Shopping for the Kids on a Budget

“Shopping for my kids” and “on a budget” are two of the crappiest phrases I can put together. I am not very good at doing it, and I know I spend too much, but it’s not really something I am willing to change. But I am willing and determined to give it more thought, make more sense, and not be wasteful. As a result, we are trying something new this year.

First of all, last year, we slashed our spending almost in half. Wait, no, first of all, my kids are 10 and 14 but this is only our 7th Christmas together.  The first one we spent WAY too much because we had just adopted them and they didn’t really have much PLUS we simply couldn’t control ourselves. So we can’t count that one. The second Christmas together I was hopped up on vicadin and confined to the couch. Over spending was done for many reasons - I was miserable and guilt ridden for not being able to play with them and hold them, we had pressure to live up to the first year and they still were a little needy, I was literally stoned and it was so easy to click and buy on Amazon.com from my place of bored imprisonment on the couch. So that year doesn’t count either. Now we’re down to three Christmases of over spending due to stupidity, one spending slashed one, and the upcoming one with the new strategy.  Sounds better when I break it down like that. Well it does!

Anyway, I am gift giver. I love it. I love making baskets and doing themes and elaborate presentations. I actually have formulas for putting gifts together.  This can be costly and wasteful.  Many things that satisfied the criteria of my kid’s Christmas presentations were things that were never ever touched! And there has always been “fluff” to create a magical appearance under the tree. The picture above is of LAST year.  The year we cut the spending in half. Imagine what DOUBLE that looked like.

So this year, they are getting ONE big gift each. I’ll shop for the best buy on a Nintendo DSI and and Ipod Touch. They both love reading and wish daily for big “juicy” new books to read. So we’ll spend a big chunk of cash there - creates excitement upon opening, keeps giving, and actually is good for them. Color me happy! We’ll spend a little replenishing art & hobby supplies but will not bring into their lives any new hobbies or trends. They are fulfilled already. And the “fluff” to create a magical appearance under the tree will be pjs, boots, and winter supplies. Luckily, they enjoy receiving those things as well, and we have to buy them anyway, so WIN WIN as I see it.

So that’s it! That’s the plan. Whether or not I can stick to it remains to be seen, but with much less in the bank to work on it and the agreement not to use credit cards, I don’t really have a lot of choice in the matter. How about you? What’s your strategy for saving money for this holiday season?  What’s the big gift on your kid’s list?