A Few Tips for Surviving the Holidays!

So it's officially November now, and as you all know, the Christmas madness is upon us once again! The second Halloween is over, out come the Christmas supplies at the stores and the ads take over the television!

Every year I always say, "I am going to do things on a budget this year and not go overboard!" Every year, I fail. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas. It is literally my favorite time of year and I just cannot help myself! I love every aspect; the decorating, baking, gift giving, family traditions, everything!

So now that I am a self appointed "frugalista", I really want to see how inexpensively I can do things. I want to save money wherever I can without letting my traditions suffer. I know it can be done!

Here are a few things that I plan on doing this Holiday Season:

1. START EARLY! I have always done this but this year I started even earlier, like last January! I went to Michael's last year and got an awesome deal ($1 each!) on some Christmas containers, so I bought all they had and I can put my homemade caramel corn in them.

2. Shop Early on Black Friday - I started doing this a few years back and had fun. The only problem is that I never really understood how to make those amazing deals work for me. Or I would always just wake up to late and everything would be gone already! This year I plan on having a list, coupons,a good alarm clock, and a big mug of coffee! Hopefully I will also have a buddy, everything is better with a buddy!

3. Make a Gift List and Stick to the List - I usually make a list but always end up adding things to the list as the shopping season progresses. So for example, I bought my sister a rice cooker but OH, look this sushi set is on sale! Surely I must get that for her as well to go with the cooker! Sorry Sis, I promise, you will get a nice gift but it will be done on a budget!

4. Coupons, Coupons, Coupons! As you can see from my coupons.com widget on the right of my blog there are a bunch of high value toy coupons on there right now. I have printed those coupons and am taking them with on Black Friday to make great deals un-beatable!

Target also has a toy coupon book available at their customer service desks. Go get one of these! Since they are Target coupons, you can also use them with those printable coupons to get a better deal.

5. Read About Other's Holiday Plans - I have noticed a lot of other blogs that are doing postings on how they plan to do things on a budget this year as well. I am reading all of these and getting a lot of good tips and ideas! Cha Ching on a Shoestring is only spending $50 on Christmas this year! Read about her goals HERE. Coupon Cravings is doing a holiday survival series HERE.

I plan on posting any hot holiday deals that I come across on here as well as more tips to get us through the season!

Let's get through this year without going into debt! What are your plans to save money this Christmas? Share your tips!

P.S. The pic above is of my little munchkin last Christmas! I cannot believe how much she has grown and changed over the course of just a year, WOW!