How To Save Up To 70% On Christmas GiftsWritten by Maria Estarellas
How many times have you spent more that you could afford on Christmas gifts for your family? How many times have you bought gifts that weren't what you were looking for and on top of that, paid top dollars for them? It has happened to all of us one too many times. Well, you can SAVE money on all your Christmas Gifts by: 1. Making a list. It's always convenient to make a list of all people that you will be giving a gift to. Make sure you know what their interests are so you get a gift that they will appreciate. It will make it special for them and for you. 2. What to buy for someone that has everything? Baskets, candles, a good book or a store certificate can be perfect gift for that special person that has everything. 3. Buying in advance. Don't wait until last minute to go Christmas shopping because you'll end up paying high prices for stuff you don't even like. This happens specially with hottest Holiday Toys because a lot of people look for them at local stores and since quantities are limited, you won't find them unless you go Christmas Shopping early.
| | Extended Family Relationships: Staying Friends with Former Lovers and SpousesWritten by Kevin B. Burk, Author of The Relationship Handbook
It's natural to want to maintain a relationship with our former romantic partners (assuming that relationship ended on reasonably good terms, of course). We shared a special bond with them, and they touched our lives and contributed to our sense of self in ways that we cannot even begin to describe. Just because romantic and/or sexual aspects of relationship have ended, why shouldn't we include our former partners in our lives in other roles? If we have mutual friends, or shared custody of children, we will be spending time with our former partners whether we want to or not. Since we had a positive connection with them on so many levels, it should be easy to simply become friends, right? Not necessarily. In many ways, we demand more of our friends than we do of our romantic partners. Once we've made a commitment to our romantic partner, we have certain obligations and duties. We're expected to support our partners in both pleasant and unpleasant circumstances. Our friends have no such obligations to us. On other hand, our friends do have to earn right to be in our lives by supporting us voluntarily. Interested though our former partners may be in staying friends, they may not live up to our standards. Letting go of our old habits and expectations about our former partners takes time. We need distance and perspective so that we can evaluate what kind of relationship we actually have with them. I have a client, who we'll call Alice. Alice has been married three times. Her second husband, Jim, had two sons, whom she raised, and remained close to even after she ended relationship with their father. Her third husband, Mike, also had a relationship with her stepsons. In many ways Mike became a surrogate father to them. Alice is still very friendly with Mike and his new wife, and socializes with them whenever they're in town. Alice recently lost both her mother and a very close friend, both of whom Mike knew well. Alice was somewhat disgruntled that Mike did not make any offers of support to help her through her grieving process. She was also disappointed that Mike did not make any contact with her stepsons when their biological mother passed away. Alice knew that even a phone call from him would have meant so much to them, and yet he didn't even manage that.
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