Well, the Christmas season is finally upon us. What money saving tips do you have? I have four children and this year I am on a tighter budget than ever. What experiences do other parents have of giving their children a fantastic Chreistmas while sticking within a limited budget?
A friend of mine who is on a tight budget with three kids, usually asks them what is the one sort of "big ticket" item that each of them really wants, then gets them that as their main Christmas gift. Then she just gets a few small inexpensive things for each of them and puts them in larger boxes so it fills out the Christmas tree and looks nice. Fortunately, there is a toy store not far from us that carries all sorts of retro toys and really cheap little toys, like magic tricks, or weird stuff you wouldn't find in your regular department stores. Kind of party favor sized toys. Things you might see in the Johnson Smith Company catalog. So she can go in there with like 20-30 bucks and come out with all sorts of cool little things for each of them. Their "big ticket" items this past year were an all-terrain remote control vehicle for each of the boys, which was around $70 each I think, and for her daughter, I think she got her a digital camera of her own.
The easiest way to save money would to buy fewer gifts for your kids but if they won't like that then buy many, cheaper gifts. Just set a budget and prioritize what you must get them. This would help in stopping you from going overboard. All you need to remember is: kids don't mind what the gifts cost, as long as they do get gifts on Christmas day.
