My Christmas Shopping Secrets

Are you still working on finishing up your Christmas shopping?  I'm currently sitting on the couch looking over my list of what's been purchased and what can still be gotten that will fit within the budget we've set.  We've been very fortunate this year with our kids' wish list containing very simple and heartfelt desires: to be with family, be with friends, visit our previous home town, package of gum, first loose tooth...... But, it really leaves me in a spot trying to get them gifts they will like and enjoy when they give me nothing to go on!  And while I would love to take everyone back to Missouri for a visit, time and money won't allow it.

This year will be different, too, because we live so much farther away from family.  Our travel accommodations will be different. which means our packing will have to be different.  In other words - I have no space for packing presents!

Since all these other things have been or will be different, my shopping has been different, too.  I want to enjoy this time of year and not fret.  

So, I've done all my shopping online.

Yep.  ALL OF IT.

Here are some of my little secrets for keeping my stress to a minimum and my budget on track this Christmas.

Amazon

Amazon Prime has been a wonderful tool for our family.  There is a yearly fee, but with the amount we order through the year, it more than makes the fee worth it.  (IF you don't order a lot or won't take advantage of the other services, I don't recommend it.)  

Not only have I gotten free shipping on all our orders, but I've also gotten some great deals!  Even better has been the ability to ship gifts for extended family right to their home (or to the grandparents place) so I don't have to worry about packing them for our trip.

Prime also made things really simple for giving gift ideas for my kids to the grandparents.  Simply create a wish list and then you can share it via email.  Made everything so easy!

If you are wondering if it would be good for you - there's a 30 day free trial.  You can give it a go and see if it would be worth the investment.  Other things we take advantage of through Prime are the videos, books, audiobooks, music, pantry and lightening deal early access. 

Here's a glance at the order schedule if you want to guarantee delivery for Christmas through Amazon Prime.

EBATES

This is a new thing for me to be doing this holiday.  I confess, I hadn't payed much attention to this site previously.  Thought it would be too complicated with too many hoops to jump through.  I was surprised, though! Really, REALLY simple!  

There's a convenient button to put on your browser window.

And a pop-up notice of possible cash back offers when you land on an eligible site.

I've only used Ebates for 3 purchases, but I already have a balance of cash back!!

GROUPON

I have found a few great deals here.  What I like most about Groupon.com is being able to find some pretty unique items for special people in our lives.  Items and gifts can be found either by looking in a specific location for local stores or by getting coupons to use online.  Last year we gifted an outdoor heater.  This year we've found a beautiful wall decoration.  (And I have a window open on my computer to see if I can find one more gift.)  

Sign up is free and easy, too!

Okay......

Those have been the most helpful sites in my Christmas shopping this year.  I would love to hear what you've been doing this year to help keep your shopping fun and as stress free as possible.  Comment below or comment on our Facebook page.

Remember to look for our Tips & Tricks Link Party starting up at 8 pm tonight!

**Many of my post contain affiliate links.  When you make a purchase through these links, I get a small percentage back at no extra cost to you.  The small monetary amount I get compensates me for the time I spend blogging and sharing with you.  Thank You!!

Christmas Gifts For Teachers

**This is my last post from my previous blog. Such a simple idea, but everything is usable and the teachers loved these gifts. Hope this gives you a great idea for your teachers or even just a starting place to create a meaningful gift. Cheers!


I always try to make sure I get the kids' teachers a little something to say 'Merry Christmas' each year. It's  also a good time to say a big 'Thank You' for all the work and time they put into teaching.  We've been blessed to have great teachers who do so much to make sure the kids realized their full potential.  I'm not going to lie, though.  It can get expensive! 4 kids in school and 6 teachers.  Ack!  (can you hear the cha-ching?)

Here is what we are doing this year.

Antibacterial soaps from Bath & Body Works (purchased during a 7 for $20 sale), chocolates and $10 gift cards to Starbucks.  Even if you left out the Starbucks card this is still a great little gift for anyone.

Let's put it all together to make it pretty, as well as useful.

I decided to use a hole punch so the gift cards will be secured to the gift.  I know my kids, and the potential for a card going missing on the way to school is greater than 50/50.  This will take some muscle!  It does help if you wiggle the card side to side as you are trying to punch.

The chocolate goes in to a Christmas-y bag.  (I ended up buying a second bag of chocolates to help fill the Christmas bags rather than just the one bag shown a few pictures earlier.) 

Punch a hole through the bag to be able to secure it with ribbon to the soap pump in a little bit.

I used some red curling ribbon to loop through the gift card.  You could also use an elastic pony tail holder or a rubber band.  The ribbon just seemed to be a better hold for me.

String the ends of your ribbon through the holes in your bag and then secure them around the neck of the soap bottle.  I worked the ribbon up under the cap to make sure it stayed on the bottle all the way to school.  Add a few more strings of ribbon and then use your scissors to curl the ends.

Keep in mind a more neutral sent will be liked by more people.  Let's face it, not everyone wants to smell like a Christmas tree or peppermint all day long.  It's a pretty safe bet, if you stay with a lighter fragrance, the teacher (or anyone else) will like it.

A pretty, useful and yummy present!  I have no worries about these gifts not be used.  Even better, each gift cost about $4.50 (minus the Starbucks card)!

And, yes, the Bath & Body Works bag from the previous facelift post, is what all these hand soaps came home in.  I knew you were wondering.

It's WHAT day?! And Some FB Drawings Coming Your Way!

Can you believe it's already the LAST day of November?! I mean.... where has the time gone?!

Before I go any farther I want to make sure you know about this.  My Cyber Monday gift to you!  This is a great opportunity to get a few things on you gift list taken care of and pamper yourself at the same time.  If you are one of my members, just simply go to your myshaklee site and shop.  If you don't have a membership, go to my site and start shopping.  Want to save on membership?  Contact me and I can help you - I know lots of ways to get your membership FREE.  This offer ends TONIGHT, though.

As you know, tomorrow is the first day of December.  I hadn't planned on doing much for the holidays since we were planning to be out of our home no later than the 10th.  I hadn't even planned on doing any decorating.  Well..... that's not how things are working out. {bummer}

Since plans have changed, I got the Christmas tree out and put up today.  The kids and I will work on getting it decorated one evening this week.  {I'll share when it's finished.} Little by little, I'll work on getting a few holiday items set up around the house, too.  It can be a little odd working out a balance of holiday decorating and keeping a 'show ready house' - but, I'm sure I'll manage.

I also decided to have some fun on my Facebook page and I wanted to give a little heads up from the blog.  Hopefully, the fun will help bring on the Christmas cheer.  Right now it's more like the Grinch is in residency around here.

So...

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to have drawings for freebies - products, a book or two, maybe even a gift card.   The more participation, the more days this can be done.  If you want to be able to participate, make sure you go on my Facebook page and like it.  Make sure you also set it up to get notifications or else Facebook won't let my posts show up for you to see.  Very important step!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this little experiment goes.  I love sharing with you all and have enjoyed getting to 'meet' more an more people through my work and time online.  This is going to be just a little way for me to say 'Merry Christmas' and 'Thank You' for following me and letting me share just a little part of your life.

Cheers!

**I'll be posting our Link Party #44 a little later tonight when it goes live at 8 o'clock.