Wrapping Christmas Up, Now

Summer is over and the kids are back at school, what better time than now to be thinking ahead to Christmas.

You will be looking to avoid this.

When you realise there is only 3-4 paydays left until Santa comes to town, it doesn’t feel as far away as it should. Having children to buy for can be expensive and very frantic if you leave it until last minute and you are trying to navigate a pram around the hordes of smug shoppers who are just out to buy wrapping paper when you have everyone’s from Aunty Gladys to the dog still to buy.

So here are my tips for getting ahead and more importantly, in these hard economic times, staying under budget.

Make a List

I’m not trying to patronise you, I know it seems simple but making a list helps everyone else decide what to get for your little ones too.

If you have a list of ideas for what your children may want then you can mark out what you think you can feasibly afford and then ask Granny and Granddad to get something else on the list. This way you rule out the doubling up of gifts; no one needs two boxes of messy moon dough that never comes off the carpet.

Check What You Already Have

Leading on from my last point, make sure you know exactly what your children already own. It seems simple but could save you money and avoid having 1000 felt tips all over the floor.  

This may also encourage you on to have a little clean out were you may find some hidden gems your children never played with that can be passed on to others as Christmas gifts. I have unashamedly done this once or twice, especially with young baby toys that they seem to grow out of so fast.

Buy Less

Don’t feel pressured to come home with a shops worth of toys. So what if the kid they sit next to in school got 68 presents worth £600, you are teaching your child to be grateful and respect their toys and gifts, this can only be done by you not giving in to every request.

It can be hard to not over spend on a child, particularly as they get older and want more expensive items. If they really, really, do want the latest games console or must have trainers then fine, it can be waiting under the tree for them but not both. If they really do want other things too, then the age old lesson of saving your pocket money is very useful.

Younger children will often get a lot of toys from other family members and, as I know from experience, can feel overwhelmed and confused by the shear amount of presents, so I suppose it would really matter if you took that particularly noisy plastic mobile out of the trolley or didn’t buy the 19^th gift for 9 month old Lucy, even if you can’t wait to see her little face when she looks at the doll with evil eyes, if you turn around during breakfast she is probably making that evil-eye face at you anyway, for your lack of multitasking skills to make her breakfast and dry your hair for work at the same time.

Charity and Second Hand Shops

I know what you are thinking and you’re right, some charity shops do have a grubby little box of broken toys for 5p, but some have really stepped up their game and have realised that their toys sell well.

Oxfam is a great example of a charity shop that is good at filtering out the real sellable items from the junk, OK, so maybe they are not in their original packaging but, is 2 year old Jamie really going to notice that if it is wrapped up with a beautiful bow?

Books are another great find, I picked up a ‘That’s Not My ... Tractor’ for 20p at a charity shop, it was almost new and I saved myself £4.

However, you need to dig about and visit once a week, but if you are starting early that shouldn’t be too much of a worry. Also charity and second hand shops are very accommodating and you can ask if they can give you a ring if a wooden train set comes in, or if they get a baby walker in good condition.

I feel that there are two major plus sides to getting some of your Christmas shopping done in a charity shop, not only are you saving yourself money, you are also giving to charity; it’s kind of the gift that gives twice.

Buy Online

We all know that buying online can reduce the cost but it also offers a better range of choice, so those illusive skylander figures are there in abundance and, if you go to an online auction site, probably cheaper.

As with buying from charity shops, you can get various qualities of toys but if you start early and shop around there should be no problem in finding what you want. Also if you do this all now you miss the extra charges needed for a faster delivery or the worrying of whether Barbie will be there on time.