Less & More: The WFH Mom Edit

December is finally here and we are officially in the homestretch of holiday shopping! 

With a lot of us trying to stretch our proverbial pennies a bit further this year and my own mental journey of wanting to contribute to landfills MUCH less, I decided to approach holiday shopping this year with mindfulness in, well, mind. 

My family and I are truly leaning into joy this year – I keep joking that my home looks like Santa threw Christmas joy all over the place and I have done every DIY project I could get my hands on – but that doesn’t mean I am draining my bank account to buy things my loved ones might not even want. 

I LOVE to give gifts (might even be my love language, TBD) and I don’t sacrifice a good gift in the name of cash but I approach holiday shopping strategically. Here are some tricks I use to shop smarter and keep holiday spending from snowballing into a negative balance. 

Get Organized: If you were around last year you might remember my Black Friday shopping tips and my little gift spreadsheet with a budget tracker might ring a bell. I start prepping this doc months before Christmas especially if we are going on a trip where I will buy gifts for people far in advance. Being organized keeps me from overbuying and allows me to really think about what I want to get for people or things I’ve heard them mention over the year. Plus, when I plan ahead I can make room to splurge on things too.

Go Handmade: It might not be everyone’s thing, but I LOVE handmade gifts. Last year a friend thrifted a mug and made it into a candle for me. It was one of my favorite gifts! I have made a few gifts already this year and I give myself bonus points when I stack my Michael’s coupons and rewards for the supplies I’ll need. Crafting and making things heals a piece of my soul and I love spending time creating something for someone who means a lot to me. 

Cash Back & Price Track: For the gifts my kids really want, I always keep an eye on them with Honey since it’ll track sales and let me know when prices usually drop. I started using Rakuten to get cash back from purchases too and even though the cash back can seem small, they’ll add up quick when you are shopping online for the holidays. I also save up credit card points throughout the year to redeem for gift cards and cashback I can put toward holiday shopping or a quick winter break trip. Make my money work for me or something like that. 

Press Pause: In an immediate add to cart and one click purchase world I am just trying to pause before purchasing. It is so easy to click-click-click and spend a ton of money and things without even thinking about it. Getting organized helps with impulse purchases but unless something is disappearing off the planet forever I can wait on buying it for a bit. To dissuade myself from impulse shopping I don’t store my credit card info in any sites and rarely connect my Paypal. Sometimes the hassle of getting up to grab my debit card is enough to make me say n-o to that purchase. 

Be Smart with Shipping: Shipping will bite me in the behind every single time so now I try to be very aware of free shipping cut offs. If I know something will take a long time (like something handmade from Etsy or a small business in another country) I set an alarm to order it in plenty of time before the holidays. Nothing I despise more than finding a great deal only to realize that in order to gift the item in time I need to pay $45 for express shipping. 

No matter how you approach it, I hope your holiday shopping is joyful! I love to pick out the perfect gift and nothing beats the feeling of getting someone something they love….and you don’t have to go for broke in order to do that. So, how do you keep holiday spending manageable while keeping the season magical??