I wish to be as wealthy as the next guy, don't get me wrong. But this month our finances have been a little more challenged, and it can be rewarding to rise to this kind of challenge.

For one thing, it forces us to become more creative, and to make more things by hand. For instance, in my current knitting project, it looks like I really do need a certain size circular needle, which I was trying to avoid buying. But I just realized that I can take one of those long twisty wires, which come in modern packaging, and use packing tape to carefully tape it to two double-pointed needles I have, measuring it to make it the right size. Ta da! A circular needle for free!

Normally at Christmas I order some very fancy, very expensive chocolates and candies from Ethel M. Since I couldn't do that this year, I'm instead discovering all the absolutely delicious homemade candies from Mary Yoder's Candy and Confections Cookbook. So far I've made Pecan Pralines, Nut Clusters and the Chocolate-Cherry Coconut Creams. In fact, I've loved these so much I keep making them over and over. The cookbook is full of all sorts of candies, including homemade Peanut Butter Cups and Mint Patties; many flavors of Divinity, many kinds of Bon-Bons and chocolate-covered candies, including Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cordials, etc. Anytime I crave a special Christmas candy, I simply get out this cookbook and whip up another treat. It's wonderful! This cookbook will keep me busy for many Christmases to come!

And my 10-year-old daughter has now learned how to whip up a Swiss Miss-style cup of hot cocoa anytime she wants. You just mix 1/3 cup of powdered milk, 1 tsp. of cocoa and 1 tsp. of sugar in your mug. Add hot water and stir. For extra flavor, experiment with adding flavored extracts, or coffee creamer, or use a chocolate drink mix instead of the cocoa and sugar, or top with whipped cream or marshmallows--use whatever you have on hand.

Coming up with creative, handmade solutions and making more from scratch--this is very rewarding!