April Flowers 2003 Playgroup

Wow! I didn't think that woube such a tough question!

Here's mine. I like to decorate with lots of natural greens, but they are very expensive - ranging from $20-50 for a small bunch depending on the type (I like to mix them up). Of course, I can usually get a few free boughs from the Christmas tree place, but I often want to decorate long before we buy the tree.

For several years now, I've managed to find someplace that was trimming or cutting down evergreens and have asked if I could have some of the trimmings. They always say yes and I've saved a ton - last year they were trimming the evergreens at the high school across the street. All I had to buy was a few supplemental greens for contrast. 

That is a pretty imaginative of you!

I mainly save $$s by being patient and waiting for a good coupon or sale on the things that I plan to buy. It can be nerve-wrackign though if you really want the item and are afraid that it will sell out.

We also set a specific budget for each person that we buy for and we stick to it. We set the budget, save the money and pay for christmas in cash. We want it to be fun...not stressful that we are spending $$. That said...we haven't finalized the budget yet and I keep telling DH it needs to get done.

We have already been stocking up on some of the non-perishable food items we will need when we have lots of visitors at christmas. We bought some stuff at costco because we had coupons for some of the items we know we will need. This way we are spreading that extra $200-300 we will probably spend on groceries in December over several months.