Save Money at Christmas with Your Own Charlie Brown Tree

Remember that Charlie Brown Christmas Special with the tiny sad tree?  This Christmas, instead of buying a over-fertilized commercial tree that's been sitting dead on a sidewalk for weeks, go to the woods and cut your own.  This will give your family a satisfying activity that they will remember for years and a free tree that will be a discussion piece for the entire holiday.  Make the trip an experience by bringing along hot cocoa and homemade cookies as a surprise treat.

If anyone asks why you didn't just buy a tree from the store, say that you are "going green" and that you plan on picking up an artificial tree from the store when they are heavily discounted after the holiday.  You can save a bundle by buying an artificial tree from a site like Amazon.com when a retailer is trying to unload their Christmas inventory to make room for something else.  A typical artificial tree should last a decade and if you buy it on discount, it pays for itself in a few years.