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Tips For Staying On Budget This Christmas Shopping Season

By DT Leave a Comment

The holiday shopping season is in full swing. The stores are full of Christmas music, shiny decorations, and bling of every kind at the endcaps….all with the goal of getting you to spend, spend, spend. It’s so easy to give into temptation! While I’m not perfect when resisting temptations (who is?) there are a few little tricks I use to keep myself on track with my budget:

Shop on a Full Stomach
I’ve noticed if I go shopping when I’m hungry I can be more easily swayed by budget temptations. At my SuperTarget, the smell of the Starbucks Coffee usually beckons me and if that doesn’t get me the freshly popped popcorn will. Anyway, I make sure to have a snack before I head out and hit the stores.



Leave the Kids at Home
Likewise, the kids are huge budget distractors! They usually do not accompany me when I am Christmas shopping unless I am shopping for Mr. Not Made of Money. Then we go with a list in hand, they help me hunt for the items on the list, and they know the budget amount we are aiming for.

Set A Christmas Budget Amount
We decide in advance how much money we are going to spend for the holiday season and then we stick to it. Part of this involves tracking our money as we spend it, so we know how much there is left.




Avoid The Credit Card Trap
I use my credit card but keep track of how much we’ve spent so I don’t go over budget. When the bill arrives, it is paid in full. If you don’t trust yourself to keep your credit card purchases in budget, then switch to cash. Don’t let yourself go into the new year with additional debt.

Book in Advance
We don’t usually travel far during the holidays but if we did we would book our reservations well in advance. Shop around online and compare airfares and hotel room fees.

Compile A List Of Prospective Gifts
I always go Christmas shopping with a list in hand…it gives me a sense of direction. Even if I don’t have a specific item on the list, I have people’s names and a budgeted amount listed.

Shop Online
Especially for the children’s gifts, I’ve found that I scored the best prices online this year. Nearly everything had free shipping because it was either a special being offered, or I searched for a promotional code before I purchased.

Plan for The Unexpected
Invariably, there is bound to be one or two gifts we neglected to purchase. I always make sure to have a few generic gifts on hand (homemade jar gifts, inexpensive kid’s game, etc.) to cover those last minute gifts.



Filed Under: Budgeting, Christmas, Saving on Christmas Tagged With: budget, Christmas, gifts, money, Shopping

50 Homemade Gift Ideas

By DT Leave a Comment

Homemade gifts are some of the best gifts I give (or receive). It makes the gift so much more personal and who doesn’t like to receive a homemade gift? Being the frugal gal that I am, I searched the web to find some of the best homemade gift ideas.  One way I save money on my sewing, crafting, and scrapbooking supplies is to shop online. You’d be amazed by some of the great deals you can score there! You can also find some gifts that are cheap and easily personalized online, such as birthday ecards that sing and dance!



Homemade Cookies– 1. Make a batch of your favorite homemade cookies. My personal favorite are homemade gingerbread, but chocolate chip are good too! I set aside one weekend and make all my kitchen gifts in one batch and let all the kids pitch in to help.

Personalized Gift – 2. I like to give personalized ornaments as gifts to everyone on my gift list. I can make a new ornament for each year so I never run out of ideas for gifts.

Homemade Ornaments – 3. Homemade Holiday Ornaments: What better gift to give than a homemade holiday ornament. These can be a very simple gift to make. I especially like picture ornaments and the baked clay snowman..

Photo Ornaments – 4. Create your own photo ornaments. This is really simple to do – just put in the photos you want and voila! instant photo ornament gift!!




Jar Gifts – 5. Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix In A Jar: Yum! A wonderful and simple gift to give no matter the occasion. If you want to get fancy with the presentation, find an inexpensive plate or glass jar from your dollar store.

Personalized Candy – 6. I like the idea of personalized candy.  Make a customized bar wrap or candy container.

 No Cooking Gifts – 7. No Cook Food Gift Ideas: If you are short on time in the kitchen, here are some great gift ideas you can tie, wrap and basically just give.

Potpourri – 8. Scented Potpourri: Recipes for Apple Spice, Regency Rose, and Summer Breeze.

9. Bead And Button Teacup: This teacup is for display purposes only, but it is a really cute craft that teens could make for teacher, mom, or grandma.

10. Make A Paper Bag Scrapbook: These scrapbooks are adorable and easy to make. You use paper bags as the album!




11. Decorative Dried Herbs In Oil: Make one of those fancy looking bottles!

12. Christmas Gifts From Your Kitchen: Some yummy recipes for delicious treats including Chocolate Billionaires (love the name); Swedish Nuts; Cinnamon Nut Mix; Mocha Walnuts; and Sugared Peanuts.

13. Make Your Own Garden Stepping Stones: We’ve done this for our yard but used the kits you buy at the store. I like this version better.

14. Personalized Towels: These do not require any sewing. You could use this technique to personalize almost any item.

15. Gifts In A Jar: There were just too many to choose from so here is the entire page. Many wonderful and easy gifts to make in a jar.

16. Fleece Blanket: Directions for how to make a no-sew snuggy fleece blanket.

17. Make An Altered Lunch Box: This is one of the newer craft techniques, using scrapbooking tools.

18. Craft Foam Christmas Ornaments: These are perfect to give as a gift or keep some for your own decorating

19. Make Gel Candles: Gel candles are very popular and a great gift idea. Here are the instructions so you can make your own.

20. No sew Sachet: Even the littlest kids can help to make this one.

21. Make A Friendship Bracelet: Great for teens or tweens. Get directions for how to make a friendship bracelet.

22. Christmas Pot Holder: Who wouldn’t love this adorable home made pot holder? You could make this in a non seasonal theme as well.

23. Folk Rag Doll: Great to give a little girl or for anyone who enjoys dolls.

24. Make Your Own Butterfly House: This is a great gift idea for some of the older kids. Directions are for making the house and for the food the butterfly needs.

25. Make a Kite: Even if it is not kite flying weather, a kite can be used as a decoration for a kid’s room!

26. Mr. Bean Style Teddy Bear: This is a knitting project and looks a bit harder for this non-knitter. I included it here in case any knitters want to do this. It is adorable!

27. Sock Monkey: These are priceless and they do not look too complicated to make. This is a sewing based craft and you’ll need a pair of men’s extra large white socks.

28. Washcloth Puppets: I love these! Directions are given how to make a cow, bunny, or bear. They are all cute and I would have a difficult time choosing which one to make.

29. Broomstick Skirt: These are really in style now. Would be a great gift to give a teen or for a teen to make.

30. Make a Classic Tote: Who doesn’t need a tote bag. Very versatile.

Homemade Gift Ideas That Don’t Require Sewing

31. No Sew Quilt: Really simple quilt idea. You could make this with a Christmas theme or any other theme you desired.

32. Make a Doll House Out Of Cardboard Box: Step by step directions to make a doll house using a simple cardboard box.

33. Make A Kitchen Apron: A perfect gift for those who love to cook!

34. Create a Tie Dye T-Shirt: This looks to be a little bit messy but tie dye crafts are a hit.

35. Make An Advent Calendar: A gift to give as the Christmas season begins.

36. Fabric Ponchos. You could make a few in different colors. These are made of fleece and don’t require any sewing.

37. Kitchen Towel Pillow Covers: What a great way to quickly and inexpensively make some really cut pillows.

38. Clay Pot Snowmen: These are so adorable and are really easy to make.

39. Homemade Beaded Candles: Look just like those really expensive ones in the store.

40. Make A Vest For Your Dog: This is a resizeable pattern, good for a poodle or lab!

41. Crosstitch A Heart Bookmark: This is an adorable bookmark and would make a wonderful gift for the book lover!

42. Coat Hanger Covers: These are sewn and you could make a set of them to give as a very practical and pretty gift.

43. Cell Phone Case: Sew your own so the options are endless!

44. American Girl Doll Dress: This pattern is for any 18 inch doll and is a drop waist dress. Lots of combinations are possible using this pattern.

45. DishTowel Angel: Really cute and only needs one dish towel, one dish cloth, and one potholder.

46. Make a Personalized Calendar: Free printable templates to make your own calendar for 2018.

47. Gingerbread Gifts: Love the smell of gingerbread! Here are several crafts which feature gingerbread. Patterns for gingerbread people, trees, and other shapes. Make a gingerbread garland too!

48. Beaded Napkin Rings: These are so cute and even though they are a “kid craft” I think anyone would enjoy receiving these as a gift.

49. Holly Jolly Cardinal Wall Hanging: This is a quilt project, and a little bit more advanced. However, it is a beautiful quilt and would make a very nice Christmas gift.

50. Vine Wall Hanging: This project looks to be simple but very nice with a country flair!


Filed Under: Saving Money Tagged With: cookies, gifts, homemade, ornaments, personalized

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