TGIF & 12 Days of Christmas Challenge Day 4

Happy Friday!! Now that the weekend is here I can't believe it. I'm excited though because tonight is our company Christmas party!! All of the guys (and girls) are looking forward to a fun night of good food and lots of laughs! It is a perfect way to end the busy work season.

It is kind of a perfect day for a Christmas party too because there is snow on the ground. It officially feels like fall is over and winter is here. As much as I hate snow it does give me a "Christmasy" feeling!

Today over at Aly & Molly's 12 Day's of Christmas Challenge we are on Day 4.

Tips/tricks to a budget friendly Holiday season:

As some of you are well aware, I am a budget/frugal freak! I like to be organized and start the planning early.

What do I mean by early?

Well, in July Ryan and I started saving extra morning towards Christmas.

First, we wrote down everyone we had to buy for and how much we wanted to spend on each person.

This gave us an idea of how much money we needed to save in order to get gifts for everyone. By the 1st of November we had all the money saved up needed to get gifts/food/etc.

Even though we started saving in July (yes, I know, I'm crazy) anytime I saw something on sale that I thought would be a perfect gift for someone I would pick it up! That way not only am I done shopping early but I can also stretch the spending budget if something was less expensive then expected.

One thing that I always find to be WAY over priced is Christmas decorations. That is why I usually by any extra decorations AFTER Christmas. It is kind of fun to get to open a new package this year and hang up a new decoration, that I got at 80%...Boo Ya!

Ryan and I used my parents old Christmas lights on the house last year.

Wasn't a big deal, they worked great but it was getting harder and harder to find replacement bulbs. We knew eventually we were going to have to switch to LED lights. The problem, that would be $200.00!!!! No thank you!

A few weeks ago Ryan heard an ad on the radio promoting LED lights. The ad said that for that weekend only, if you brought in your old string of lights you could get replacement LED lights at 50% off! So, we ran down to the city with all our lights and traded them in! Thank you!

Since I didn't get vaccinated last winter for the craft bug, it is still running through my veins. This year I am making a few Christmas gifts which saves a ton of money. Plus, I know a nice homemade gift sometimes means more then an expensive store bought gift they didn't need. (I'd tell you what it is but I know Ry's mom read's my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise! Hi Bev!!)

So, basically these are my tips/tricks for spending less this Holiday season:

1. Make a list with a set budget!

2. Start saving early!

3. Scan through sale flyer's, radio ads, etc to get the best bang for your buck!

4. Homemade is usually less expensive and meaningful (bonus!)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

xo