Getting a start on Christmas

Considering Target has had Christmas decorations out for a month now, and Hobby Lobby started around July, I already feel a bit behind the game. Emma has her list started, and Leah has dictated her list to me (I haven't written it down yet, I'm relying on my wonderful memory skills at this point). I have a mental list as well of gift ideas for me which will probably be bought for me by me. ;)

The thing is I'm a bit of a bargain shopper, as is hubby. I have been known to return/re-buy things to save a few bucks. I've seen some things on the shelf that I was tempted to buy already, but am waiting for a lower price. Will it be lower in the next few weeks? Who knows, but I'm hoping it will.

The only thing wrong with this strategy is that I've also learned if you see it, buy it then because it may not be there when you come back. This method is not conducive to bargain hunting, but saves on the sanity. I picked up shoes for the girls to wear at Christmas because I found what I wanted in their size at Target. Lord knows if I waited until a few weeks before, inevitably the size I need will be gone from the shelves and then I will be calling all my relatives to hit up their Targets looking for a size 9 red glitter shoes.

Being the bargain shoppers that we are, hubby and I are traditional Black Friday shoppers. Yes, we are insane but usually we have pretty good luck. He has been stalking the BF ads (that would be short for Black Friday) for about a month now and I have my eye on a few things as well. Our problem this year is we don't know where we will be for Thanksgiving. The past 4 years we have gone to his parents near Sioux Falls, so we head out at an ungodly hour to shop while everyone else is still sleeping. Grandma watches the girls and we shop until we can shop no more (until the next day, when we usually go in and do some returns/exchanges). This year we aren't going to their house until Christmas. We will decide if we want to do our BF shopping in Mason City or Des Moines and play Thanksgiving accordingly. Crazy, I know.

I may have already done some shopping for myself. I'll post about that later when I give my Christmas wish list. I've also figured out that I think I've past the point where I can shop with the youngest kid in tow and quickly try and hide gifts in the cart while she isn't looking. I'll have to do all my shopping as a solo operation I'm afraid.