Frugral Friday - Getting Ready for Christmas

Welcome to Frugal Friday on Adventurous Beginnings:
Yes, believe it or not this post deals with Christmas, not because we already have the tree up or the Christmas music playing or some other crazy nonsense like that. In fact our family will celebrate Advent before we celebrate Christmas.

I have realized though that it is helpful to be organized which in turn can help you to be more frugal and thus save money! Which everybody likes to do especially in today's economy.

So today for the Frugal Friday post I have 5 tips for trying to save money this Holiday Season and especially for saving money for Christmas shopping.

1. Start early, if you have not started your Christmas Shopping already, start now. My goal is to be done by the beginning of Advent. This will make it more possible to focus on the beautiful liturgical season of Advent. Preparing for the coming of Christ. Starting early will also help so you have more income left in December to be pay for those expanses, that I at least always forget about, the Christmas Tree, Baking, Travel, and other odds and ends that go along with the holidays. 
2. Make a list of who you need to buy for and make a list of what you would like to purchase for each person prior to going to the store.
3. Make yourself a budget, a budget for Christmas shopping overall as well as a budget for each person. 
4. Be creative, be personal, and make items homemade. I am really really excited by some of the items that I am planning to give as gifts I definitely got creative. One of the avenues that I took this year was to create photo albums for people and you can find amazing deals for Shutterfly, and My Publisher, so keep your eyes open. 
5. Shop online, I have realized that I can save money if I shop online, I have more time to look at products and compare them, I also sometimes save money by driving from one store to another. I only pay for shipping in severe circumstances, and I also always ask and try to see if I can have items shipped to the store.

I hope that these five tips will help you as we prepare for this beautiful but hectic season of Christmas, maybe helping to DE-clutter a bit so we can concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. If you have any suggestions or tips that you do to save money during the holiday season, please pass them along, as always I would love to hear them.

Blessings,
Joy