The Tree That Keeps on Giving

There are some things that I hate spending money on.  Christmas trees are probably right in the middle of that list.  I’ve never really liked the idea of chopping down a tree, paying $40 for it and then putting it in the trash 30 days later.  Years ago, my wife and I would look around for the cheapest tree lot we could find and try to spend less than $20.  At one point we found a lot that sold any tree for $20 so we returned there for a number of years.

When we bought this house almost 8 years ago we found a number of things left in the attic above the garage.  Besides the 2 truckloads of empty plastic and glass jars (mayonnaise, jam, margarine and on and on.  That’s a story for another post), we also found a fake Christmas tree.  I was thrilled to have a free tree that I envisioned us using year after year!  Believe it or not, we are still using that tree.  We got to average the zero cost over 8 years for a total cost of $0 per year!  For the last couple years my wife has begrudgingly decorated this tree and I think we’ve come to the agreement that this will be the last year.  The branches are starting to really disintegrate and we are missing a few pieces that we’ve had to improvise on.  (I think my wife may secretly be throwing one piece out a year to force my hand to buy a new one…….).  Anyway, I think this might be the last year of the “free tree”.

It’s important that we make the decision to send this tree to the “fake tree” graveyard now so that we can take advantage of the 50% off sales on Christmas items right after Christmas.  If I’m going to shell out my hard earned money for a fake tree, I’m sure as heck not going to pay full price!