Travelling on the frugal path to Freedom

Today the carpet cleaning guys came in. And he convinced me to keep the carpets. yes, they show dirt more quickly than a darker carpet, but maintaining them is a once a year thing, and they clean easily and don't stain. He didn't suggest ripping them out yet.

I'd love to go with different flooring that would be $200-300 a year I"m not paying out, BUT, it would be a $3000 minimum to et it done..lol

SO I figure when we pay off the mortgage, we save for a year and ...

This year, I'm only spending on few people. (excluding my kidlets)

Those are the snobby people, that unfortunately I can't scratch from the list, as it would cause family strife. But there are only really 4 there. Everyone else, I'm planning on making their gifts.

My brother's family is getting:
Embroidered Aprons for all of them.
the 4 kids will get personalized pillows.
Brother and sil will get a frame to match the ones I gave last year. Previously ...

This month we had some news that is somewhat disturbing. Dh company has closed down, or is in the process of closing down one of the plants here in Canada. This is somewhat anxiety causing for us. We have a fairly big debt load. And if he ends up laid off, whether there is a compensation package or not, we may end up in tight times. Dh's plant does have an operating budget for 2009, and they are profitable, so this worry might be all for nothing. He will get another job, but it's unlikely the same ...