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A traditional Christmas becomes more and more difficult to pull off every year, because traditional means homemade where I come from.

Whether it's a meal or snacks for a party, a dish for an office potluck or food made to give as gifts, life keeps getting busier and busier as the year winds down, leaving little time for the niceties associated with the holidays.

Some people think of fruit cake and sugar cookies when they think of Christmas treats. Not me.
My Grandma Sayers' Date-filled Drop Cookies are my favorite sweet associated with Christmas. Grandma made the filling ahead of time (one batch of date, one of pineapple). Then when I was out of school for the holiday, I spent the days with her while Mom and Dad were at work; she made the buttery sweet batter (with a touch of cinnamon) and dropped it by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. I followed with a smaller spoonful of filling, then we finished with a tiny dollop of batter to cap the cookies. They were delicious and different.
I still make the cookies, all by myself, but I have added other recipes to my repertoire of holiday must-haves. In some parts of Appalachia, I'm known for a red velvet cake, the recipe which my mother found in a women's magazine several years ago; others think with affection of my truffles, which I package in paper cups in boxes and give to the candy lovers on my list. Yet others get wide-eyed and hungry for a sweet snack mix I call "White Trash," which makes a beautiful holiday gift, especially when given in a beautiful tin or glass cookie jar.

Here, I'll share my recipes for all these. The best part is, not one item is difficult to prepare during this busy time of year.

Grandma Sayers' Date-filled Drop Cookies

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon soda

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix shortening, sugar, eggs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Sift together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in dry ingredients. Drop with a teaspoon onto un greased baking sheet. Place 1/2 teaspoon date filling (recipe follows) on dough. Top with 1/2 teaspoon dough. Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 5-6 dozen.

Date Filling:

Mix together:

• 2 cups chopped dates
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Cook until thick. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

NOTE: If you want to try pineapple, just substitute pineapple for dates. You can use canned, drained pineapple, but you will need less sugar. Proceed according to taste.

Easy Red Velvet Cake

CAKE

• 2 1/2 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cups red food coloring ( 2 one-oz. bottles)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 2 large eggs

ICING

• 1 1/3 sticks butter, softened
• 10 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 pound confectioner's sugar
• 2 cups chopped pecans

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and spray 3 round layer cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together all ingredients and put equal amounts of batter into the three pans. Bake about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. TO MAKE THE ICING: Combine butter, cream cheese and sugar and mix with electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in 1 1/2 cups pecans. Ice cake and decorate top with the remaining pecans. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.

White Garbage (This recipe comes from Taste of Home magazine)

In large bowl, combine

• 1 package (10 ounces) mini pretzels
• 5 cups Cheerios
• 5 cups Corn Chex
• 2 cups salted peanuts
• 1 pound M&Ms

Set aside. In microwave-safe bowl, combine

• 2 packages (12 ounces each) vanilla chips
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Microwave at medium-high setting for 2 minutes, stirring once. Microwave on high for 10 seconds more. Stir until smooth, then pour over cereal and toss until coated.

Spread mixture on waxed paper to cool. Break apart. Store in air-tight container. Yields 5 quarts.

Fudge Truffles (This recipe comes from Kraft)

• 1 12-ounce package, or 2 cups, semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 can chocolate cake frosting
• 1 cup coconut

Melt chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in orange flavoring and frosting; blend well. Refrigerate for an hour or two, until firm.

Place coconut in pie pan. Scoop mixture out by 1-inch balls. Drop onto coconut and roll until covered. Place in foil or paper candy cups. Store in box or plastic container with cover in refrigerator. Makes 6 dozen.

NOTE: Many people don't like coconut, and some don't like orange. None of that's a problem. You can use any liqueur or flavoring you like, and you can roll the truffles in many other things, too. I like to make rum flavored truffles rolled in coconut, almond flavored rolled in crushed almonds, pure chocolate rolled in cocoa, and mint rolled in crushed peppermint candies. Also, you can use different flavors of chips and frosting's. For instance, make peanut butter by using peanut butter chips and cream cheese or sour cream frosting, and roll in crushed peanuts or powdered sugar. Just about any flavor combos will work, as long as you and your recipients like it.

Saving money is trendy these days, but there's a lot of misinformation being spread around that is discouraging people from saving their money. So what are those myths people are spreading that are holding everyone from keeping that money in the bank? Well here are the top five reasons people don’t save and the debunking of them!

Saving money always takes a long time. Okay, so saving for a new house or an expensive piece of electronic equipment like a laptop can take months or years. However, there are probably numerous things you don't buy on a regular basis because they seem too "frivolous." Such as that Darth Vader phone you have on your nightstand. Okay, so that’s probably just me. How long would it take you to save up for a massage, a meal in a nicer restaurant, or a pair of shoes that cost double your usual? Saving money can take weeks or mere days, depending on the price tag and the time you're willing to invest.

Saving money only makes sense if you have something specific to buy with the savings. Can you predict when a friend will ask you to accompany them to a football or basketball game, your new romantic interest will ask you to sign up for skydiving lessons together, or your favorite band will play a pricey benefit concert? How about predicting when your car will break down, your aging parent will need a hospital visit, or your water pipes will burst? Saving money lets you take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and take sudden hurdles in stride.

Saving money means you can only spend on the basics. Do you remember the food pyramid in health class, with the boring nutritious food groups at the base and the yummy no-no foods at the apex? News flash: there's no universal spending pyramid. Most people's spending goes towards basics like food, rent, and transportation, but that's an average, not a rule. If you want to rent a cheap room in a run-down neighborhood so you can afford designer clothing, go for it. Saving money means honoring your own priorities.

Saving money means learning about IRAs, 401Ks, CDs, and other boring abbreviations that make your head spin. Do you need to learn how to use an elliptical training machine before you can go for a jog around the block? Do you need to get a degree in graphic design before printing out garage sale flyers? Absolutely not! Likewise, you don't need to have an elaborate financial plan or spend hours researching complicated investing strategies. Saving money can be as simple as emptying your change purse into a Mason jar every evening.

Saving money means lowering your standard of living. If you punish yourself by lowering your standard of living every time you want to save money, you'll hardly feel motivated to save. Instead, get creative. Brainstorm ways to make more money on the side, preferably by setting up passive streams of income. Try affiliate marketing, eBay trading or freelance writing. Saving money means finding smart ways to maintain your standard of living while putting money aside at the same time.

Now that you know these five common myths about saving money, it's time to take action. You can save money starting today, and you can do it in any way that makes sense for you and your lifestyle!
If you want to share some things you have heard about saving money and want to debunk them, give us a shout and put the record straight when it comes to saving!

Yard Sales are the way to go if you are looking to make some extra cash! Before you decide to dig through that giant closet and garage, check out the tips below to better your chances at getting more money for you stuff!

1. Plan, Plan, Plan – Good planning is critical to yard sale success. Plan when and where you want to hold the yard sale. Plan how much you want to spend advertising your sale. Plan to buy supplies for pricing and displaying items. Good planning will take the chaos out of your sale.

2. Advertise Your Sale – Don’t be fooled into thinking a few signs hung on telephone poles and work of mouth will get traffic to your sale. Unless your “yard” is in plan view of a busy main road, you will need more than that to bring the people in. Serious yard salers plan their routes according to the ads in the paper. To be clear, those people are the ones you want at your sale. They come with cash and know what they want.

3. Price Everything – Not every buyer will be brave enough to ask the price of something. many times they will just walk on by. Therefore it is important to make sure every item for sale is clearly marked with a price.

4. Hang Clothing from Hangers – Although this takes some time, effort and a bit of cash on your part, it is well worth the bother. When customers see clothing and cloth items such as linens hung up nice and neat, they see them as more valuable and are willing to pay more. You can find clothing bars at home improvement stores. Even better, if you plan on having several yard sales, you can try to pick up a secondhand clothing rack from a store going out of business. Lastly, use nice and unbroken hangers.

 5. Expect Early Birds – No matter how strongly you emphasize “No Early Birds”, people will start showing up at your yard sale 30-60 minutes early probably just as you are setting up. They do this to buy up the best merchandise. Still you may feel disoriented by the fact that people are browsing your items before you have them all out and set up according to your well though out plan There are only two good ways ( and one really awful way) to deal with early birds. The first is start setting up an hour before your scheduled start time in order to get a jump ahead of them. Secondly, you can just deal with them as best as you can and make as much money as possible. I have actually made $50 or more before my yard sale even started. The worst thing you can do is stand your ground and refuse to deal with customers before your official start time.

6. Don’t Overprice – Lets face it, everyone thinks their stuff is the best stuff in the world. Generally other people do not agree. People who go to yard sales are there to find incredible bargains. If they wanted new and perfect stuff, they would go to the department store. They do not care if the blender was only used once or if a print was a limited edition. They are only interested in if they like it and if it is cheap.

If you ahve any other tips or tricks to having a successful ayrd sale, give us a shout back and fill us in!

Check out the video below and give us a shout back on ways you keep your budget in check!

So if you could ask your money one question what do you think it would say? Maybe it would say, “Please do not spend me so quickly on frivolous items...” It also could say, “Put me in a savings account and keep me forever and ever!”  Well aren’t we glad money can’t talk, but maybe it can.

The typical American family spends $1,600 per year on energy at home. Here are some "biggest-bang-for-your-buck" techniques for saving money on energy: