I need to tell you this up front. I have turned into one of THOSE people. You know the ones…the ones who are done Christmas shopping by October, cards addressed Thanksgiving weekend and are ready to bake and relax through all of Advent. Can I tell you a secret? It was totally an accident.
I found myself preggo with a baby who was due on 11/10. There was NO way that I was going to be taking a newborn out to go Christmas shopping. Are you nuts? Ditto for my other daughter’s birthday a month later. So I got it all done before mid-October. And I have to say, it was the most peaceful Christmas season I ever had.
For the next 5 months, I will be having a Catholic Christmas Countdown so that Advent can truly be a season of anticipation and joy instead of a list of have to do’s.
This month, your task is to start thinking about your gift list. Make a list of everyone you give gifts to. Since we are so far ahead of the game, if you want to stop the gift insanity, this is a good time to broach the subject. Also, if you are going to make gifts, get together a supply list.
Personally, I would even start to purchase the gifts and supplies now. Since my younger daughter’s birthday is in October, I tend to purchase all birthday and Christmas gifts for them from July-September. Then in October and November I’m buying all the other gifts. It helps the budget that way :).
I’m noticing that lots of stores are having toy clearance sales right now. I think Target has their twice annual clearance sale soon. The Hot Coupon World message boards are saying that they go to 75% off the last Thursday in July, but if there is something particular you want they are starting to mark things down to a lesser extend right now and Thursday is the day to check for new markdowns. I’ve also noticed things on clearance at Toys R Us.
Did any of you hit up after Christmas sales last year for this year’s giving?
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