Make sure to Spend within your Means
Somewhere between “Dear Santa” and Christmas morning, comes the budgeting. Treat gift giving like a business when it comes to pricing. Get the most for your money. There are many easy ways to trim the tree and the budget without anyone even noticing.Cut the overheadGas is expensive and time is money. So consolidate is the name of the Christmas shopping game. Running all over the city to find the hottest items is probably going to be a wasted effort and certainly a lot of time and gas..Shop online and look for free shipping. You don’t have to go anywhere and you can even ask to have it wrapped and shipped elsewhere. If you need to go get groceries look for interesting gift items. It may be the perfect place to find stocking stuffer or they may be featuring some unique gifts. Every errand you must run, keep an open mind for gifts.Quality mattersIt is a good idea to give gifts that have value are at least something with staying power. If there is only one child, there’s no need for a huge collection of toys. One quality toy that will last and needed clothes and diapers make more sense. Santa is practical. He has the entire world to please.Develop expectations earlyFamilies set a standard for gifts and Santa early on. One of the ideas that can make budgeting easy is to have only one or two gifts from Santa. Have the rest come from Mom, Dad and family members. The letter to Santa is manageable and children still have a wonderful Christmas and learn about giving gifts.Find treasuresBy keeping an open mind with gifts there may be times for special treasures. Stop by a second hand store and see if anything there has a story or a thought. For example, there’s a silver tray that is polished and bright and used only at Christmas. It was found at the second hand store over 50 years ago and it is on its 3rd generation.Foodmakes an excellent giftIt could be that each child gets a box of their favorite cereal that they don’t have to share with someone else. It might be that Aunt Jane gives her very special jar of apricot jam. It could be that the crazy old aunt just buys and whole bunch of groceries and wraps them up. Everyone needs food and some of the silliest presents turn into timeless traditions.You do not have to overspend to have a wonderful Christmas season. Give them your love and the rest is just icing on the cake or a bow on the box.
