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  1. I love your tips. I have always started shopping for the next year Christmas the day after back when our list was extremely long. As the years have gone by the list has been cut to 5. I still keep eye out for deals but I always want to be done by Thanksgiving. Less stress and ability to enjoy the true meaning of the season. (I’m already writing my December blog post ahead of time.)

    1. Good for you Crisi! I agree, I try to have mine done before Thanksgiving too. I want to enjoy the season and focus on the true meaning with my family, not be running back and forth to stores 🙂

  2. While I no longer Christmas shop, these are excellent tips for those who do. Our family participates in the Advent Conspiracy. You can read about this on my blog in a post titled Christmas in July. Basically, we donate to the recipient’s favorite charity in lieu of Christmas gifts. No matter how you give at Christmas, having a plan in place helps makes things less stressful. We can then focus more on family, fun, and the reason for the season. Great tips!

    1. I’ll have to check that out Heather, sounds interesting. I’m sure once we are out of the “little children” phase I will be eager to look into alternative gift giving options but something that has been on my heart is to implement a simple gift giving system with them so that way they really focus on the true meaning of Christmas without expecting lots of gifts. But it’s still fun as a parent to watch their little faced light up when they open something that they will love. 🙂

      1. We give each of our kids 3 presents. And a stocking. They each make a present to go in the stockings and I make some Christmas goodies to fill them up the rest of the way. That way we get to enjoy the fun of opening presents They are 11-18 months of age. Their presents don’t break the bank and theydon’t get overwhelmed and it isn’t all about the presents. We can center it on what Christmas is about.

        1. That is such a good idea Zan, I love the idea of simple gift giving. It’s still fun and exciting to watch them open something yet it’s not so overwhelming to be receiving so much stuff, and you are right it makes is so much easier to center on what Christmas is truly about. 🙂

  3. Thanks for sharing. Great tips and I’ve downloaded the Christmas Gift List app! Stopping by from SITS.

  4. Hi Victoria,

    you have some great advice 🙂 well, my Christmas shopping is already done 🙂 for everyone 🙂 I buy presents throughout the year… I make Christmas list and set a budget to. This year I decided for gift basket 🙂 For my sister and my brother-in law : chinese cook book, sesame oil and soya sauce. For my parents: mediterranean cook book, olive oil and balsamic vinegar 🙂 Maybe I will ad some lovely plates for each basket.. something simple 🙂
    One niece is 5 and the other 14 🙂 well, each will get something for school, something for her room and someting for her hobby.. and that is it.. for the rest of the family: home baked cookies and coffe.
    I star planning for next Christmas December 26 🙂 an you are absolutely right: when your mind is set on who to buy for and what, it is easy to look for great deals …

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