I have to admit that my 2 favorite things in the world besides my daughter and my husband have to be shopping and Christmas.
Just the mention of the word shopping gets my heart pounding and my toes tapping. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I am shopping. I just love to buy things, and as my husband says, spend money. So what better excuse is there for me to do both of those things than Christmas? I have a legitimate reason to be out spending money.
My husband once asked me a really good question that I wish I would have thought about my answer before blurting it out. I had just picked up this really great dress on sale at Old Navy for $3.99. YES I said $3.99. How could I not buy it? He then posed the question: Do you feel you need to buy something every time you are out shopping? My answer was how can you pass up a sale like that? Followed by yeah for some reason I do, it makes me feel good. Not the answer he was looking for.
So I have put his question to work for me when I go shopping for Christmas. I find that I ask myself the question in different ways like ok does my daughter really need another Dora toy under the tree? I have already bought her 3 Dora things. Or do I really need to buy the cat more toys that he will never play with just so my daughter will think it is cute that Santa left something for the cat. It is starting to work for me and my budget.
Here are a few of my shopping tips:
Make a list - it always helps me keep track of what I have already bought for each person. I don’t know about you but I tend to buy things and not remember what I have bought so my daughter ends up getting tons and tons of things she really does not need.
Have a plan. You can not get all of your shopping done in one day, so do 1 or 2 people at a time. I find if you do this you will get your shopping done in a more timely manner and maybe even have some time left at the end for a little self indulgence.( I can’t help it if Santa left a few extras under the tree for me this year I have been really good.)
Map out the stores you want to go to before you hit the mall. This will also save you time and help you focus on the task at hand.
Always grab yourself a latte for your travels, have the girl at the coffee shop make it the Christmas blend so you are in the spirit.
Most importantly you will need to go out and buy yourself a new pair of Sketchers because it is imperative that you have comfortable feet when shopping. Your husband should understand this if you tell him it will cut back on how many pedicures you will require, if you take good care of you feet!
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