http://www.wowowow.com/blog/42467/think-you-cant-afford-give-send-clowns-stacey-tisdale-425112

Take this introspective journey and learn how the lessons you learned about money as a child, social stereotypes about gender, race, ethnicity, as well as pressures to “keep up” with advertising messages and “The Joneses” play out in your financial experience.  Learn how to step away from those influences that don’t serve you so that you can live a life that reflects who you really are and what you really value.

Since its release in 2007, The True Cost of Happiness has been used as a model for financial education programs across the country including a program launched by the White House and financial literacy giant Operation HOPE for Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country.

Stay tuned for information on national and international media appearances!

• Go shopping in your own home.  One of the great secrets to leading a more frugal life is decluttering.  If you have great piles of stuff, it’s hard to see and use what you have.  That’s particularly true of holiday decorations.  Starting now, look for, find and label your holiday items.  That way, you won’t have to run out to the store to buy more of what you already have.
• Holiday meals do not have to be expensive.  Supermarkets sharply discount turkeys at Thanksgiving, for example.  The trick is to make most things yourself, rather than relying on prepared foods.
• Have your guests bring a dish.  Even a dedicated non-cook can bring flowers, wine, chocolates, or bread or dessert from the bakery. 
• Many of our frugal friends follow the One Big Gift rule.  One gift is new and relatively expensive; everything else is inexpensive or homemade or hand-me-down. 
• Or, if you have a big family, think about a holiday gift exchange.  Put all the names into a hat, and have each person draw a name. 
• Learn to bake, if you don’t already.  Sugar cookies, for example, take about 5 minutes to mix.  If you don’t have a recipe, putting “sugar cookies recipe” into a search engine recently yielded 157 million hits.  (Kids love to bake cookies.  If you don’t have a child, borrow one for this purpose.) 
• Instead of buying red and green or blue and yellow candles, ribbons, tablecloths or other decorations, think white. White works for every holiday. 
• If you like to have a great big pile of presents at the holidays, wrap items individually. 
• If you hate wrapping gifts, or hate the thought of throwing wrapping paper in the trash, you can make permanent gift bags out of fabric or felt.  Glue or sew them, and they will last for many years.
• Make friends with the dollar store.  There are lots of small cute things there that make great party favors or stocking stuffers.
• Look at the bargain book table in the bookstore.  You can get nice books for a few dollars that make great gifts. 
• There are many free concerts at the holidays.  Plan to visit at least one. 
• A thoughtful gift will always win out over an expensive one.  Spend the next few months paying close attention to the people you love.  You will hear them talk about inexpensive items they enjoy.  Choose one as a gift, and they will be delighted to know that you listened.    
• When possible, carpool to family functions.  Not only will you save money on gas and tolls, you will also have the rare opportunity to talk in depth with members of your family. 
• Search the neighborhood for the most decorated house and take the family to see it. 
• Make your own music.  You find words to songs on the internet.  Or ask one of the kids to make a holiday mix using mp3s.   

Stacey is also profiled in the October issue of Black Enterprise magazine!

On October 1^st, Stacey will address a crowd of 30,000 in Nigeria as the African nation celebrates  Independence Day - nearly 50 years of independence from

Bravo to ABC’s 20/20 for realizing that this approach to money deserves national attention on one of the network’s most prominent shows.  I also urge you all to find the chapter in Wynona Judd’s autobiography in which she describes how taking an honest look at what her financial choices really represented with Ted and Rick was one of the best things that she has ever done.

I urge all of you to check out this Friday’s episode of 20/20.  And I promise Ted and Rick that I will continue to do all that I can to expand the national dialogue with money beyond the numbers to the real causes of the problems.  It’s truly becoming a matter of ‘getting this’ or sinking for our country.

Congratulations friends on the ways in which you have made so many people’s lives better and helped them make lasting change.  Thank you for opening my eyes and giving the greatest gift one person can give to another: Inspiration!

Check the link for a provocative article by Stacey.

http://www.wowowow.com/think/how-to-get-kids-smart-about-money-tips-stacey-tisdale-307325