Last year I polled my Facebook friends to see what they spent on their children for Christmas. Let's just say I was shocked with the answers. And honestly I was shocked on both the high end and the low end. Some people only spent $25 per child while others spent nearly $1000 or more on each child. Many others claimed to spend an amount some where in between. That of course assuming all were being truthful with their responses.
Obviously each family is different due to size, income, preferences and so on but I wanted to share a few ideas that will hopefully help your Christmas gift planning and buying be a little easier and also help save you some money.
* Teach your children what Christmas is really about. Remind them we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and while I am sure our Lord doesn't mind that we give and receive gifts it's truly not about us.
* Give each child 3 gifts. 3 gifts because this is the number of gifts we read about in the Bible that were brought to Jesus.
* Draw names. And set a limit.
* Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. I can't remember where I heard or read this a few years back but I loved it. A total of 4 gifts. Simple and covers all the bases.
* One of the best things we ever did when our boys were very young was start a Christmas club. A Christmas club is basically a savings account that you put money in to all through out the year and you can't withdraw that money until fall time, usually a couple of months before Christmas. You can do these at your local bank or credit union and if you are disciplined enough to not touch it you could do it yourself by either adding extra money to your checking or savings account or even an envelope at your house. Admittedly it's a little late to do this for this year but its the perfect time to start one for next year.
* Consider homemade gifts. I personally love homemade crafty gifts and with the Internet and Pinterest there are so many adorable options.
* Make a list for your children including things they want, things they need and things you would like for them to have. Arrange the list by cost from least to greatest and when family members or friends that buy for your children ask for ideas of what to get them go to your list. You can pick out an item in the appropriate price range to share with them. As a matter of fact I usually keep a running list all year long that we use for not only Christmas but Easter and birthdays as well. I add to, delete and change the list as needed.
* Shop clearance and mark downs.
* Shop online. There are tons of great deals out there.
* Shop black Friday?!?!? (at your own risk) Also, remember most everything that is on sale in the store you can also find in the comfort of your own home by shopping those same sales online. Not to mention that most time Black Friday sales extend beyond the time advertised anyway. BUT people who love to shop on this day claim huge savings!
Simply put: Make a budget. Set limits. Be reasonable.
What do you usually spend per child? Do you have any great ideas to help save money on Christmas Gifts?
lol...I saw your new facebook post about this before I read this post! lol. So you already know we're on the very low end of that :) My number one tip is just to simplify! It's something we've been doing in our lives all the way around. Fortunately, we have always lived simpler lives than most so our kids are used to it, it has always been their way of life. But, we don't want to make a big deal of the gifts at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I'm convinced that generally speaking, more possessions leads to less gratitude and appreciation, while having less stuff leads to more gratitude and appreciation for all of us. Obviously I'm not saying that is always the case.
So, that's what we do. I also shop clearance sales all year long. One example is that my 6 year old's main gift is a lego set that retails for $25, but I got it on clearance over the summer (many stores clearance out toys at the end of summer to make room for new Christmas stuff) for $9.99. We usually get one "big" thing for around $9.99 and a mix of smaller items. But again, we've always lived on the simple side of things so our kids are used to that. They do get other gifts from grandparents, etc.