This time of is always a busy time of the year, as I have a lot of birthdays, leading up to the big day. This year I want to make homemade gifts or hampers. I will usually begin to save up points on my store cards, such Boots, Paperchase, My Nectar Card and others.
I will also start to put money on gift cards, to get gifts. I do it this way because it helps make sure I have set aside money for the festive cheer, and I am not out of pocket. I also set a budget for each gift and an overall budget.
The one thing I hate is when you buy a gift for someone and they say “Oh that’s lovely I have been wanting one of those” Only to see that they have not worn it or used it, if it a new kitchen appliance or a piece of clothing.
So I stick with giving a gift card or a homemade gift.
The person I love to watch about budgeting on shopping and finance is a lady who I mention a lot in many of my blog posts, Jordan Paige, FunCheapOrFree She makes it so straight-forward and easy, and love watching her Youtube videos.
I plan Christmas way ahead of time, the one thing I have never been able to do ahead of time is bloody Christmas cards. It doesn’t matter that I have all gifts by the 1st December, but every year I say “I am going to get the ahead of Christmas card making and writing”, and have I? No!
Always budget when it comes to birthdays too, and Jordan Paige, does an envelope system where by you have an envelope for everyone in your family, you put the name of child or adult at the top along with the budget amount, and put in that amount inside, then as you spend the money you subtract it from the budget amount at the top and then as you buy you put the receipt of the item or items in the envelope to keep track of what you have spent so far, and you don’t go over budget.
My birthdays begin at this time from the beginning of September all the way up to December and so yes, budget time is very well required and needed.
I do have the same budget for each person, accept for my son and for my other children in my family, as I will extend the budget amount, but for the adults in the family it will be the same amount.
I plan my sons birthday way ahead of time, and this year I bought him some new books, as I often do this at Christmas time, as stores will often start their sales on books around this time of year, and further on as we get nearer to Christmas.
I do like to set a theme for my gift buying each year, so the children in my family have something different. I like to also include experiences, like one year I bought my gorgeous nieces a Giraffe feeding experience at Chessington, as I was working for the company who sold the tickets for Chessington World of Adventures, and I got free tickets to go in, so gave them these too.
Some employers will have discounted schemes like if you work for Merlin Entertainments, any of the forces and hotel chains, usually give staff discounts on a site called Perks at Work, where you can earn points as you use this site as they are linked to many retailers, and on sites like Virgin Experiences and Red Letter Days.
Of course with COVID we don’t know if there will be anymore lockdowns, but it doesn’t mean planning for birthdays aswell as Christmas should stop, as it is still possible to buy online, just once again set a budget, and one you know you can stick to.
If you are doing “Secret Santa” which is where you are given a person to buy a Christmas gift for and they have your name too, and then you buy them a gift up for example up to a fiver, I always say if you know it is for a woman, you can’t go wrong with a scented candle, which I am going to buy for my Nieces and one of my friends, who was like a sister to me when I lived on a housing estate called Peabody, Kelly to celebrate her life.
For boys and men, books, alcohol (if they drink), a book voucher or cufflinks, if they wear a suit and a jacket.
I have bought some items from Amazon which would be great as gifts and yes a haul as I have promised in my other blogs is coming, I just have so much I want to blog about, that it has taken a back seat, but not for much longer. If I don’t film it today it will be done tomorrow.
So be wise when shopping, make sure you buy from legitimate retailers online as many scams will be forming as we buy birthday gifts and get closer to Christmas, and if you still want to shop in the high streets, keep your belongings on you and put purses at the bottom of your bag, no putting money in back pockets as there will be pickpockets out there, and yes that includes you Boris Johnson, as I know you don’t like socialising hence the lockdown.
Before end this blog I want one thing answered for me, I just can’t get if COVID is a flu how comes all stores ran out of toilet paper? if someone can discuss this with me and have a logical answer, do get in touch. You can leave a comment below.
Just another quick note which I nearly forgot to add. Each year if you haven’t been following my blogs, I like to raise money for a good cause each year, and to celebrate my sons 7th Christmas and to support families who have had Stillbirths and premature births I am raising money for the charity Tommy’s who do a brilliant job in supporting families who have gone through such a traumatic event in their lives.
Please see link to my JustGiving page if you would like to make a donation. Many thanks in advance if you do and enjoy the weekend!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/theparentingadventuresprematurebirths
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Carries Versatile Fashion 