Decorate this Christmas with a Budget
I’m not sure if you are like my husband and I at all but we love the Christmas season. We start listening to Christmas music before it’s necessary to wear a sweater and we get our shopping done before Thanksgiving even rolls around. For me, the shopping is done so early because I’m so excited about buying gifts for everyone. It’s something that I enjoy and look forward to every year. I also look forward to buying some new Christmas decorations each year, much to my husbands dismay. Not that he’s a Grinch in any way, he just thinks we have enough. But, there never seems to be enough for me. This year I am going to try to limit myself to two new Christmas decorations because he is probably right; there isn’t that much square footage to decorate in a one bedroom apartment.
So how do I go about buying decorations each year without breaking our strict budget? It’s really two-fold. I earn extra money on my own that I can spend how I chose and is not accounted for in our budget. Normally that entails babysitting for a few weekends around the holiday season. I already have some money that is allotted to buying a few extra things for the season that we didn’t originally budget for. Start planning right now, financially, for the holiday season. It’s a big time of big spending and the sooner you start saving the better. Most banks will even offer a Christmas account where you can allot a certain amount of money from each pay check to go directly to that account and you can’t get to it until a certain date. I think it’s a great idea to look into a system like that especially if you struggle with not touching money that you have “sitting around”.
The other way I save is by shopping at “cheap” stores first before going to fancy Christmas stores and spending extra money. A Christmas store just went in near our house and I have already visited it to check out the prices. I was very proud of myself that I could walk out of there empty handed. It was loaded with anything you could ever dream of having and lots of things you probably never knew existed yet. So why did I even bother going there in the first place? One, to check out the selection. I wanted to see what new things were out for the season to get ideas. The second reason is so I could check out their prices. I was surprised to find out that they did have some pretty good deals. BUT, I am still going to stick to my original plan and see if I can find the same exact item for cheaper. One store that I regularly check out around this time of year is the Dollar Store or Dollar General. I’m always surprised at the selection they have. It’s amazing what you can find and only have to pay a dollar for.
Last year Aaron and I celebrated Christmas for the first time as a married couple. This meant we were in dire need of finding absolutely everything; from the tree to the stockings to the outdoor decorations. We could have spent a ton of money but we gave ourselves a budget and did everything we could to stick to it. This is where the Dollar Store came in hand. We went there and picked out cute door decorations for our front and back doors; both only costing a dollar. Then I also got a wreath ($1) and a Christmas tree ornaments (12 pack for $1). I didn’t even have to compromise with what I wanted. I love gold and silver decorations for Christmas, especially on the tree, and I was able to get exactly what I wanted. All it took was some looking around and not being embarrassed about where we shopped. I could honestly care less about where I get my decorations as long as they look good. When it came to putting up decorations outside, we opted out of lights. Not that we didn’t want them, because I love lots of white lights, but rather because we had to. There wasn’t a good place for us to plug in the lights. This decision worked out well for us because it was a lot less money we were spending on the electric bill each month.
Another place that I went to was A.C. Moore. I wasn’t sure what I would find there but I ended up getting a tall standing snowman to sit out on the porch. It was really cheap because it wasn’t finished. I didn’t care because I already had paint at home and it only took about 20 minutes for me to paint it up the way I wanted it. It was a great, cheap alternative to buying a pre-made snowman that would have cost me significantly more.
If you don’t really need anything new for this season but you just want to buy something new, try waiting until after Christmas. There are always amazing deals after the season if you can wait. I may try this tactic this year since I really don’t need anything, I really just like buying something new each year for the Holiday’s.
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