How I'm Saving Money This Christmas

In my previous life working for an insurance company, I would speak to at least one person everyday who would complain about their rates being increased because they were "on a fixed income". It used to both crack me up and get under my skin. Who ISN'T on a fixed income? I don't know anyone who has an unlimited amount of cash flowing in, except maybe Bill Gates.

I'm so rich!

Since my funds are certainly not unlimited, I found a few ways to save on Christmas this year that I thought I'd share.

• No Clothes - I think the least popular gift for children under the age of 13 is clothing. It gets feverishly unwrapped, frowned at, then chucked behind them to move on to the next present which will hopefully be a toy. My kids could use clothing, no doubt about that, but we're saving it for our normal purchases after Christmas and saving the good stuff for the presents.
• No adult gifts - Jeff and I are not buying for each other. We both have everything we need. There are certainly things we want, but we're at the age where if we want it that badly, we'll just go buy it.
• Make it - I'm making each kid a blanket and hooded towel. The blankets are being made with panels, so basically all I'm doing is sewing two pieces of fabric together. The hooded towels are SUPER easy and really cute - I'm hoping to do a post just on them soon!
• Go straight to the source - Brenna's main gift this year is a Little People House. I thought it would be nice to get her the Little People SUV and Backyard Playset to make a complete home for her people, but found the SUV and the Backyard nearly impossible to find in stores and SUPER expensive on sites I normally shop at like Amazon.com. So I went to Fisher Price.com, they had both in stock and I bought both pieces for $30 - what I would have paid for just one set elsewhere. I also got free shipping and it arrived in just a few days. (Now if anyone can find me the Dance 'n Twirl Palace for a reasonable price, I'd be willing to part with a finders fee!)
• Make a List - this one seems like it should have been a no-brainer. But for me it was like a huge revelation. Normally what I would do is go to the store with a few specific things in mind, but mostly just pick up whatever I thought would tickle their fancy. This left me with lots of craptastic toys they barely played with and nothing left in my wallet. This year Jeff and I sat down and thought about what we wanted them to have, what would be helpful for them and what they would play with for a long time. And we are only buying those things. We're going to end up spending about $100 a kid (except Gracie. Since she's a baby and doesn't know any different, she will have practically nothing under the tree. We'll make up for it in years to come I'm sure!)

What are you doing to save a few bucks this Christmas? I'm sure I could use more tips. I don't see unlimited funds in my future.