1. People are killed on Black Friday for video games, waffle irons, and fuzzy socks.
2. The Black Friday festivities end before six o'clock Friday morning. It's Black Thursday people, really.
So we got all of our shopping done early. We spent 179 dollars (Which was under our 200 dollar budget) and we got quite a few things! I got him several Ugly Dolls because I adore them, and he got a lot of cool stuff that will help him develop and grow, so we're really excited for when he finally gets to open them Christmas day.
A few tips for the busy season....
1. If you don't like going out to go shopping and want to avoid all the hustle, bustle, and crazy people, stay in! A lot of people aren't aware that the Monday after Thanksgiving has HUGE cyber sales. If Black Friday is too much for you, online deals are the way to go.
2. As crazy as it sounds, have the hubby set the budget. This time of year makes the fellas anxious and to be quite frank, grumpy. They think it's ridiculous to spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in such a short amount of time. (They aren't completely wrong there.) So have them choose the budget. If you think that you really need more wiggle room, try to compromise. Jesse gave me a budget of 200 and for just James, that was plenty.
3. You don't NEED the newest gaming system the moment it comes out. WAIT WAIT WAIT. Seriously. Give it six months and I can guarantee the price is going to drop dramatically. The PS4 and XBOX One can wait.
4. If Christmas is a big deal for you, plan ahead of time, way ahead of time. My mom always waits until the very last minute and then spends so much money that I question if she made her house payment that month. If you know you're a big spender, start saving first thing come January. A good budgeting trick that I plan to do next year is to designate a specific money amount to save every week. Week 1 you put in 1 dollar, week 2 you put in two dollars and so on and so forth until you are up to around fifty dollars for one week. By that point, you should have a TON saved up and you won't have to scrounge around in the couch cushions last minute.
5. If your family is anything like mine, you probably do some sort of Secret Santa at one point or another. For these kinds of things, don't feel like you have to go all out. At my family Christmas, the spending limit is 25 dollars, and you can do quite a bit with that. Gift Cards are wonderful and aren't really a cop out in these situations. If you feel like you want to put a little bit more thought into it, go to Dollar General and get the necessities for different 'kits'. Nail polish kits, movie night kits, handy man kits, there's a kit for everything. Throw all your stuff into a cute Christmas container (the movie night kit looks really cool in a popcorn bucket!) and you're good to go!
6. As cool as it is, the professional gift wrapping isn't completely necessary. I know that sometimes its almost like a charity and the money goes towards a good cause, and if you like to do that, great! But there are plenty of DIY tutorials for amazing christmas wrapping online.
7. On another note, Walmart and ToysRUs have really expensive wrapping paper. Five dollars a ROLL? That's a bit much for me... As always, I promote Dollar General. Be sure to make sure you aren't getting jipped by reading how much is actually in the roll before you purchase it. If there's only a few feed of paper for a dollar and you know you have a lot of large presents, maybe go for the 3 dollar roll instead, it will most likely have more.
8. Gordman's has beautiful Christmas decorations. So does Pier 1 and all of those other really expensive stores that I want to live in because they're so beautiful. In reality, if you want to have a little bit of Holiday Spirit in your home but don't want to spend a ton of money, Walmart and Dollar General (I know, DG again) have really cute seasonal decorations that are dirt cheap. Remember James's halloween pictures with all those cute little pumpkins and pine cones and flowers and leaves and all that other cute little harvest stuff? Those were ALL from Dollar General for under 25 dollars. The decorations are festive and cheap and seeing as you don't constantly have them in your house year round, there really isn't much of a reason to pay a ton of money for them.
9. There are some things that you really shouldn't buy cheap. As I mentioned above, I love Gordman's. I think the home decor is absolutely gorgeous. However, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER SHIRT FROM THERE EVER AGAIN. It doesn't matter if you follow the washing directions on there to a T, they shrink and fray on the first wash. I've even tried washing these shirts on the gentle cycle, and they're still ruined on the very first wash. A lot of their clothes are this way. The jeans tear easily and even their baby clothes just don't stay nearly as nice as clothes from other stores. Maybe it's just been my experience, but twenty different bad experiences have kept me away from that clothing department for life. So, in short. Cheaping out with items like clothes and electronics is hit and miss sometimes. Paying that extra dollar USUALLY ensures quality, and to me, I'd rather pay more and have it last longer than pay a little bit less and it fall apart the second I get it home.
10. Probably the biggest piece of advice is that it's Christmas. It's not supposed to be about spending thousands of dollars and showing off your gifts to the neighbors. It's supposed to be about being with your family and showing your loved ones just how much you care about them. The gifts are nice, yes. But they aren't necessary. If you're struggling to put food on the table, please don't feel obligated to spend tons of money on toys your children will only play with for a year or two. Stay within your means. Luckily, there are programs that help struggling families provide gifts for their children for the Holidays. If you're one of these families, I hope these organizations find you.
Shop Smart Folks!
Follow James and I at amazingjames.blogspot.com and feel free to comment and share your own experiences whenever you'd like! (Seriously, NO ONE has feedback for us? Sheesh! Tough crowd!)
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