Christmas Time is Here!

Okay, maybe not yet. But there's only 130 days until the big day! Will you be ready? I will be! I'm starting the planning extra early this year and I'm taking you along with me. So to get things started, here are some things I'm going to start doing to start saving for all of those Christmas expenses!

• Purchase a gift card from my favorite store (Target) and add a little to it each time I shop there. I'm going to add $5-10 every time we're in the store. It's money that we would have spent needlessly eating out so it really won't be missed! By December hopefully I'll have saved a pretty penny (or two!) .
  
• Pay attention to grocery store fliers. Starting around Labor Day weekend, they really start to fight for our holiday dollars! I plan on picking up staples like flour, sugar, etc. while they are super cheap so I don't have to worry about them later.
  
• Designate a change jar and toss my extra change in it every day. I've been doing this pretty regularly and even though it's been "robbed" a few times, it adds up pretty quickly! And if you can find a Coinstar machine near you, you can cash in your change for a gift card to numerous different stores for no charge! I LOVE to pick up amazon.com gift cards this way!
  

What I won't be doing:

• Making my own Christmas cards. I greatly admire those of you who do this - I just can't. I don't plan well and end up scraping together a few cards at the last minute. So I'm releasing myself from all card-making guilt and letting the pros at Hallmark do the job for me.
• Worrying about the quantity of gifts I purchase. I really, really want to simplify this Christmas. I know I certainly don't want a lot of chotckies laying around my house (with two kids, do I really need more to dust and pick up?) so I am vowing to not get worthless crap for other people as well - just for the sake of giving them something. I'm making an effort to start planning early, really think about what each person likes/wants and go from there.
• Buying toys for the kids on my list (except my own). This one may be fudged a little. But the kids I know (including my own!) have so many toys. They really don't have a 'need' for any more. I always try to get books for the kids - I think reading is such an important part of childhood! - but they aren't always excited about getting yet another book. This one will take some thought, but it's a challenge I'm looking forward to.

Who's getting ready for Christmas with me?!?