How many of you sit down and make a Master Gift Giving list for all of the upcoming special events, birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, baby showers, weddings, good grade awards.........etc?
We talk about our Christmas gift giving lists when in fact we literally spend thousands on all non-Christmas gifts and giving each year prior to Christmas. Any one who has filled 3+ Easter baskets knows that this alone could run over $100 easily. An expecting niece or Forth of July fireworks can throw a budget into chaos quickly.
When I do my weekly savings it includes the estimated costs for the non Christmas gift giving/special events. If I don't take that money and set it aside I spend it on one of the actual gifts or preps for the event.
For example last week I put all of my plastic Easter eggs in a mesh bag and sent them through the dishwasher (heat dry off) to sterilize them. I use my weekly savings amount and got a ton of candy and trinkets on clearance to fill them with. I've decorated a few but put each child's eggs in a separate large Ziploc bag with their name on it. Now when it comes time to make their baskets all I do is pour the eggs out of the bag and into their baskets.
Now is the time to take advantage of the sales for necessities as well. DH uses the same cologne every year and goes through a bottle at least once every couple of months. After Christmas they were on clearance at 1/2 price so I bought enough to last all year.
I'm making the grandchildren quilts for their birthdays this year and our local fabric store has been having some terrific sales so instead of putting that money into an envelope I've bought the material needed for the quilts. Even if you are only sending a card....................have you seen the price of cards my friends?
We talk about our Christmas gift giving lists when in fact we literally spend thousands on all non-Christmas gifts and giving each year prior to Christmas. Any one who has filled 3+ Easter baskets knows that this alone could run over $100 easily. An expecting niece or Forth of July fireworks can throw a budget into chaos quickly.
When I do my weekly savings it includes the estimated costs for the non Christmas gift giving/special events. If I don't take that money and set it aside I spend it on one of the actual gifts or preps for the event.
For example last week I put all of my plastic Easter eggs in a mesh bag and sent them through the dishwasher (heat dry off) to sterilize them. I use my weekly savings amount and got a ton of candy and trinkets on clearance to fill them with. I've decorated a few but put each child's eggs in a separate large Ziploc bag with their name on it. Now when it comes time to make their baskets all I do is pour the eggs out of the bag and into their baskets.
Now is the time to take advantage of the sales for necessities as well. DH uses the same cologne every year and goes through a bottle at least once every couple of months. After Christmas they were on clearance at 1/2 price so I bought enough to last all year.
I'm making the grandchildren quilts for their birthdays this year and our local fabric store has been having some terrific sales so instead of putting that money into an envelope I've bought the material needed for the quilts. Even if you are only sending a card....................have you seen the price of cards my friends?
