Thursday, August 25, 2011

Frugal Friday - Christmas Shopping

As I've shared with you, my plan for this year is to try and get my Christmas shopping done before our Christmas Club is released.  This will enable me to use the Christmas funds I've saved for our vacation and keep my eyes open for killer sales since I'm shopping so early.

This week's purchase wasn't exactly a frugal buy but since it falls into my frugal Christmas shopping plan I thought I'd share it.  Kristen at We are THAT Family had posted about some new products that were available at the Mercy House store.  I faithfully followed her journey to Africa earlier this summer and loved the beaded necklaces that the girls were making in one of the pictures she posted.  I have to share that I have a soft spot in my heart for young, single, pregnant girls so when I saw her post go up that those products were available I headed right over there to purchase one of them.

For $20 (plus a couple of bucks shipping and handling) I got a really cool necklace, handmade by young women in Africa.  If that necklace was in a retail shop here it would cost more than $20 so I thought it was a pretty good deal.  My plan is to give this necklace to my sister-in-law for Christmas,  but I don't know that I can honestly do that since I really want it for myself :)  I'm thinking about heading over there next paycheck and buying a couple more for my daughter and nieces for Christmas (and maybe one for myself).  Hopefully she'll still have some in stock!

That's four presents down, I don't even want to think about how many more I have to go!

Are you planning on doing your shopping early or are you going to wait until after Thanksgiving?

I'll be linking this up over at Life as Mom

You might also like:

Preparing for Christmas
Saving Money Eating Out
Time Management - Preparing for the Week


22 comments:

  1. This post has motivated me to start shopping now. Last year I waited and it was so frantic. From mid Nov to Christmas I am so busy with outreach projects at church that I don't have time to shop. Thanks for the reminder.

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  2. I'm always surprised when Christmas comes every year, I think they keep moving it up on me :) Good luck with starting early, I'd love to hear how it goes for you. We'll see if I'm able to stay as motivated over the next couple of months as I am now.

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  3. I'm still making birthday presents. After this next birthday, I'll start working on making Christmas gifts. The exception to that is that the jams I have canned are done :)

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  4. I hope I'm on your Christmas list, I love homemade jams :) I was showing my husband last night your website and telling him how jealous I was of your pantry and garden. You amaze me with your creativity and ability to make so many nice things. Good luck finishing the birthday presents. Seems like a never ending list, doesn't it?

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  5. I'm hoping for my last day of shopping to be Black Friday. We'll see how that goes, though. ;) Thanks so much for letting everyone know about the girls in Africa...I LOVE stuff like that.

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  6. Ugh - Black Friday shopping! My daughter's birthday is a few days before Thanksgiving so for the last few years we've been getting up early so she can shop with her birthday money. I enjoy that little ritual but I don't think I have the fortitude to do all day shopping. That's awesome if you're completely done then, leaves you plenty of time for wrapping :)

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  7. I will be ordering at least one necklace, too for a Christmas present.

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  8. I was really pleased with mine when I received it, I hope you are too!

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  9. I need to take a look at my Christmas list. I think the kids are mostly done except for the stocking stuffers. My dh and I need to chat about what to do for each other. I'd rather spend the money on a nice dinner and time together than gifts.

    I also need to look at the list for the extended family, the teachers, and anyone else I need to think about. Plus, get the Christmas card picture done and the family calendar. It takes some work, but having a plan in place and working the plan helps!

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  10. You put me to shame! In addition to the kids, we have about 15 people that we exchange with. It's crazy and I've tried to eliminate some of this insane gift exchanging but I haven't had much luck. Starting early helps with the craziness of the last minute shopping and wrapping. Kudos to you for being so organized. I would also agree with you about the nice dinner and time together. I so do not need any more 'stuff'. As long as you can get your Christmas cards done it sounds like you won't be having a stressful Christmas at all!

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