Christmas in July: How shopping early can save your budget and your sanity.

Preparing for Christmas early with a real person budget.

Ive always been a planner, especially when it comes to Christmas. Shopping for Christmas early can save your budget and your sanity. In addition, its just fun to start shopping early. No matter your budget, more on that later.

Now, before you come @ me… hear me out!

I love Christmas, all of it. The tree finding and decorating, the spiced scents of the season, dancing lights, flickering candle-lit church services, time with family, Christmas movie marathons. I love giving and receiving gifts. We celebrate Christmas big in our house, however we don’t spend a ton of resources: energy (read stress) or money on gifts. Some of that is personal preference and some of it is limited finances. I don’t decorate until after Thanksgiving, but I start planning for Christmas early. Right about July.

Hobby Lobby had Christmas décor out in May. Ten years ago, I would have scoffed. But not today and here is why:

Shopping early can save your budget and your sanity.

If I don’t plan ahead, decision fatigue will set in and I will just buy something random because I feel pressured to show up with a gift. That is not how I like to roll for two reasons: #1) I like to be a thoughtful giver and #2) and most pressingly: that’s a great and terrible way to blow your budget.

So if you are like me, shopping early can save your budget and your sanity.

I have a list in my notes app with everyone’s name and gift ideas. I love to give gifts, so even if it’s the day after Christmas, if I think of something I will go write it in my notes app next to the person’s name.

So here is what I do.

1) Determine my overall gift budget. (our actual numbers are down below)

2) Make a list of everyone I am buying for. Notes app, notebook, planner….doesnt matter…

3) Designate how much I am spending per person.

4) Write gift ideas down next to each name

5) Then I try to buy for 2-3 people every month between July and December.

I’m all about transparency with money and I have no shame in my Christmas game so here are our numbers if you want them.

Christmas Budget: Our Real Numbers

We spend about $150 on our kiddo.

My husband and I spend about $50 on each other and we take our son with us when we shop for each other so that he can contribute ideas and see us being intentional for one another.  

My family does a gift exchange for the adults and its usually $30 per person. Side note: If you blatantly go over the limit, there will be repercussions. Have you ever seen the episode of The Office with the Secret Santa and the ipod? It’s like that. Everyone stays within the budget.

We spend about $20/ each on gifts for nieces and nephews.

We spend $30-50 per parents/grandparents/great grandparents.

Total that’s between $450 and $500.

That may seem like pocket change to some people and it may feel really out of reach for some.

Believe me. I get it.

We have had Christmases with more gifts and Christmases where we show up with a plate of cookies and a handwritten card.  My husband and I have gone without gifts and made baked goods for everyone else. We have had years where a Nintendo Switch was a big gift for our son, and also where a Paw Patrol Pillow is the big gift, and it was $5.

The more I talk to my friends, this is the reality for a lot of us.  

This is why I am passionate about creating Christmas memories that don’t require a single purchase. You can read more about that here.

Do not feel guilty about your Christmas budget! We are all just trying to do the best we can.

We set the Christmas tone.

Its so important to remember that we parents set the tone in our household. If we are joyful receivers, of even the smallest gifts, there is a good chance we will pass that attitude onto our kids. When we receive gifts with a grateful heart and no criticism, there is a good chance we will pass that on. If we are actively participating in the Advent season, with joy and expectation regardless of finances, then there is a good chance that same joy will be caught by our kids.

Joy and expectation….not expectations.

We can go into the season with expectance of what God will do, gratitude for what He has done and reverence for who He is…. regardless of the budget.

We set the tone.

So anyway this will launch a series of how to afford Christmas and go into the season with joyfulness.

One of those ways is shopping early.

Make your list, set your budget, and start buying.