Why does Christmas still take us all by surprise? It has been on the same day for a million years and still we all panic on the 20th of December like it’s a brand new concept! What? Get an evergreen tree and pull it into the house? Put lights up on the house? Buy a gift for every relative, even the ones we never see? Send a card to people we never hear from? What’s that? I need special paper to wrap the gifts?
C’MON people! It’s Christmas and it comes every year and it doesn’t matter if we are ready or not! How about Christmas in July? Let’s get ready now! Think of all the stress you can avoid. Do you know the average family puts $4,000 dollars on their credit card for Christmas expenses? Credit cards are for your family to rely on in case of an emergency! Christmas is not an emergency. We all can expect it!
I realize you can’t make your Christmas cookies and turkey yet. The tree will certainly dry out between now and New Year’s Day. Some of you are lucky enough to still have your Christmas lights up. Don’t nag hubby, consider it a leg up on the holidays!
But, there are things you can do in July to take some of the pressure off during the holiday season!
Make your Christmas gift list now. With the economy in a dip, it is a buyers market. You can find some great buys on books, CDs, fashion staples, and home goods. You may not be able to give the latest in fashion or fad, but you can find a great assortment of classic gifts.
Now is a good time to order on-line when you don’t have to worry about paying for a rush order to make it in time for Christmas or pay a company to wrap and send the gift for you. You have time to “browse” on line, bunch together orders and take advantage of free shipping in many cases.
You have time to find unique gifts within your budget. Got someone on your list who collects elephants? Go on line and type in elephants and you will find some really unique gifts. My friend Linda collects zebras. I found some great hand carved salad tongs with zebras! You will be amazed at what you can find. You can find some great generic gifts too. There is always one person who will give you a gift that you didn’t expect and you dash out to get them a box of chocolate….the gift that says, ” I totally didn’t think you were going to get me a gift and I ran out to Walgreens and bought you this crappy chocolate for 8 bucks!
Check out bargain sites like Overstock.com or Smartbargains.com. for deeply discounted items. Take advantage of summer by attending craft and art fairs. You can find unique gifts and avoid the shopping madness at the mall.
Snap summertime photos of family and friends. One of my favorite gifts I received is a collage of photos taken while on vacation with friends. My friend, Yolanda framed the photos she took of our families when we vacationed together. She gave it to me at Christmas and it was so fun to recapture our summer memories during the Christmas season.
You grocery shop at least once a week. If you bought a gift card every week with your groceries, every month you could knock 4 people off your list and you will have paid cash for them. By the time the holiday comes, you can have 20 people off your list and the space you need to store them is minimal. Don’t underestimate a gift card, one size fits all!! And the best part is, you can stick to a budget and pay cash for your gifts throughout the 6 months before Christmas.
I keep everything in a large plastic bin, and gifts are tagged for the recipient. the gifts are dust free and the packaging is undamaged.
The hardest part of Christmas in July is keeping your gifts a secret until the big day!
Don’t let Christmas throw you into a tail spin. Don’t let this special holiday time strap your family financially. Christmas is a time for celebration. Gifts are a part of it. Plan now to avoid credit card debt and stress of buying gifts. Besides, the way food prices are rising, we are going to have to put aside $100 towards our Christmas turkey!