I know, I know, the kids have only just gone back to school so it’s ridiculous to be talking about Christmas!
Or is it?
I know a lot of you will be way ahead of the game and be practucally finished your Christmas shopping but I also know that even more of you won’t have even started yet. Which is why I thought that I would share some of my getting organised for Christmas tips.
Write a list of people you need to buy for – This one’s self explanatory really although I just want to add that you shouldn’t feel like you have to buy for people.
Work out your budget – I work out how much I want to spend on people and write that on my list alongside their name. It’s great to carry this in your purse and update it everytime you buy something. I write what I have bought and how much there is left in the budget for that person. (I told you I love lists!)
Decide what sort of present you want to buy them – the only reason that this is on my list is because we often make hamper style presents so I need to start early and look for some cheap baskets or keep an eye out for boxes that are the right size to decorated and filled with our hamper goodies. Hampers are great ideas for presents if you’re on a budget as you can buy little bits each week. Last year we made a pamper hamper, a movie hamper and a family fun hamper to give as presents. I’ll be blogging more about this a little bit closer to Christmas though.
Look out for a great deal – Often I don’t know what I want to buy people until I see it. I often look at a sight called HotUKDeals for offers. This is a forum style site that people use to post good deals that they’ve seen. A lot don’t apply as they’re deals people have seen in shops near them but you can get some really good deals if you’re willing to trawl through everything. Last year I saw a link to a shop that were selling pashminas reduced from £15 to £2 and I bought three to go with some other presents thinking they’d probably be a bit naff but the quality was superb.
For people who I know what I am buying for, I tend to shop around for the best deal for it. I used comparison websites like Idealo and Kelkoo where you just type in what you want and you’re presented with the different shops (online and retail) that sell it along with the price.
I’m also happy to buy from eBay for presents – especially for the kids. Master Frugal was Mr Potato Head mad a few years ago and I bought a bulk lot for about £10 that included about six Mr Potato heads and more accessories than you could ever need. Another year he was Ben 10 mad so I kept an eye out for figures that were going for low prices and bought him loads of figures for the fraction of the price. Don’t get me wrong, I only buy clean things in excellent condition but toys are very ‘faddy’ so they’re often only played with once or twice – I also wouldn’t buy their main present second hand.
All presents are then hidden away and although, I’d love to say I wrap them in advance, I’m actually a last minute kind of a girl and am often still wrapping on Christmas Eve!
So what do you think, are you ready to write your list yet?
