Instead, I slept until 10:00, made breakfast, scrubbed down the house, mopped the much needed kitchen floor, and colored my hair a dark auburn color. I also have quite a bit of work I need to catch up on, so I’ve spent most of the day intending on getting some of that finished as well.

I know I’ve missed out on some amazing deals. Probably could’ve saved a ton of money on something I didn’t buy today, but I feel pretty good about accomplishing so much at home on my day off. I’m thinking of getting a list together for Cyber Monday and if I get everything done that I hope to, I may stop by a couple stores this weekend. I was also planning on putting up the tree but there’s no hurry for that either.

So, while everyone else was out enjoying the hustle and bustle, I stayed in and caught up on a different kind of hustle and bustle. Plus I hung out quite a bit with my daughter. Can’t really beat a clean house, Thanksgiving Day leftovers and a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer DVD.

All in all, I may have gotten the best deal of yet…

But, now we’re headed toward an even bigger time of the year as Thanksgiving lurks around the corner and Christmas is waiting in the woods to jump out and choke us. (Bah Humbug, huh?)  Tis the time when a lot of us are thinking about charity and are thankful that we are in positions that granted are rough, but are not really that bad. After all, things can always be worse, right?

There are a lot of people that are wondering  if they still have room to make their regular charitable donations. I’m going to have to guess that for most of us the answer is “no”, though few will want to admit that. My advice if you can’t help or give this holiday season is to focus on yourself and your family.

Selfish? Maybe. But, there’s a reason they tell you on airplanes to put your oxygen mask on first. Not because you selfishly want to save your own life, but because if you don’t and you pass out, you are of no help to anyone anyway. Giving to charity when you can’t is kind of the same thing. We have to first make sure that we’re okay and can feed and take care of our families before we consider trying to take care of someone else’s.

If you absolutely feel as though you must donate then consider time instead of money. I don’t know about you, but my time is worth way more than any cash I could give anyway. Almost any place you’re interested in from Hospitals to Senior Centers to Schools will accept volunteers. I know for a fact that my daughter’s school is looking for people to help disinfect tables and chairs because of all of the flu yuck going around. Take a plate of cookies to the senior center, call the homeless shelter, even check out the Humane Society  and see what help they can use. It isn’t always about money and right now, a lot of us are running pretty low. Don’t be unreasonable and try donating what you don’t have.

Once we all get back on our feet again, we can figure out how to make up for the year or two that we didn’t donate. Until then, put your mask on first…and help yourself and your family out. Trust me, you’ll feel just as good.