Sep
16
99 Days until Christmas
Posted by Mom at 2:30pm in FamilyAre you ready?
Last year, I put a reminder in my Outlook Calendar to alert me when to start my countdown to December 25th. Instead of waiting until October to make my to-do lists, I thought we would benefit from a few extra weeks. My countdown has begun! I really can’t believe there are 99 days left!
This year, my focus is how to simplify our traditions and get the home organized. I also want to scale back on spending. Get the silly stuff out of the way, so we can focus on what is important to our family – spending time together and having fun.
A few ideas I’m tossing around:
- Do an adult grab bag for Mom’s side of the family, limited to a small dollar amount for the gift. My brother has been out of work for 9 months and my other brother is on a sabbatical of sorts. No need for anyone to stress about money and we can have fun with this one.
- Dad’s side of the family would never go for grab bag fun. Instead, we plan on scaling back the amount spent by giving well thought out, meaningful, family gifts.
- When we first got married, our finances were very tight. Dad and I gave each other a “house gift”. Instead of buying individual gifts, we agreed upon a home improvement purchase. One year we bought the materials for a solid oak mantelpiece and built it together. This was more meaningful to me than any store-bought gift. We are doing a “house gift” this year.
- Double the amount of shoeboxes we give this year to Operation Christmas Child. We enjoy this and have already started collecting goodies to fill the boxes.
I will post more in the 99 days to come about how we are saving and organizing.
