I figured that doing the shopping in November gets us ahead of the game. We don’t blow our December budget quite so badly, and we were able to take advantage of the grocery store’s “spend $ and get a free turkey” promotion.

I was afraid that buying the things so far in advance would mean the beans would be spilled as far as “I got this for you!” but so far it seems they have forgotten what they bought.

I’m regretting it because it was a LOT of money (for us), and I’m afraid it’s feeding into the whole “Christmas is my favorite holiday because you GET STUFF” mentality. (but you already talked about that Kendra!) That and the potential for spilling the beans. We’ll see how it works. I’d also like to see us do something like the Advent Conspiracy, instead of getting presents we give to someone in need. But that wouldn’t go over well around here.

I like things that are consumable- gum, candy, crayons, pencils, stickers, etc. Maybe put a slip of paper in some of them that have an idea of serving someone else that day- taking a meal to someone, picking up someone’s children for a few hours to bless the mom, etc. My son just suggested putting writing paper and envelopes in one of the bags to write letters to missionaries, grandparents, etc.

Do you have any ideas for filling your own Advent calendar?
I bought a beautiful wreath with red silk bags hanging off it, and would like to fill them not only with gifts but things for our children to do for others.

Just not sure how to work it or what kind of service to others to include etc… Hope this makes sense! Our 8 children are 4- 15 yrs old.
Thanks Kendra or followers for any ideas!

I have a post about that coming up I don’t have a budget per child because so much of what I give them is acquired for free or very inexpensively through my couponing or MyPoints gift cards, etc. I watch number of items as I list what each one is getting on my spreadsheet, but it’s rarely even. They don’t count number of gifts- they’re too busy looking at what they got

We aren’t extravagant gift givers. Many folks on our list are getting homemade granola or vanilla this year. We give family gifts to each of my and my husband’s siblings, and even those are either homemade or garnered very inexpensively.

The one thing that helps me immensely is that I start thinking about Christmas the day after Christmas. I take advantage of clearance sales all year long and stash things away. Just yesterday I happened into an educational supply store while I was waiting for a child’s orhto appt- they had Thomas/Brio trains and track on clearance for 50% off. That’s an amazing price if you know what those go for, and since our set is 16 years old we need to replenish a few things for the little guys. I bought a substantial amount with the intent of putting most of it away to dole out over the next few years or to offer to Grandparents to buy from me and give to them.

I’m sure you’ve heard that it’s important to set a budget on Christmas. If that were new to me, I think I’d make a list of recipients, decide how much I could spend overall, then assign a dollar amount to each name. Then stick to it! Think about how inexpensive the gifts our kids made last year were. Cookie dough balls were the hit of the day and I think the ingredients added up to two or three bucks