Christmas savings
I’m writing this with a fuzzy, flu-head, so I hope it makes sense. It’s October already. OCTOBER. Christmas is in less than 3 months. I’m freakin’ out big time here. I have 5 kids to buy for that will be here, plus my 2 step-daughters who won’t be with us this year, extended family members, teachers… I’m starting to hyperventilate. 
I’ve been trying to come up with ways to save money, although this year with all the lawyers fees we’ve had it’s been next to impossible. I’ve been trying to come up with cheap gift ideas. Or maybe one BIG gift for the kids rather than a bunch of little ones. Sei and I actually talked about building a skate ramp. That’d be rad. And since we have so many kids to buy for it’d probably be cheaper to go that route.
I just hate the stress of the holidays because it overshadows what it’s all about. Celebrating our Savior’s birth shouldn’t stress us out or force us into major financial crisis. I had a friend who one year just wanted her son to have a great Christmas so she took out one of those small payday loans. At the time that was her answer. My answer so far has been to start picking up things now. If I see something on sale I try to buy it and put it away. My only problem there is that I usually end up with waaaaay too much because I forget what I’ve purchased. I’m also trying to stick a little from each paycheck into savings so we have a little to work with. I have to remember that heating costs will be going up- thankfully I’m in Texas so they aren’t that bad. But before that happens – like most of Oct. and Nov.- we basically don’t use our heat or a/c. I don’t think the a/c has clicked on all week. We should take advantage of that and put the money we usually use towards heat or a/c towards Christmas instead. I need to learn to be more disciplined.
What are your best holiday savings tips? Or savings tips in general??
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Sorry you’ve been sick. It sucks to be a sick mom. Life doesn’t stop for us.
Anyway, I usually just try to start way early. Like…August.
I try to shop all year at clearance sales for the clothes. I can usually get brand name stuff at cheaper than walmart prices.
I also limit my children to a list of 5 things from which I will buy ONE thing. It was harder to do before the boys eagle project, but now it is a tradition. With everything that the kids get from friends and family the item I buy is not forgotten like when they get sooo much more. I always have PJ for Christmas Eve and a stocking stuffer. Then I can usually find a couple of things to either go with their ONE gift or other things they have. for Sassy I get jewelry stuff so she can make jewelry to sale. For Tree Monkey I get art stuff for her to create with. The boys have gotten tools in the past and will likely continue to with Oldest being married and Monkey Wrench loving to work on cars.
I’m so focused on our Illinois trip that Christmas has not yet registered with me. Better get on that, huh?
I sure hope you start feeling better soon. It took me about a week to feel normal, but the really bad part was over after about 3 days.
Klin´s last blog ..Important screenings for adults
Sorry for hijacking your comments. Holy long one, eh?
Klin´s last blog ..Important screenings for adults
I think buying a little here, a little there is the way to go. I also keep a little notebook so I can make sure I don’t spend too much. (I also keep the receipts in one envelope, then if I need to take something back because I find it cheaper somewhere else, I have the receipts all together)
Good luck.
I think the skate ramp sounds like a FABULOUS idea.
yvonne´s last blog ..What I Love About October
Gifts for teachers shouldn’t come from the parents, they should be something the children make themselves. Nestle and Hershey’s have a homemade hot chocolate recipe that the kids could make, you’d just have to buy the ingredients with your regular groceries. Buy one ingredient with each grocery shopping trip, freeze the chocolate chips, store the other ingredients in a box on top of your kitchen cabinets and write on the box big enough to see that it’s for teacher’s gift at Christmas. Make sure to put the recipe inside. Just buy the dry milk last for the hot chocolate or closer to Christmas. You don’t have to put the hot chocolate mix in mason jars, you could even use zip lock bags. Have the kids print out free labels or gift cards on the computer with the instructions of how much homemade hot chocolate mix to use to make a cup of hot chocolate.
You don’t need to buy mugs to give along with the hot chocolate mix, because most people already have enough of them. Yet, if you really feel you need mugs, go to Good Will, or a yard sale and see if you can find a nice few there which are really cost effective.
These are cute gifts for the kids to make for grandparents, aunts, uncles too.
If you have left over supplies then you can use the rest to make homemade hot chocolate mix for your family too.
I like your idea of buying ahead, but you need to keep everything you buy in one location so you can look at the lot of it once in a while, so you don’t overbuy like you said.
I’d never get a payday loan to pay for Christmas.
Remember the two step children are also going to get gifts from the biological parent so be practical there in how many and how expensive the gifts you’ll be giving them is going to be, especially if you’re giving child support for these children already. Yes, you love them, but some
of that love is already and always shown through child support.
I think a practical present is the Snuggie the blanket with sleeves you can wear while watching TV , doing homework, playing on the computer and stuff and then that way the heat doesn’t need to be set as high in the house. You can get these in many different colors. I know the adult sizes are even found at Walmart for around $15 and you even get a clip light for reading books and such by, included free right now. My husband uses his free light and attaches it to his laptop computer, so we can have the light off when watching movies and he wants instead to be on his computer. You could actually separate the light and the snuggie and it then becomes two gifts for $15, if you don’t wrap it in it’s original box from the store. You could give the lights to the teachers or whoever and keep the snuggies for your husband or children if they are big enough to use the size available at Walmart.
I didn’t look to see if Walmart had children’s sizes, but I’m sure some sight on the internet has children’s sizes if needed, I just don’t know if they’d have the additional free light in them.
When getting toys buy them as a combination gift for many of the kids to use.
On the gift tag for these type of toys, make sure to include all the children’s names who’ll be using it.
Example: John, Bob, Roy for a racing car PC game. Include rules in the box too, that states each child gets to use the toy for 2 hours per week, or whatever you decide. You decide the times too.
You and your husband could agree no presents between the two of you. Me and my husband have done this many years, and it sure helps the budget.
Shop ebay for Christmas, you might find something new or even lightly used that would be perfect for one of your family members at a very cost effective price. Even Overstock.com might have something you’re looking for at a very discounted price and their merchandise changes nearly a little every week.
Good luck. You’re right though it is about our Savior’s birth, so do what’s best financially for your family. Your kids will understand if you’re just honest with them starting now. You need to just have a family meeting and tell them that because of money changes right now in the family that they will not have as many Christmas presents this year as they have had in the past. Be honest, preparing kids now will help them deal with Christmas expectations better.
Great tips y’all! Thanks!!
Oh, no! So sorry you’ve been sick!
I think your skate ramp idea is awesome!
I start buying things early and putting them away to help spread out the cost, and I keep lists so I can check and see exactly what I bought for each person and how much it cost. If I accidentally buy more than the planned budget, I save the extra item for their next birthday or something.
Nancy Face´s last blog ..Stools and other poopy stuff!