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My fiance saved me money at Christmas by buying all the things I was going to get him for Christmas BEFORE Christmas.
Jerk.
EDIT: Your mom with the random gifts during the year is totally cute.
We do a gift exchange for the adults so we only buy one adult in the family a gift but I do buy for all the kids. I also set a budget and list of who I am buying for and the amount. I also have my boys set a budget and make a list so they learn how to manage money. Our biggest tradition is baking. We bake gingerbread houses for all the families we know with children and then make bags with candy and frosting for them to decorate with. This year I crafted recipe books for all the kids in our family. I laminated them and had them spiral bound. I love the idea of using newspaper for wrapping! Very eco-chic
HA! My mom used to hide Christmas presents and forget about them, too! Score for getting random gifts all year long!
I definitely vote for an artificial tree over a real one. Doesn't smell as nice, but reusing the same one each year sure does save you a lot of money!
@15happyyears: oh my kids totally would have loved that recipe book!! care to share some of them?! And I am totally jealous that I am not a family you know, I want to do the gingerbread houses too, I think that is sooooooo cool.
@pinkpaperbride: Coughing I actually do real trees.... I usually never have time or money to buy a great fake one. This year's tree cost $25 and is really pretty. However my mom always did fake trees and I never had a real one, perhaps that's the reason I like them.
My kids will probably balk at the idea of newspaper wrapping when they get older and do only "real" wrapping paper.
@crebre80: I'm kind of your tree opposite--we always had real trees when I was little, but now that I'm grown I like the ease of a fake one. Also, no pine needles on the floor to stab me in the foot! Has that ever happened to you or did we just not do it right? If you're interested in an artificial one, try shopping after Christmas sales--you can usually find great deals!
I love the wrapping with newspaper = "is a synonym for cheap as hell."
My brother (27) still does this but it has to at least be the comics section. SIL hates it.
your friend threw away ornaments?! i have never heard of someone doing that! my parents have ornaments that they received when they first got married 30+ years ago.
@pinkpaperbride: LOL!! I haven't stepped on one yet (is that crazy?!) And I know about the after Christmas sales, unfortunately I am usually shopping for clothes lol!!!!!
@aandmklover: See I am thinking about doing comics for the kids or black and white regular paper with cool christmas stamps..... My hubby actually thought it was brilliant lol!!!!!
@BirdofaFeather: OMG me neither. When she told me that I was like OMG my mom still has gifts from when I was a little girl, I love seeing them! After I told her that I think she felt bad lol!!! I just never heard of that before in my life. Of course I am the frugalista so I wouldn't dare :D. It is against my new less is more philosophy.
Since the recession has hit and times have been extremely difficult for us this year with layoffs, I have seen a new side of me that I didn't know existed. I am so frugal it is nearly to a fault. Each time I think I want to buy this, I think of the great depression and how people worked hard and saved money afterwards and were richer in ways other than money. I am enjoying my newfound freedom...
@deliciousappleblue: that is pretty funny and totally something that I used to do. BTW I love your avatar!! My mom is cute and pretty darned funny! She is going to be surprised by her Christmas gift, I got her a photo-album from Wal-mart with some of the wedding pictures in it and a promise of more to come (I haven't gotten my CD's yet from my photog).
Shopping on Amazon. I bought pretty much everyone's gifts from Amazon. No Tax and Free 2 day shipping using their Student Prime Membership. It's awesome! And almost everything on there is cheaper than in the stores to begin with too, not factoring in the no tax and free shipping thing.
@amariem25: I have never done amazon (is that strange?!) i am an ebay'er craigslister type person lol!
You're crafty, so you might like a few of these :)
I made my own ornaments a few years ago because my pets kept breaking the glass ball style ornaments! Using a styrofoam cutter and sheets, I made 2 inch cubes, wrapped them with nice leftover paper from the previous year, added skinny wire ribbon and made present ornaments. I also purchased decorative 'table scatter' like what you might put with candles in a hurricane or tossed on a table as part of your centerpieces - they looked like small disco balls, so I used some of my jewelry making tools and wire to glue hooks into them. Total, I decorated the tree for under $20 and have used them for four years running. Very unique and cute!
Last year I worked hard for a couple of weeks to make my MIL a prayer bracelet and matching earrings. She loved them! I've given crocheted scarves and blankets in the past.
This year, I'm giving all the iPhone users in my life a set of stretchy style gloves (99 cents!) which I have sewn in fingerpads that allow you to use the touch screen with your gloves on. After supplies and shipping, each pair came in around $2 including the price of the gloves :)
I'm giving a lot of baked goods for gifts this year. Breads, cookies, cake bites.
And I'll say it - I'm a re-gifter. I try very hard to be sneaky about the way I do it - and so far I haven't been 'caught'. I recently received something super useful from a name brand company that just doesn't match my things - Mom is getting it under the tree because it goes with her kitchen. :)
One last comment. I'm AWFUL about buying too much for people - I'll be in a store and see the 'perfect thing' and think, 'Oh, I'll just pick it up. I know I already bought something else but oh well...' and the next thing I know, I'm WAY overbudget.
Despite paying shipping and gift wrap fees, shopping online this year saved me the hassle AND a lot of money!
Fake tree on Craigslist, cost as little as a real tree and we only had to pay once instead of every year.
The best idea I had this year when I was searching for ways to make our home look really beautiful and festive was to buy some of that three-inch-wide bendy white sparkly ribbon with gold edges that you can get to decorate presents, and put it all over the house. I draped it in loose curls all around our windows, bannisters, and ledges. It's like the cheapest garland ever and looks splendid; we've gotten compliments from everyone who's seen it.
Also, after considering paying fifty bucks each for our pets' stockings on Etsy, I found my sanity and instead grabbed cute miniature stockings from our neighborhood grocery store for a dollar each.
Finally, Sam's Club. We got a free membership through a friend and our light-up hearth garland and some under-the-tree light-up decorations were dirt cheap there. I love the sparkly glow they add.
I love a good clearance section. I always stock up on Christmas stuff right after christmas. I am wrapping gifts in paper I bought last year for a quarter a roll. I bought special boxes for them 5 years ago, the cost of the boxes has well saved me more than they cost. I also stock up on bows, ribbons, boxes, and tags. I always pick up next years christmas cards also.
I picked up some large vampire piggy banks at the Halloween sale for my neices who are vampire fanatics right now. (I had to get a mummy one for myself, couldn't resist)
Last year right after Christmas I picked up some really cute ceramic bread pans for a quarter and fifty cents for small and large ones. I am putting goodie bags together for the families rather than gifts and making pumpkin bread in the large pans. I am making the small pans for friends and neighbors.
I will also be picking up stuff for the wedding at the after christmas sales, there are just so many uses for that stuff.
@deliciousappleblue:I think that your FI and my SO should form a freaking club. jerks!!!
@crebre80 Your mom's thing of buying gifts all year and misplacing them.... yeah maybe i should start a club with her! I do that for birthdays too.
my grandmother, would open christmas gifts & gifts in general sooooo.freakin.slow. so she could save the paper and reuse that. I'm not that bad but i keep every gift bag or box i do get and use them the next year. We also have a ton of home made ornaments that this year i will be giving back to the people that made them. I inherited all my parents ornaments, so that's like ... a billion years of them, time to give them back to hang in other peoples houses!
I've been buying huge rolls of craft paper for years as well as large rolls of plain white paper to wrap gifts. Much cheaper and you can make them different by the color of ribbon or bows added or draw designs with glue and dump glitter on them to jazz them up. I also make the tag out of the same paper and stamp them with my greeting of choice. Instead of using tape, its much easier to use a glue gun or a glue stick and makes wrapping faster. I also now use mostly bags for gifts that sell for next to nothing at the after Christmas sales. My kids always pile their things in a few of the larger ones and leave the rest here so they get them next year...saves on new tags too! lol
I always shop all year too and have an entire shelf in my basement where I have small hostess gifts or when the kids were little, teacher,mailman, newspaper lady gifts for them to give. I stock up on things people can always use like gloves,scarves,socks....seems like everyone always needs them at some point.
Who would ever throw out ornies? I have enough now to fill 3 full size trees!
@HisIrishPrincess: Lol - I know, right? How discourteous. I'm going to make him make it up to me by getting me a really awesomesauce gift.
I also stock up on wrapping christmas after the season. I can get a couple of huge rolls for a few bucks. And I haven't had to buy any for a few years now :) I also buy christmas decorations after christmas too. Khols already has some marked down 50-60%!
I also can't believe that people throw away ornaments!
We save money by creating a budget, planning exact gifts we are getting for every single person, and doing a lot of shopping on Amazon. I'm hoping to save more next year by doing a secret santa instead of buying for all the siblings. That will save me 4-5 gifts from buying!
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Beekeeper
I know that this is a bit late since it is 6 days before Christmas, but what are your favorite cost-savings tips? Here are a few of my own and family traditions.
Remember we are all bees!! Crafting does wonders, take a look at this personalized desk that I made with my cricut personal expression (60) and table trays from Wal-mart for $12 each. Even those of us that aren't crafty have etsy or at least the ability to PM other bees who can walk you through the process!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!