Paying for Christmas

Christmas is 89 days away!  Times are tough this year for a lot of people.  If you are like me, you like to plan your purchases, look for deals and get everything out of the way BEFORE Black Friday.

Our Christmas Gift Fund strategy has two key components:

1. Keep it simple.  The holiday season is about being with the ones you love most, not about seeing how much credit card debt can be accumulated.  Gift-giving should bring joy, not agony and debt.  We like to think of simple things to give to the ones we love the most. 

We might spend $75 on each of our children this year, which represents a 50% increase over last year's budget.  We buy basic toys that both kids can enjoy.  Our children don't need fancy toys with all of the bells and whistles; they would rather play with things that require a little imagination.   Last year's Christmas gifts to our children were a tricycle, a Step 2 Shopping Cart, a couple of books, a stuffed animal, a Tinkerbell jewelry box and a Sleepy Time Dora doll.  They were so happy, and they use and appreciate each of the gifts 9 months later.  Their grandparents tend to go overboard as grandparents do, and there is only so much room in the house for toys. 

My husband and I don't give each other gifts because we find joy in watching our girls open their gifts. My family usually has a very simple Christmas - my sister and I don't exchange gifts, we choose to spend $10 on each of the kids.  We usually buy a little something for our parents and they buy a little something for us.  My husband's family does much more for Christmas gifts, which is where part 2 comes in handy...

2. Pay for gifts with freebies.  My top two perks are Swagbucks and VISA Rewards. 

If you haven't heard of Swagbucks, visit www.swagbucks.com and sign up today!  You can earn points for doing what you do every day anyway - internet searches.  They also have a way to earn points for doing surveys, answering daily polls, etc.  You can use the points to purchase gift cards.  For example, 450 Swagbucks will buy a $5 Amazon gift card.  Those points really add up over a year. 

Our Bank of America credit card has a rewards program as well.  Every year in October, we redeem our points earned ($1 for every $1 spent) for gift cards that we either use to purchase gifts or simply give to others.  It is important to keep in mind that these points are only really worth anything if you don't go into debt to accumulate them.  ALL CREDIT CARDS SHOULD BE PAID IN FULL EVERY MONTH for this freebie to work.  My husband and I charge everything on our cards and pay them off each month.  This allows us to earn points for spending money that we would normally spend anyway for food, gas, etc.  By the end of the year, we usually have enough of points to buy several hundred dollars' worth of gift cards.  Since we don't pay any interest, annual fees or late fees on credit cards, this makes it FREE MONEY!


I am so excited about this Christmas!  My husband is employed again, I have two happy and healthy toddlers, and my parents are still alive and they live 5 miles away from us.  Life is so good.