Do Last Minute Christmas Gifts Have to be Expensive?
December 23rd is the most panicked of my holiday season, as it's always the day I realize that I'm not as ready for Christmas as I'd like to be. It tends to be the day when I set aside my extreme frugality and throw money at last minute gifts and supplies.
I'm hoping this year is different.
I pretty much have all my gifts planned out and even supplied with the two rolls of 50¢ wrapping paper from yesterday's Goodwill trip. I don't really have what I refer to as an "anchor gift" for my youngest, so we'll probably gift them money for their 401(k).
My favorite current Christmas hack is how my friend Lise and I swapped unwanted, (but new) gifts for white elephant parties. She got the sealed gourmet hot sauce from my husband's work party and she gave me a sealed-in-box massage gun. I also threw in a new-with-tag Japanese Pikachu plush from my eBay inventory to even out the trade.
Neither of us could bring the original gifts to our parties, as they'd get recognized by the giver, but this way we're in the clear.
As an aside, this is the second white elephant party for my husband's new workplace. One was an evening party and now one at work during the day. That's weird, right?!
I do need to run out and grab a few things, such as Dollar Tree crackers and more cheese for fondue. So I'll leave you with this question:
Are you ready for Christmas? Do you have clever Christmas ideas to share with the Non-Consumer Advocate community? Please do share in the comments section below.
Not ready. But I don't think any more money will be spent. I need to wrap hifts already bought with supplies I already have. I need to package and deliver cookies that are already made. And I need to do a little cooking for the day itself. We got supplies for that today.
I think the whole country was trying to shop today. I went to Dollar Tree for crackers and stocking filler candy, and the clerks looked like they'd been to war.
Two white elephant parties is kind of excessive, but maybe not everyone could attend the first one?
The Dollar Tree parking lot was full, but the store itself was only mildly busy. Got crackers, pretzels and a couple other items in under ten minutes. Trader Joe's was an entirely different mayhem situation and I turn back around and drove home.