Christmas shopping on a budget
'Tis the Season!!
I love the Holidays, they start for me in mid-September. Mid-September is when the weather is starting to become bearable, I feel like I can go outside without my skin melting off (imagine the end scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, that is me in the summertime). We start the holiday season with different Halloween gatherings, then we roll right into Thanksgiving and before we know it Christmas is on the horizon.
Last year during the Christmas season I was very frustrated as I have a lot of people on my Christmas gift list and I waited until after Thanksgiving to buy gifts. I felt that it was a drain on my pocket book and as though I was just phoning it in. I love giving people gifts, I find a lot of joy in it, however I love giving people the right gift. As I've gotten older I've fallen into the habit of putting off shopping and just buying a gift card at the last minute. I decided to make a change, I was determined to start early and put more thought into everyone's gifts.
Here are a few different ways that I have accomplished that goal this year and so far it has made the whole season cheaper and more enjoyable.
1) Shutterfly- I decided in July that I was going to take full advantage of Shutterfly's free offers, when you download their app and subscribe to them you receive at least 10 freebies a month and I have taken full advantage of that fact. Each time I was offered "Free Cards" whether it was 1 card or 10 I order some Christmas cards. I was able to get not only all of my Christmas Cards for free but also some Christmas Card Magnets.
2) 99 cent store- Gift wrapping supplies are so expensive. I try and buy wrapping paper at the end of the Christmas season each year, however sometimes you just need other supplies. This year, I decided I wanted to do fun gift bags for the majority of my family members but bags can be really pricey, so I decided to go to our local 99 cent only store and see what they had, they had some nice bags but then I saw the 25 cent section!!!!! I was determined not to pay more than a quarter per bag, as I looked the pickings were pretty slim, my husband didn't think I should buy a bunch of Happy Birthday bags and write Jesus on them, then behind the lime green bags I saw them a hoard of dark green bags in all different sizes for only a QUARTER!! BOOM!! I bought some packs of 10 sheets of red tissue paper and I'm good to go.
3) Rewards points- I know a lot of people who save their credit card rewards and use them to buy all of their Christmas Presents, I think that is a fantastic idea, but I am selfish and I look at credit card rewards as the prize for paying off your credit card each month.
So I had to think about how I could tweak this idea for me. I purchase doTERRA products every month, when I do I get 30% of that back in product points to use one whatever doTERRA products I desire. Last March I decided I would save up my points and use them at the end of the year to fill in my Christmas present bags. I felt like giving DoTERRA is giving the gift of luxury (with spa products) and health (with oils and supplements), so after 9 months of saving my points I had a lot built up and it will be enough to give a really nice gift to 10 people. Score! I also am a Norwex consultant and I used my Norwex earnings and party rewards for the last year to get some great Norwex gifts for my friends and family. Not everyone is a consultant in a company like this but everyone has somewhere where they get a bonus, and when you save each little bit it makes a big difference this time of year.
4) Buy from friends- I sat down and thought about my friends that are work from home moms and how I could support them with my holiday gift giving. The majority of my gift giving will be doTERRA, Norwex, Scentsy, Younique and See's Candy (from friends who have kids doing fundraisers) these make great gifts and you can help a friend. Don't get me wrong, Amazon is also getting a lot of business from me ;)
Those are just a few ways that I'm working to save some money and time this Holiday Season, I'd love to hear how my friends are doing the same.
Kirsten
p.s. I hope you enjoyed my first blog post back from a long Hiatus, I promise I'll be better
3) Rewards points- I know a lot of people who save their credit card rewards and use them to buy all of their Christmas Presents, I think that is a fantastic idea, but I am selfish and I look at credit card rewards as the prize for paying off your credit card each month.
So I had to think about how I could tweak this idea for me. I purchase doTERRA products every month, when I do I get 30% of that back in product points to use one whatever doTERRA products I desire. Last March I decided I would save up my points and use them at the end of the year to fill in my Christmas present bags. I felt like giving DoTERRA is giving the gift of luxury (with spa products) and health (with oils and supplements), so after 9 months of saving my points I had a lot built up and it will be enough to give a really nice gift to 10 people. Score! I also am a Norwex consultant and I used my Norwex earnings and party rewards for the last year to get some great Norwex gifts for my friends and family. Not everyone is a consultant in a company like this but everyone has somewhere where they get a bonus, and when you save each little bit it makes a big difference this time of year.
4) Buy from friends- I sat down and thought about my friends that are work from home moms and how I could support them with my holiday gift giving. The majority of my gift giving will be doTERRA, Norwex, Scentsy, Younique and See's Candy (from friends who have kids doing fundraisers) these make great gifts and you can help a friend. Don't get me wrong, Amazon is also getting a lot of business from me ;)
Those are just a few ways that I'm working to save some money and time this Holiday Season, I'd love to hear how my friends are doing the same.
Kirsten
p.s. I hope you enjoyed my first blog post back from a long Hiatus, I promise I'll be better
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