Yep I am already thinking about Christmas! Can you believe it's only 2 months away?!!! I am so excited I can't hardly stand it this year! I want to put the tree up NOW but Brandon is not going for it. :)
AND!!! I am almost DONE Christmas shopping. As in the kids are done, neighbor gifts, friend gifts, family gifts, Christmas jammies, even the stockings are done and just my Grandma's and a niece's gifts are left. Oh and buying our ornaments which we will do around Thanksgiving.
Last night at my mom's we were talking about Christmas. The comment was made by someone that shall remain anonymous ;) that, "I can't afford to buy gifts yet I don't have any extra money right now."
Well. . .
I challenged myself this year, like back in March, that I was going to spend very little if anything on Christmas. As in ZERO dollars out of our bank accounts. And ZERO dollars on credit cards cuz we never put Christmas on credit cards EVER and never will. My goal included all gifts, decor, our tradition of new ornaments, Christmas jammies, EVERYTHING!
Anyway, you're now thinking, "Steph this is impossible!"
I say nope! I have planned this very carefully.
And I'm not the first person to have this idea. Over on my blog roll check out my friend Allison's blog - "Living the Fancy Life." She is having a FREE Christmas.
These were the rules I set for myself:
I could either sell stuff around the house like outgrown toys or clothes on ebay, online classifieds, consignment sales for $$$.
or
Use coupons and sales to get things for free or almost free.
Also any gift cards to Walmart or anywhere given to us from family and friends for various reasons I have saved ALL year to use towards buying Christmas gifts.
Plus by being a Discovery Toys consultant I got free toys throughout the year that I saved as gifts for my kids.
I started saving my "outgrown junk" money (we'll call it OJ for short) and it accumulated FAST.
I have also accumulated $200 in gift cards.
I have used rebates, saved tokens and other things for free stuff from companies, used a bazillion Kohl's, JC Penney & TRU coupons (I've gotten over $100 in FREE stuff at Kohls alone) , printed internet coupons for all kinds of things including My Little Pony products to name one, shopped online using discount codes, the list goes on and on. The great thing too is by shopping online the stuff has been shipped straight to my house so no wasted gas driving around. Many places have free or discounted shipping too.
You would not believe some of the deals that are out there and I can't tell you about them all because then that would ruin Christmas for some of the people that read this blog. ;)
Just Saturday night I got the last item on Ella's Christmas list when I found this little beauty on sale at Smith's Marketplace for $10!!! She has wanted her SOOOOO bad and she is always priced at $24.88 - $26.99 depending on where you go. I have waited and waited for a good sale. Plus I had some Catalinas - coupons you can spend on anything that print at the register to use - that made her even CHEAPER. I was so excited I almost wet my pants right there in the toy aisle! She sings when she drinks her bottle and everything!
I would just like to remind everyone that being frugal is not the same as being cheap. People who are cheap don't like nice stuff. I definitely like nice stuff I just like to keep as much of my money as I possibly can. I am not an impulse shopper and I wait to get the very best deal I possibly can on everything. Just a couple hundred dollars of OJ money has been spent to buy ALL of Christmas.
I am not trying to brag I just hope people know it can be done. You don't have to break the bank to provide a nice Christmas. And that's not what Christmas is about anyway. Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am excited to be done shopping because now I can spend what matters most and that is time. I now have time to spend with my family enjoying the snow, the spirit, baking, singing, serving others, everything that is Christmas without the stress of shopping and over spending and I can't wait!
4 comments:
k--i need your help! LOL
is it too late to start??
you know my situation...my problem is BIGGER kids that want more $$
gifts....
any ideas steph?
I bet it's not too late. There are going to be a lot of deals popping up.
I noticed today JC Penney has a code for $10 off $10. But it's only good online and you end up paying tax and shipping is around $5. There are quite a few things on clearance though in the Oulet so I think you could still find something for a good deal. Plus people are saying if you sign-up for JC Penney Rewards (you get points for every $ you spend and they send you a coupon in the mail) you automatically get a $10 coupon in your email that you can use with the promo code. So you get $20 off. I signed up today and they didn't send me a coupon but a lot of people are getting it today. Maybe you'll be lucky. The promo code is SWEETS4U.
As I see more I'll email you. :)
Oh and the $10 off $10 at Penney's won't work on Levi brand or electronics I tried it for both of those.
great job!!! i'm always amazed at how you and what you accomplish!
mr. h and i should really do the same. we waste so much money i'm sure. little bits here and there that really add up. i guess i just don't know where to start...
i love that you mention the difference between being frugal and cheap. there really is a difference!
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