I get asked if I go all out (some people consider it overboard) for every holiday or just Christmas. The answer is No, I do not go all out for every holiday. For example: I literally did nothing for St Patrick’s day this year! I’m pretty sure I didn’t even have my kids wear green. Don't get me wrong, months before I had planned on destroying my house and saying a leprechaun did it and leaving green stuff all over my house and maybe even hiding a pot of gold somewhere.. ok maybe not gold, but you get the point. The reality is though, I have 2 little leprechauns already that destroy my house on the daily in approximately .1374 seconds and I would STILL be the one cleaning up a mess that I made for no reason! Plus, I was First trimester pregnant (fellow mommas know what I mean), I just had Lakelyn's 4th birthday party, celebrated Tyler’s birthday, got the news Tyler’s great grandfather passed away ON St Patrick’s day, and took care of my entire house that had the stomach bug the week before! So sometimes you just have to pick and choose where your time goes. That’s not the only holiday though. Memorial Day, 4th of July, New Years. We don’t do much. We may wear red, white and blue, shoot some fireworks and spend time with family, but we don’t go crazy like some people do. My main holidays are Halloween and Christmas as far as decorations go. I love hosting a Thanksgiving Day dinner/lunch and having all kinds of food and desserts, digging through all of the Black Friday deals and maybe even snagging some online these days! I love getting up and getting the turkey going in the roaster. I seriously get excited thinking about it!
Christmas! I will probably do more posts on this in the future because it’s a biggg topic for me. People wonder if I am spoiling my kids too much by getting them all of these gift, or setting unrealistic expectations because eventually gifts will get more expensive, or they won’t appreciate what they do get. I understand your thoughts. I have more than one love language but gift giving is one of them, if not, my main one for showing my love. I know it’s more about doing what the other person's love language is, but you can have a way that you know how to show your love. Gift giving is mine. I’m not good with words of affirmation or physical touch. Quality time I can do, acts of service I can do, gift giving I can do and can do well. I’m all about finding deals. It’s my thing. I love shopping sales, I love Black Friday, I love feeling the accomplishment of getting something for much cheaper than planned. I love giving people gifts I know they want and seeing their face when they get it makes the holiday for me. Maybe it doesn’t make sense to some people, but for me, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and celebrating him! He is the most selfless person, he died for our sins. He gave his life for us and we fail him daily. He loves us though, he shows us grace, he would do anything for us and wants us to be happy. Jesus was willing to give for us, I want to be willing to give too. Does that make sense? I’m not the richest person in the world and we still work everyday on our finances (what’s up Dave Ramsey- we’re still working on your method), but I save, budget, plan ahead, shop months and months in advance, and as long as I am financially able to give to someone that cannot financially get something (or even if they can, but I can help them save their money) I will. You don’t have to buy the most extravagant gifts that’s not what I’m saying, but imagine not having much and something that’s $50 has been put off for months because that $50 buys food, pays the light bill or rent or daycare. If I can get you that $50 gift and you don’t have to sacrifice your bills to get it yourself then that fills my love tank. That makes me happy. I grew up with very little money, but when Christmas time came I can’t remember a time when I didn’t get what I asked for. Christmas holds most of my favorite memories as a kid and I’ll have to go into a different post about that, but basically I want my kids to look back and say Christmas holds some of their favorite memories too. I do want them to say they got what they wanted for Christmas, not in a spoiled brat kind of way, but in a felt loved and happy kind of way. If the time ever comes when any of my kids become ungrateful we will most certainly take care of that, but hopefully we are able to teach them the true meaning of the holidays and they will always be grateful.
Financially, when it comes to the holidays. I buy all year long. Things go on sale or clearance and I grab it. I compare previous Black Friday deals with current sales to see which is better or about the same, I’ll thrift shop and if I see it new or in great condition I’m not afraid to get it for my kids. Adults I try to keep new stuff but if I know it’s just one of those things they’ve been wanting and can’t find or they don’t make something like that it’s different. Sometimes it’s a toy I’m not sure if my kid will still like come Christmas, but if there’s another holiday before then they’ll get it then, if not we save it for Christmas and if they end up not being into it still, I’ll donate it to a family in need. I save and budget. So for the past couple of years our family members we buy for have the same budget. One day it may go up or may go down. Who knows, but we discuss it each year. When I hear them mention something throughout the year I put it in my notes in my phone and if I come across it on sale I grab it. Again, hoping they don’t get it before Christmas. It’s like gambling except I keep the receipt so I can return it or usually sell it online. Some of them have been much more difficult to buy for so I like I said I save money throughout the year and come Christmas time I will eventually get an idea and will have that money to buy it and it doesn’t interfere with our monthly bills or anything. Now, this is kinda NOT what Dave recommends, but I still do it. Throughout the year if one of us does a side job or photography session I’ll put that money away. Also, the past couple of years I’ll use any extra money I make from my essential oils business and put it to the Christmas fund. None of this money is our “monthly living money” this is extra we’ve been bless with. So again, we’re not hurting our family financially. We’ve been there though when you don’t have one extra penny to put to a Christmas fund and my only advice is pray, and when you do get a couple extra dollars or when you can choose to eat out or eat cereal for dinner to put the money to the side. Don’t be afraid to shop thrift stores especially when kids are little. They don’t care when their that young! Shop sales and clearance. When a local store is going out of business stop in and check it out. It’s all about not paying full price!
I hope this little bit of information is helpful to someone! I am always open to questions if you still have them! I'm sure I will be doing more posts on holidays soon :)
