Julie (our hostess for the month of November for Fun Monday!) is wrapping up her last week with this: When do you start your Christmas shopping? On Black Friday? Cyber Monday? And, who is the hardest person to buy for?
Easy as pie! (Mm, pie!)
I’ll give you a little tip from me to you, free. This is what we do. We sock money away in a ‘Christmas club savings account’ with our credit union. It saves it all year for free for us, and we can add it via the web, mail in payments, etc. If you just do a little bit every paycheck, or if you have any bonus cash then voila, you have a chunk saved. No credit cards for 5 months after the holiday! Or at least, less impact on your December/January budget! You can also decide to put money back for your holiday goodies (flour for cookies, a ham, etc) and not cut into your grocery budget, either! Obviously, if you celebrate something else (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) — then you’ll roll your eyes at the name of the account, but it’s basically just a ‘don’t touch’ account. MANY places have them! Our bank happens to ‘give up’ the money to us the 1st of October. That’s when we start asking for Christmas lists. It took us until mid November to finally get them, and so we finally started shopping, then. However, I started gifts and thinking about gifts around September. I like to plan ahead. A lot of times, I like to MAKE presents. So this ‘no list’ thing is not always a big impact on me.
This year WE are hosting the holiday (wow!) So we’ve had to buy a table (bonus, I can use it for wrapping/crafts later on) and borrow chairs. It’s going to be a big deal, first holiday in our new house and all. This means a certain amount of preparation. We have most of our shopping done by now. Some of it was online. Some of it was researched online and then purchased at a store. Most of it was store purchased.
The hardest person to buy for, by far, is my husband. He usually whines requests things through the year, so there’s never anything ‘left’ to buy for him!
We have tried Black Friday before, and did a little bit of it this year, but since we can’t both go (and take Keeley) it’s not much fun. If we had a sitter, it would probably be pretty awesome. By next year, MORE things will be able to be ‘had’ by her, like a small bike, etc. so we might do some more of it next year. Cyber Monday is just kind of ‘eh’, since we’re pretty much done by now, it’s not really on my radar.
One thing we are looking for is “decent play pots and pans” any suggestions, please leave in the comment box.
By the way *I* am hosting Fun Monday for December, so please book mark my site for the next few Mondays! I’ll post the weekly prompt(s) on my sidebar!
Molly
Great post Jill, you not only answer the Fun Monday questions, but you tell us how to fund our purchases. Your whole post seems full of Christmas cheer. My son and DIL like Melissa and Doug toys for their children ages almost 2 and almost 3. This link shows their pots and pans. http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-toy-kitchen-complete-set
Jo
Love it! Wish I had an excuse to buy another table too LOL!
As for the play pots and pans, have you tried looking at a thrift store of some kind? I know some of the pans look bad, but not all of them are disgusting. Just take them home and send them through the dishwasher on the sanitize setting. You could also buy her a few big spoons to use for stirring and maybe a pancake turner for flipping. She might really enjoy helping pick some out and then she gets the advantage of having “real” pans.
Sayre
We used to do a Christmas Club account, but used teh money to pay our taxes every year (which were due November 1st). I’m in the process of rethinking our budget and the Christmas Club is back on the table but not for taxes!
I am approaching Christmas differently this year. In an effort to save a little money, I’m planning on making some stuff for Christmas. We’ve also scaled way back on giving – just immediate family (hubby) and kids (son and granddaughter). Every one else gets token homemade stuff. I hit the after Thanks giving sale at Joann’s and I’m ready to go!
faye
Many years ago when I bought gifts for so many people I also went the Christmas club route at my credit union. It was great to get the chunk of change just when you were ready to start shopping. And, as you say, what a relief to not be worried about credit cards in January and the months beyond. Re pots and pans for K, is it possible to even buy them without going the whole kitchen route? I remember the ones I got quite fondly. Looking forward to what you have in mind for us for Fun Monday in Dec.
Sandy Swopes
I had forgotten about Christmas Clubs. Thanks for the reminder. I do remember how lovely it was to get that chunk of change and be able to just shop, shop, shop. See you next week.