Christmas Shopping On a Budget

The Christmas season can be one of the most stressful times of the year. You stress over whether or not you are going to have enough cash to buy something nice for everyone, you worry about not leaving anyone off of your shopping list and sometimes even putting up the Christmas tree can strike fear in the hearts of many. 
Christmas shopping on a budget, however, does not have to be a stressful event. You can snag some great deals and make everyone's Christmas a little bit brighter this year. One way that you can save a little bit of money for holiday shopping is to make your own greeting cards. This can be very easy to do and you can also enlist the help of your children, younger siblings, and nieces and nephews. You can purchase greeting cards at the dollar store along with some sturdy cardstock, glue and glitter. Just cut the pictures off of the original greeting card and glue it on the folded cardstock. Add glue across the picture and sprinkle on some glitter. Use markers, different colored cardstock, and ribbons for some more fun creativity. 
You may also want to consider saving all of your change throughout the year in a jar and then taking it to a coin counting machine or the bank and you will be surprised how much money your change jar was holding out. Another great idea is to shop throughout the year for things that are on sale that you think friends and family members might like. Of course, you are going to want to hide these presents in case they come over. Keep a list handy and once you have purchased presents for someone you can mark them off of your list and that is one less person to worry about at the last minute. 
If you are a fairly crafty person or just enjoy homemade items yourself, you can always make homemade gifts as well. Like if you know someone has a Kindle for example, you could make them a cover for their electronics and it will also be a practical gift and one they are sure to appreciate as well. Also, eBay is a great place to purchase much desired items and you can also avoid the Christmas shopping rushes at the store by having your gifts delivered to your front door. You can also open a savings account and once a month you can add funds to it so that when it is time to go holiday shopping, you will have some cash to spend. This is most easily done by automatic withdrawal from your paycheck that you can set up through your employer. Your family can also do a secret Santa for the adults and that way you will only need to purchase gifts for the children and the adult's name that you drew.
Christmas shopping on a budget is very easy to do if you plan ahead and start early. Pay attention to your loved one's wants and needs and those special buys you see throughout all the year. Have fun and happy holidays!