I hate crowds. And I hate last minute stress. My goal each year is to be finished with Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. I don't always meet the goal, but at least I can be close to completion.
I get a thrill out of seeing Black Friday sales and knowing that I don't need to worry about fighting crowds to save a few bucks.
We don't do a lot of Christmas gift buying compared to some, but starting early is a way to make sure we make wise choices and not just desperately grabbing anything that will possibly fit the occasion.
Prepare - Gift Shopping Week - Last year's preparation inspiration on making plans and praying for grace in the set-backs.
Gift Worksheet - free printable
I'd love to hear your hints on how to make gift shopping more painless.
I too like to shop early, although it doesn't always happen. My one tip would be to buy gifts for men at Father's Day, I know that's really early but you can find some great buys.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you as far as crowds..and I have never been "black Friday" shopping. Since my hubby retired in 2014,spending has to be considerably less. I made many of our gifts last year,and am doing the same for this year. I went to a local church bazaar this past weekend and found some very nice gifts! I love finding those as well as helping the church. I have found that the less we spend,the more the gifts seem to mean. I admit to enjoying the decorations in the stores,but I steer clear of the toy aisles. Today's toys (most of them) are so strange..we try to encourage meaningful things,be it books,puzzles,etc. or a homemade stuffed toy or doll. For our grown kids,I try to make them something related to their interests and I make them a tray of assorted baking and candies that I make. Everyone seems to be happy as long as we're together!
ReplyDeleteI find it helpful to keep notes on what I buy for whom. Once things are wrapped, I might not recall what I bought, especially when I buy gifts throughout the year. It's easy to accidentally buy a duplicate gift when something is on sale. Keeping notes means, for example, that Junior gets only one toy yellow dump truck, not two, or that I don't keep buying the skein after skein of blue yarn for Sis.
ReplyDeleteHi Gina, I am like you, and the sooner my shoppng is done the more content I feel. I have 11 Grrandkids and 6 of those grandyounguns have birthdays between Dec1 and Jan. 27. ( I buy or make thier gifts, or both) I Write, the childs name on paper and the gifts and colours (in case I need to add something) Then I wrap them as I get them. and put them in a shopping bag that I purchase at the dollar store. I have done this all the years my kids were at home. I found it a great way to keep things from piling up. BUT don,t forget to hide your list, or your little snoopers will know what they are getting.
ReplyDeleteMost of our gift buying is for our children, and we have made it a tradition that they each get 3 gifts like the wise men brought Jesus. Each child gets 1 gift that he/she asked for, one gift that helps him or her learn something, and one gift that is just fun or a surprise. We also fill their stocking with 3 or 4 small inexpensive items that they may or may not have asked for. I keep a detailed list of the gifts, dividing a paper into 4 columns, noting the gift and the price so that everything is as fair and square as possible.
ReplyDeleteI love how you organize your gift giving to your children.
DeleteThanks,
gina