Christmas before July

The boys and I hit another neighborhood yard sale today. I only have a few more Christmas gifts to get. And I am always on the look out for Santa gifts, secret Santa gifts, family gifts and the odd holiday and birthday purchase. I hit yard sales, children's consignment sales (although not as much since the boys are getting older), church sales, and an occasional regular shop.

Edmund wanted to go to Smart Toys and Books. I reminded him that it wasn't his birthday or Christmas. So, he wasn't due any new playthings. Nor, did he have a class scheduled. Therefore, the afternoon would be better spent either visiting Horse Haven or looking for boy stuff at the neighborhood sale. He choose the sale.

We find some really cool stuff in the oddest places. A Murano vase for my mother... A vintage Santa to add to my sister's collection... Electronic nonsense for my nephew...The trick is to set a firm budget, have a rough list of what you are looking for, and an ideal price range. Today's big scores were a new booster seat for Edmund, $2, and NIB compression socks 40-50 mmHg, $5/pk.
That is cheaper than the prices I found on EBay or craigslist! Hurray!

I've been using store incentive coupons to buy birthday gifts for picky family members. We paid a grand total of $1.20 for mother's day by using JCPenney $10 off coupons and picking sale items at 75%off as close to $10 as possible. My niece is into Aéropostale. With a little patience, I found her what I thought was a cute outfit on a 50%off weekend at the Goodwill. Her response, "I didn't know that Aéropostale made old people clothes." Sigh, preteens.

Anyway, I am just a few gifts away from having all of my gift shopping done for the rest of the year. It definitely makes the Christmas season more enjoyable, because we are free to let the children pick a child to shop for from the Angel Tree and make little presents to give to caregivers. We can go to plays and concerts. We take in some ice skating downtown on the square. We enjoy the religious season without a lot of the commercial pressure. And that is just the way my husband and I like it.