Helpful Christmas Ideas

Dear Ladies,

My husband is away again, so we are going shopping. When Eric is home I like to be here when he arrives home after a long day at work. So when he is away the kids and I will use it as a opportunity to be out late. Today we are heading out after lunch to do some birthday and Christmas shopping. I have to finish up some birthday shopping for Caleb and the kids need to do some birthday shopping for dear OLD mom. We have 3 birthday in our household that are close to Christmas, so this season becomes one big party for us.

With four children and a large extended family I have a lot of gift buying to accomplish. I thought for this letter I would share with you a few ideas to help make your shopping season easier.

1. The best thing to do is start shopping right after Christmas and buy on sale or clearance, but I never know what the plan is for the next Christmas or what the kids will be interested in, so I don't buy many gifts for family members. After Christmas sales are a good time to purchase hostess gifts or Christmas decorations for the next year.

2. Make lists. I have each child make a list for me. I purchase some gifts that are on the list and some that I know they will like.

3. My children love books, so they always get a new book at Christmas. I have found it is best to buy them online at sites like www.half.com Online you can find several sites that sell used books and many times I have paid much less for a book then if I went to a local bookstore. The sites are also good for purchasing music CD's or DVD's.

4. Magazines are fun for children; they enjoy receiving something in the mail all year long. Many magazines subscriptions can be found for under $10. One good site is http://www.magazinepricesearch.com/5to10.html

5. Purchase online. I love shopping online. I have been buying online for 10 years and never had a problem with a credit card information being stolen. I have found by shopping online I can find gifts cheaper then in a retail store, I can shop whenever I want while sitting in my pj's, and I can find difficult items, that would might be hard to find locally(this year I looking for fencing swords).

6. Start early and make multiple trips. If I putting together a box to send to someone I focus on that and then another trip I will focus on the kids.

7. Set a budget. I have an ideas in my head how much to spend per child and I try to stick with it. We don't purchase a lot of large dollar amount gifts for our children, but we buy a lot of little items and we wrap everything, so they have a lot to open. I also buy them a practical item that I have been wanting them to have, such as duffel bags for traveling, comforters and sleeping bags. Try not to over spend; no one wants to be still paying for Christmas gifts in July.

8. Look for coupon codes when shopping online. I check www.mycoupons.com for codes to use, sometimes stores offer free shipping codes or a few dollars off your order.

9. Pick a day that you can hire a sitter or have your husband watch the children, so you can spend a day just Christmas shopping.

10. Make a few gifts. Don't over extend in this area; that will only add stress to the season. This year I am making homemade vanilla. I saw the recipe online and it was very easy. I have purchased some fancy bottles that I will put pretty labels on and I bought measuring spoons to give with the vanilla.
Here is the site for the vanilla recipes; it super easy to make. http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007340how_to_make_vanilla_extract.php

Have a wonderful holiday season and set aside a lot of time to enjoy your children. Try not to let the holiday stress steal the joy of the season from you.
Melissa