The summer’s heat is fading away and we are all pulling out the sweaters and jeans. School is in full swing, and we are starting to look forward to the fall holidays. Who wants waste this beautiful time of year worrying about Christmas? Me! After spending several Decembers scurrying around doing the shopping, cooking, wrapping, etc. I decided that spreading my Christmas shopping out over a couple of months was much less stressful and more budget friendly.
I start in October with setting a budget and some tentaive gift ideas for each person on my list. That starts the creative juices flowing! Then for the next few months when I’m surfing the net or cruising the isles at the deparment store, I get more ideas and often find great sales on the items I’m looking for. Yes, I have been known to buy a gift and then forget I purchased it, only to find it three months after Christmas. But I’ve learned that if I write down my budget per person and then list the actual gift next to the budget item, I’m more likely to remember the gift. I also try to keep all the Christmas gifts in one location in my closet so they are easier to find.
Yes, my family thinks I’m crazy, but no one complains when we can spend more time relaxing by the Christmas tree and munching Christmas cookies the week before Christmas!