Christmas shopping has begun!
I’m sure all you people think I am just nuts for that, but the truth is I have started Christmas shopping, and in a few cases am almost done already. At this time, we have 16 people (including our family of five) directly to buy for, plus the extra family of the extended family Christmas draw that we do with my husband’s extended family when we attend. Figuring out gifts for 16 to 21 people, is a LOT of work. It takes a lot of thought and thinking.
We budget for Christmas, and so put aside a little every month of the year, and then I get to go crazy shopping from September through November. I refuse to go to the mall in December as it’s a ZOO and it just stresses me out. So starting in September I figure out how much we have for each family member, how much for each of our three children, and how much for the family Christmas and IF we are attending the extended family Christmas. All this has been done, and now the online shopping and sale stalking has started.
We have already purchased Katrina’s big gift, a bike, at 25% off thanks to a sale this past weekend. I got my stepmother’s gift, again, at 25% off, online. Steve who is an ebay master who manages to get fantastic deals is hunting stocking stuffers down. I also have to save a bit extra for the birthdays that crop up in December in my family. I have 4 immediate relatives, who are born in December so that means I have extra shopping to do on top of Christmas shopping. We also make a lot of gifts, like photo books or calendars, which take time to create and order in advance to have for Christmas.
So while nursing I get to do a lot of online shopping once I figure out what to buy for someone.
I will admit that I love making the holidays memorable for my family, and being home this year I hope to have a beautifully decorated house, lots of yummy holiday food, and make some fantastic memories with my kids. Maybe we’ll even get a real tree this year!
December 2009!
December 2011!