How Can You Save Money During the Holidays?

Buy, buy, buy!  Is that really what the holidays should be about?  Your credit card company might like that, but is it really what you want to do?

Here are the key points from today's episode:

1. Don't buy things you really don't want or need.  Aunt Ethel doesn't need a pair of wool underwear.
2. Indulge in Creativity
3. Give to others who can't give to you…

Happy Holidays,

Janelle and Rob - Your Sexy Challenge Team

Dr. Janelle Alex, Ph.D. - Couples' Dream Therapist

Dr. Rob Alex, Ph.D. - The Guru of Getting It On

Photo credit: © Steve Young - Fotolia.com

...and the Holiday is!

Want to have a special day? Why not create your own special holiday. Declare you holiday early in the day so your partner has time to react to the holiday. Send you partner a text or email expressing the holiday and see what kind of reaction you get from them. These self proclaimed holidays can be romantic or even help get chores done. Some examples might be, "National Paint the Garage Day", "Pizza and Movie Night", or "National Try a New Sexual Position Day" Make your holiday crazy and out of the normal. Encourage you partner to make up the next crazy holiday then make it a special event between the two of you. I personally like this one "National Massage Your Partner, Turn the Light Down, and Make Passionate Love Day" I am going to try to get this one through congress.

Make today a special holiday!

Okay so there is nothing special about today, unless it might happen to be your birthday. However you can make everyday a special day just by declaring it to be. Do this in your relationship just to help build up your love and passion. Make up a silly holiday and then let your partner know what this holiday is. You can send them a text message, an email or you can even just leave them a hand written note. If the two of you have a calendar that you both use then you can even put the holiday on your calendar. Some examples of special holidays might be : GIVE YOUR WIFE A BIG KISS DAY, BACK RUB DAY, of WEAR SEXY PANTIES DAY. You can make them as silly as you want after all it is a day that you are making up. Be funny and creative and make them very specific. These holidays can be made to fit anything you wish from taking a trip to inducing intimacy. Some other examples might be TAKE A SHOWER TOGETHER DAY, WATCH A BALLGAME DAY, or MARATHON SEX DAY. You could even make a pact to let each other invent a holiday each month and the other has to help observe it with you. Now get on with it and enjoy your holiday, what ever it might be.

Watch those reactions.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you are enjoying your most magical of days. I also hope that you receive some nice presents this year. As you go through your day however I want you to do something that is very simple. Watch your partner open their presents and watch their reactions. See how quickly they search for your eyes when they open something that has importance to them. Count how many kisses you get on this blessed day, add in all the hugs and hand holding. Throw in all the snuggling and relaxing moments you spend with each other. Pay attention to how your partner reacts to you. At the end of the evening sit down and count your blessings I think you will be surprised how truly lucky you are. Merry Christmas to all and to all I wish a great relationship.

Take a Moonlight Drive.

During the Holiday season a very romantic thing to do is to take a late night drive and check out all the Christmas decorations. Only at this time of year will your drive be filled with houses decked out in lights or festive holiday themes. If you check around a bit you might find a local park or zoo that might have a small charge for a wonderful light display. I know just about 20 minutes from our house a park has a light show that is a must see for us and our children every year. Make a little challenge of it and mark you favorites, rate them from best to worst so that next year you can return as most people find this a competition any way. You can usually find the same houses decorated each year if you can remember where they are. Sometimes you will find whole neighborhoods dressed in lights while other times you might just find a diamond in the rough out off a back road. Ask around your friends and sometimes they can lead you to some of the more wonderful light displays. The most wonderful part about this activity is that no matter how big your family is everyone can enjoy it. If it is only the two of you or is you have four kids it can still be just as wonderful listening to them get excited looking for lights.

Make your bedroom as festive as the rest of your house.

When we decorate for the holidays we sort of forget about our bedroom. Mostly because the average house quest doesn’t venture into our personal room for anything more then a quick glimpse. Within your relationships however the two most important people are the ones that spend the most time in there. Break out some extra lights and decorate your headboard, put some tinsel around or even some fake snow. We spend so much time decorating the rest of the house, that we forget that our bedroom is a great place to have fun and play a little. Imagine the blinking Christmas lights flashing the next time the two of you make love or what you could do with the extra festive pillows that you have put on the bed. While the holidays are suppose to be shared with family and friends it is also a great time to reconnect with your partner.

Shop with planning, Love with passion

The holiday season can be pretty crazy at this time of year. Everyone is out trying to get their shopping done before the big day. This is the exact reason you have to have a shopping plan in place before you head out. Roaming around the store not knowing what you are going to get is like wandering lost in the jungle. The time is now to get your strategy planned out by first of all deciding or at least have an idea of what you are looking for in the store before you enter. Check the Internet to find the best presents, you can even find some web sites that will give you suggestions for that hard to buy for person in your life. If you can find a floor plan of the mall or store you will be shopping it get it and study the areas you will need to hit during your shopping trip, backtracking and roaming are only good for wasting time. Once you get to your shopping destination stay focused it is easy to get off track and start looking at things that you won't be buying. Follow your path and grab and go on your way around the store, then hit the cashier and exit the store. When you follow your plan this will free you up to spend more time with the people that you are shopping for. I would much rather spend time snuggling with my wife and watching Christmas Movies or even just our tree then running around a store frantically.

Get Jolly for Christmas

We are no officially in the Christmas season, and being festive can be really romantic between the two of you. First thing you need to do is pick a theme for your Christmas Tree. Pick something that appeals to both of your, be it cartoon characters, snowmen, or even your favorite football team. If you don't want to do a theme then you can pick a specific color to decorate your tree in. The most important thing is for the two of you to do it together. Building memories for a lifetime, make sure to take plenty of pictures and spend as many hours sitting together looking at your work of art during this holiday season.

If you have little ones at home you can let them help pick the theme, and obviously you want them to help with the decorations. Snuggle down with them and some hot chocolate and enjoy the wonderful season with these little wonders.

Get your Christmas Shopping on Now.

I was in our local discount store just two days ago and saw that they were putting up the Christmas decorations and supplies. My first reaction was, "Man it's not even Halloween, yet!" Then I thought about it a little longer, and what a great idea. One of my biggest complaints is that we spend all the weekends right before Christmas Shopping we don't get to spend these weekends at home enjoying the season. I would much rather be making cookies with my partner (and kids), listening to Christmas Carols and watching those famous Christmas Cartoons. However instead we are doing the hustle and bustle looking for those last minute things we need to pick up. I challenge all of you do get 90% of your Christmas shopping done by the end of November. I did this a couple of years in a row and man those were great years. It was easy to get the shopping done, my spouse and I didn't fight or dread doing the shopping. Sure their were some things that came out later the kids wanted but all I had to do was zip in and pick up that item only. Then the whole month of December was ours to enjoy.

Start making your list today, and get those hard to buy for people out of the way the only thing you should have to buy during the month of December should be for your kids or partner. Then on the weekends during the holidays spend them going caroling, or attending friends parties or even have your own Christmas party. Lastly just spend some quiet time with you partner sitting in a chair with the fire a blaze and the snow gently falling outside. While you sip your warm cocoa think of all the poor suckers out their running from store to store.