It’s Tuesday and man does this holiday week feel like it is flying by!

I am sure that like me, you are busy thinking of all the lists and gifts that you need to make and buy this time of year. And if you are anything like me, you will be taking advantage of all of the sales that are happening this week and next. And if you are really like me, you are thinking about how you can save money this holiday season with the rising costs of just about everything.

Whew, what a run on sentence that was, lol.

Anyways, all the mama’s unite on how crazy and crazy expensive this time of year is so, I thought I would share with you what our strategy this year is for Christmas.

First, we aren’t buying any big gifts this year and instead, we are taking the kids on a trip with their Grandpa and Uncle to Nashville. We learned a couple years ago that we love traveling right after Christmas during the break and so that is a big part of their Christmas gift.

Second, we always get the kids new pajamas and a very small gift on Christmas Eve as well as a new family board game. This makes sure all of my Christmas pictures look cute (LOL) and not in old ratty pj’s and the little gift is just something small like new fuzzy socks and lipgloss or something similar around $10. The board game, well that forces us all to do something together in between the hustle and bustle of the days!

Okay now for the gifts…we have a limit on how many gifts we buy and I always try to get the limit to about the same per kid. We buy 7 gifts per child because that is our family number (everyone’s birthday equal the number 7 so we use it for everything) and it is a mix between stuff they need like new shoes and stuff they want. I try to do smaller affordable gifts and before we did a trip they would get 1 big gift but since we now travel, it will be 7 affordable smaller gifts. Like a new hoodie for Camren, make up for the girls, Paisley requested new journals and Savannah wants a new bead set. All stuff that won’t break the bank.

I also requested that Grandparents/Aunts and Uncles get them gift cards to use on the trip. Since Christmas will have just passed I am less prone to buy them stuff on the trip so this lets them shop a little but not add to what they already received if that makes sense.

I do think it is worth noting that none of my kids believe in Santa or the Elf anymore so that removes the pressure of making it all super magical and having so many things under the tree. They know and understand that the trip is the big thing and that gifts will be smaller and more practical since it is all Mom and Dad.

What is your gift giving strategy this year or any year? I would love to hear especially as we refine what we are doing now that the kids are older!