Christmas will be here before we know it...the stores are already starting to remind us by putting out their holiday displays before we even reach Halloween. This year, the holidays will be done on a very tight budget. Usually I am able to start buying smaller gifts here and there for the people I love, but this year there has just been one major expense after another and I haven't had any extra time or money. I have a feeling I'll be doing the mad dash between Thanksgiving and Christmas. How do you normally handle the holiday gift giving?
I dread the holidays because of always not having a lot of cash. But I would rather just give people gift cards if I can or cash. Even homemade things can be cool.
I know exactly what you are going through. We had some pretty big medical bills this year that we are trying to get paid off and get money together to buy a house all at the same time. I do get a Chritmas bonus from work and I have been saving Amazon gift cards that I earned from online work this year, so we will have some money, just not as much as I would like.
Holiday shopping is one of my forte. I had saved enough money for the Christmas shopping since that is the biggest event when almost all stores have their grand sales with discounts up to 50% for new arrivals. I still don't have enough in my savings but hoping that come December, my piggy bank will have enough to afford me my Christmas shopping in the malls, in streets shops and in trade fair centers.
I usually work a little harder during the last half of the year because I want to have a bit more extra money for gift expenses. If I weren't able to, and my budget was tight and very limited, then I'd maybe just opt to find some way to make homemade gifts or at the very least maybe I'll just look for very cheap gifts, as they aren't very hard to find anymore these days since you could find a lot of obscure but very interesting or useful items online. Even just with $10 per person you could already find an impressive and surprising item if you know where to look or work hard enough to explore.
I like to make gift baskets based on interests. One year, I made a sports trivia for my grandfather and a garlic lovers for my grandmother. This is usually in addition to a gift card when I have the funds and time to put everything together.
