Christmas....it's not too early

Yes, I've already started thinking about Christmas. Christmas is expensive, lets be honest. I'm determined this year to not let it get ridiculously out of hand, financially speaking. SO...I've set a budget for each person, I've started scouring the clearance racks, and I'm probably at least 1/3 done by now! It's been fun.

Here are a few ideas - please share yours!

1.) Both Joe and I thoroughly enjoy gift-giving and have dreams of giving extravagantly. But as we've talked about it, we've had to convince ourselves that it's not about 'the gift' or the amount of money that we spend. The meaning lies behind the gesture of giving, which we would rather focus on. Practically, that means we've lowered the amount we normally spend on family members this year.
2.) I set an individual budget for each man, woman, and child. This has helped me both cap my overall budget and set a shopping limit for each gift.
3.) Within this budget, I still cut corners! For example, if I find something on sale, I count a reasonable amount for the item toward the overall person's $ limit, even if I spent less. Does that make sense? Like, I might choose an item that at full price was out-of-the-question. Whatever I spent on it (30, 50, or 75% off), I choose a reasonable price for it in my head and count that toward their budget. Translation: I end up spending less than my set budget in the end.
4.) I'm considering doing joint gifts for the married folks in the family. This would slightly lower the overall budget and give more money to spend on a bigger gift. Another idea is to combine $ with siblings to get a specific gift someone requests.
5.) Even though we've lowered the amount of money we're spending, it's important to me that I still give something useful and enjoyable. I don't just want to give everyone a new T-shirt because it's cheap...you know what I'm saying?
6.) Starting early gives me more time to scour the sales and spread out the bills. (One person's gift was bought in July...at 80% off with a gift card! super duper score!)
7.) Is this getting boring? Okay, I'll keep going...at least for my sake.
8.) Our financial class says 'make gifts'. I am totally for this, but totally out of ideas this year! Feel free to share if you've got any!
9.) I want to send Christmas cards this year. Don't forget to include the price of stamps into your Christmas budget! Those babies can a-d-d up!
10.) Joe and I will probably do our one-year-old traditions this year (ornament, stockings) and probably not much more. We're toying with the idea of planning a cheap vacay for Jan.-Feb. as a gift to each other instead. Otherwise, we're saving money!!

We hope that early shopping and a decreased focus on how much money we spend will simply serve as tools to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Advent season! So many distractions slave for our attention during this holy, peaceful time of year. Let us truly worship!