Friday, November 6, 2009

Christmas shopping on a budget solved.

I have yet to meet a family on one income who has money at their disposal. Most families with young children and a SAHM are living on a shoestring budget. Of course we are one of them.

But really, when Christmas rolls around I still want to shower them in gifts! Thankfully they are still young and don't really even 'get' the whole Christmas thing. We take it easy while they don't know what's going on. It won't last forever. I read something the other day though that I thought was very helpful. I am not sure if it should be classified as 'Christmas shopping on a budget', because if you were really on a budget you might make your gifts, or only buy one gift, but here we go:

the article suggested you buy 5 gifts for your children:

1) Something they want
2) Something they need
3) Something to read
4) Something to wear
5) Something you want them to have

I'm not sure if I'll use this list or not, but I thought it was a great starting point, especially for families with young children. I want to think it helps avoid over-buying of plastic (obnoxious) toys.

Let me know your thoughts!

6 comments:

Rose said...

I love it! Both boys already have books put away for Christmas, Colin has a few games put away. FUN! I think that Colin is getting a scooter as wel, and Uno for preschoolers.

Andrea said...

I've seen a condensed version of that somewhere...
something they want
something to read
something to wear

I did pretty good this year for Laura shopping throughout the year as I saw stuff, so when I went to our "gift closet", I realized all I have to find her is a couple stocking stuffers! Now, the adults in the family - THOSE are the ones that stump me!

Andrea said...

Oh, here's part of what Laura is getting...
converse sneakers
john deere hat (to match daddy's)
Frog play tent
Play camera ($3 on sale!)

Annie said...

Andrea- we always buy Lacey the converse sneakers from Target! She calls them her "star shoes" and loves them. Plus we can pass them down to Miles!!

Rose- A game is a good idea. I didn't know there was an UNO for preschoolers!

NoahRedingEndtoEnd said...

That's a great list. Might use that this year. Although it's sooo hard to come up with good gifts for a little girl who is 2!

Anonymous said...

Okay, first, I need to say that for some reason I thought you weren't keeping a blog anymore and that's what I haven't been reading/commenting. What's my problem?! Where did I get this idea?
And next, I'm really glad that you ARE keeping a blog and I will be back to read and comment obnoxiously.

Third: I love this idea. I'm going to implement it. Thank you!