My debt has forced me into becoming a bit of a spend-thrift these days and I've had to start getting creative with the presents I give my friends. Every year I take my best friend out for lunch for her birthday at a nice restaurant. The bill usually ends up been quite big after a couple of bottles of wine, but the time we spend together is priceless. This year I did something different because I'm in debt and cant just keep putting lovely long lunches on credit cards.

I dusted off the old picnic set and prepared us a feast of salads, dips, snacks and sandwiches - and of couse I bought a couple bottles of wine. I estimate I saved well over half on making the lunch as to what I would normally spend and we had the best day together.