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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Girl Chat - Tips for Juggling the Holiday Season

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It's time for another round of Girl Chat and this month we are talking about tips for juggling the holiday season.

TIP 1: Don't put to much on your plate at once. We host Christmas dinner every year. We have been doing that for about six or seven years now. I love it because everyone comes to my house, so I don't have to drive home later, my house gets a good cleaning, the girls can go to bed whenever and we get to have both sets of immediate family over. 

Each year, I change up the main dish, and I ask my mom and my MIL to bring over one other dish each. Then I usually provide the rest. My MIL usually brings over an appetizer and my mom brings over a side. Then I provide another one to two sides, the fixing with the main dish and the dessert. By asking for a little help, I don't overwhelm myself in the kitchen. Between making cinnamon rolls the day before (tradition) and prepping for Christmas dinner, I don't have time to do it all, so I ask for help and that is ok.

TIP 2: Make a Christmas shopping list for each person you are buying for. I do this early on in November, so I can start shopping around for the best deals. I usually buy almost all my gifts on Cyber Monday, but some of them come before if I find a better deal. Which many places have 40 to 50% off right now. If I figure out my gifts early on, I stay on track and usually don't overspend or wait until last minute. I am all about the lists.

TIP 3: Save money all year. You can do this many different ways. You can put everything on your credit card and use the points at the end of the year towards your Christmas shopping (we do this). 

You can put x amount of money into a savings account once a month, twice a month or however often you would like. Whenever I am saving for something, this is my go-to. I set it up online with my bank to transfer over x dollars from my checking account into a special savings account the day that I get paid (so twice or three times a month).

TIP 4: Use ebates. I use ebates all year long when I make online purchases. I get a little bit of cash back per purchase and then I save it all for the end of the year.

TIP 5: Plan ahead. This one seems so simple, but is the best policy. Or maybe that is just my type A personality right there. If I plan things out, I can make sure I don't double book, book too much in one weekend, or over extend myself or my family. 

TIP 6: Know your limits. This can mean so many things, but you should know your spending limits, your kids limits, your time limits, etc. I usually set aside a budget each year for Christmas. It varies each year and most of our Christmas budget goes to the girls. But if I say we are spending X on Christmas, we don't go over. This means I don't rack up credit card debt (we pay our credit cards off monthly).

Knowing your kids limits is huge. I know that my girls need a nap daily. That nap can go from 30 minutes to two hours, but I know that we have to work that in our schedule. I also know that they usually can only last til about 8:30 pm on most nights. I know that we need to leave wherever we are at before that "witching hour" happens.

Knowing your limits will make for a less stressful Holiday season. 

What tips do you have to share with me?

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20 comments :

  1. Such a good idea to use your points from all year for xmas shopping! I should really start doing that but I always use our cashback bonus so quick, especially now that you can apply it to amazon purchases haha

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    1. We always do it that way. I loved your list too. We are trying to get our shopping done by December 1st.

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  2. Great tips! I love your positivity about hosting at your house. I tend to get so stressed anytime I am going to have people over, but your outlook helps. I need to look into ebates.

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    1. I do get stressed and that is why I definitely ask for help. I have done it where I do all the cooking, cleaning and everything and that was too much. I like to host Christmas dinner though. You do need to look into ebates. It is amazing.

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  3. I get lots of money back on ebates during December with all the good sales!

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  4. Love your tips! I love knowing each year there are certain events for our family and they are the same each year so you know where it is, what to bring etc because it is the same each year haha
    Hope you're having a great day!

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    1. I love that too. Makes it less stressful for sure!!! I hope you are having a great day too!~

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  5. I wish I could make a list of gifts to get - that's my problem - I'm always clueless. UGH - so frustrating & overwhelming trying to pick gifts for people.

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  6. Love these tips! I love that you ask for help with a couple of dishes for Christmas dinner. We do the exact same. I love hosting, but having a couple of people bring a dish really makes things easier for everyone!

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    1. It really does. Less stress, more fun and a better variety.

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  7. I need to look into ebates- thanks for mentioning this! Shannon@slayitagainshan.com

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  8. Some great tips.. I too am all about the lists.
    I like topcashback even better than ebates.. often it offers even more cash back on certain shops. I keep both accounts and see where I'm going to make back more :)

    http://www.henatayeb.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh that is great to know. I will check out topcashback. Thank you!

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  9. Yes to using ebates!! I Don't know what I would do without it and love that some stores now have in-store cash back. I just got some for shopping at Buy Buy Baby. Sierra Beautifully Candid

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  10. knowing your limits and early shopping are key! Cheers to a fun season!!

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  11. Ebates is my FAVORITE! And I totally utilize my cash back on my credit card during this time. It's amazing how it can add up over the year!

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  12. I love that you host Christmas. I would love to do that at our house, too, but my aunt and uncle have a way bigger house than we do so everybody prefers to go there so we're not all cramped. It would be so nice to not have to drive home afterward and be able to put the kids in bed whenever we needed to!

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  13. That is really awesome that you get to have both sets of family at the same time for Christmas. Our holidays are usually spent between Chris's parents...and then my mom and dad separately since they are divorced. It is a real stress every year to hit them all up and honestly, most years I don't see my dad or we do it a few weeks before or after Christmas. It just gets to be too much! Naps are crucial!!!

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