road, he’s had plenty of time between computer classes to show the “Claus-miester” aka Santa, the town. Santa asked Wayne: “Wayne, you’re being a good boy – so far that is – what do you want for Christmas?” “Well, Santa, a $75K IT job here in Vegas would be nice – and a new Lamborghini perhaps.” Santa just kept floating drinking his Planter’s Punch.

Now if you’re into the whole TV shopping experience, then be aware that http://www.qvc.com/ and http://www.hsn.com/ offer many items for everyone in the family on “easy” payment plans. I bought my GPS from QVC on 5 easy payments. I purchased the laptop I’m using now there as well. In fact, I would rather buy anything online – Amazon included – rather than in a “typical” store. I find the return policies and warranties superior to places like Best Buy, Sears or Target.

Where and how you buy your Christmas stuff doesn’t really matter. We all know it’s the giving and the thought that matters. There is plenty of time, as I said, to make sure everyone in your life gets something. Even if you are having a real hard time now, please don’t forget the kids. Make Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza special for them. Stay away from the high priced “convenient” junk at the truck stops and set aside a weekend day to shop and store everything in your top bunk. Don’t forget the wrapping paper.