Moneyday…Holiday Gifts that don’t break the bank.

Now that we’re into the second day of November, it’s time to start making our lists and checking them twice. If you haven’t started your holiday shopping yet, what are you waiting for? The crowds? The rude salespeople? The empty shelves? Since our economy is still in the tank, I’ve forced myself to not only start a little earlier, but I’ve been rethinking this holiday season. This year I’m going for quality, NOT quantity. I want to give more personal gifts and I want to spend less to do it. This Moneyday, I want to share a few of my ideas to have a great gift giving season without breaking the bank.

My inspiration for REALLY looking into my gift giving this year has been fellow Mommy Blogger, Steph. Steph has a wonderful blog called, Confessions of a Stay-At-Home Mom. Recently Steph took a short hiatus from her blogging to move her family to a new home and participate in her sister’s wedding. Starting today, she’s back and ready to take us into the holiday season. Every Wednesday, Steph gives us, a Revolution Gift idea. So far we’ve been given 3 great gift ideas, I will warn you though, these gifts are for the more crafty people out there. Go check out Confession of a Stay-At-Home Mom and give some of Steph’s crafty ideas a try.

The inundation of catalogs has begun at my house, so I’ve been seeing all kinds of gift ideas come in my mailbox, most of which are a little expensive for this holiday season. One catalog (out of the hundreds I’ve received) had some great personalized gifts that are easy on the wallet. PersonalCreations.com has some great items to give to your loved ones that have that great personal touch. Is there a sports fan on your shopping list? Check out this Sports Scoreboard Print. Personal Creations has some great gift ideas for every person on your gift list and even some of your fury friends too. The best part is that for the most part they are very reasonably priced, especially when compared to other personal gift makers out there.

My unexpected gift destination for this year is BJ’s. I went in for a jumbo pack of baby wipes and came out with one person checked off my list. Finding a gift for the most difficult person on my list (Dad) has always been a source of stress and anxiety, but this year I was able to find a great gift that was even kind of creative and the best part is that I didn’t put myself into debt to do it. Of course, I can’t give away the surprise in the off chance that he visits my blog, but I can tell you it’s not a 200 ounce jar of mayonnaise. Another great gift I found at BJ’s was for Cameron. They had a special gift pack with the Tag Reading System from Leap Frog for $69.99 with a $10 instant rebate. When I priced out all the contents (at Target) I found that I saved about $10 and only need to wrap one box instead of 4. At BJ’s you have to know what items cost at other stores because not every item is a good deal, but there are a few diamonds in the rough.

Are you cutting back this holiday season? How are you going to give quality gifts that don’t put you in debt for the New Year? Share your ideas, comment or email me at MyLifeInMommyland@me.com.

Have a Money Saving Monday!!