CommonCents

DECEMBERFUN FACTS!

The name December comes from the Latin decem for “ten”, as it

was the 10th month in the Roman Calendar.

The term Yuletide comes from a Norse tradition of cutting and

burning a tree to bring in the Winter Solstice. This was to last

through 12 days – later known as the 12 days of Christmas.

“Jingle bells” was composed in 1857, and not for Christmas – it was meant to be a Thanksgiving

song.

Forbes Magazine compiled a list of the world’s richest people and Santa Claus topped it with a net

worth of “infinity”.

In 1647 Oliver Cromwell, English Puritan leader, banned the festiv-ities of Christmas for being seen as immoral on such a holy day.

Anyone who was seen celebrating was arrested! The ban was lifted in

1660.

for Kids & Teens!

SHELBY COUNTY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’S

NCUAYour savings federal insured to at least $250,000 and backed

by the full faith and credit of the United States Government

National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government AgencyCheck out our website @ ShelbyCountyCU.com

DECEMBER 2014 NEWSLETTER

The Cost of Gifts in “The 12 Days of Christmas” CarolYou know the Christmas carol “The 12 Days

of Christmas” where the true love buys

Golden Rings, Calling Birds, French Hens,

Swans Swimming and a Partridge in Pear

Tree? According to PNC Wealth Manage-

ment, actual cost for those gifts would cost

“true love” quite a bit. The calcuated cost

last year was $27,393. The Nine Ladies

Dancing costs $7,533, according to esti-

mates from the Philadelphia Dance Com-

pany.

Give Hot Chocolate or coffee to Santa’s

Helpers who are ringing bells outside for Salvation Army during the holidays

to warm them up.

Sponsor AChild

Get your family to sign up through a local charity to

help a kid in need during the holidays.

Surprise YourTeacher

with a special thank you note sharing how they have

helped you or what they mean to you.

Give ColoringBooks

Drop off coloring books, crayons and small toys at

the children’s section in local hospital waiting rooms.

Work At A Soup Kitchen

Give your time and help the hungry by serving food at a

local charity kitchen.

RememberThose Who

Help YouGive a hug or a card to the lunch lady, school janitor,

bus driver, pastor, tutors, and others who help you through

the year.

Donate OldToys Or Clothes

Clean out your closet and give toys and clothes you

don’t use anymore to Good-will or other charities.

Treats At Retirement

HomeBake your favorite goodies

and drop them off at retirement homes.

Rake Leaves Or Decorate

HomesGive a hand to the elderly and others who need help with lawn work or spread holiday cheer by hanging

their holiday decor.

Ways to Make The Holidays Merrier!

This Christmas tree may look like any other holi-day tree that you’d see in a mall, but it’s actually the most expensive Christmas tree in the world, valued at more than $11 mil-lion! This 13-foot tree is located in a hotel in Abu Dhabi is decorated with REAL precious stones like diamonds, sapphires and pearls - that’s some impressive tinsel!

Americans buy 25-30 million real Christmas trees and 8-12 million artificial trees each year! Right now there are 350,000,000 Christmas trees growing on US tree farms.

President Teddy Roosevelt found the tradition of Christmas tress so infuriating that he enacted a total ban on putting up a tree in the White House during his term. In fact, in 1902, Roos-evelt’s son Archie snuck his own Christmas tree into the house which he hid in a closet. Was the 26th President a Scrooge? Nope, just an avid outdoorsmen and conservationist who found deforestation revolting.

Oh Tannenbaum!

Tannenbaum means fir tree in German.

The first Christmas Tree in New York City’s Rockerfeller Center was installed by a crew of construction workers during The Depression on Christmas Eve in 1931 . It was 20-ft tall and decorated with “strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans”. This year, the tree will be 85 ft tall and have more than 45,000 glowing lights. The largest tree in Rockerfeller Center was a 100-ft Norway spruce and installed in 1999!

Did you know some of the earliest fake Christmas trees were made out of toilet bowl brushes? The oldest fake Christmas trees date back to 1886 and were made out of green raffia, the twine that is more commonly used to make grass hula skirts. Then the Addis Toilet Brush Company used their toilet brush weaving machinery to create pine-like branches for their fake Christmas trees. They were less flammable, held heavier decora-tions and could make your toilet bowl sparkling clean!

Santa MailThe US Postal service delivers about 15.8 billion cards and

letters between Thanksgiving and Christmas and sells about

$1.3 billion in holiday stamps! That’s a lot of holiday greet-

ings! But nobody gets more holiday mail than dear ol’ Santa.

Santa is mailed 7 million letters from across the world, with

the most coming from France, Canada and the United States

in that order. In fact, the Canadian mail system has so much

mail for him that they gave Santa his own zip code, which is

HOH OHO.

Start Saving Now for Next Christmas!Let’s face it. By the time you purchase gifts for Mom, Dad, siblings and

friends, your Christmas expenses can add up pretty quickly. Play it smart

next Christmas by creating a savings fund now. Just think, if you save $20

a month now, you’ll have $240 to spend next year. How can you do that?

Begin by not spending your money on little things like sodas and candy,

rent movies instead of going to the theatre, and go to the library instead

of buying books. Put your savings in a jar designated specifically as your

Christmas bank, and watch your coins turn into big savings!