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Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

3 Lessons I Learned Buying Christmas Gifts for Teens

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3 Lessons I Learned Buying Christmas Gifts for Teens

Christmas gift shopping for my kids used to be easy and frugal. I’d buy toys I could find on sale. If an item was outside our limited budget, I wasn’t above buying it secondhand. My kids knew I did this, and they didn’t mind because they got the item they wanted.

However, now all three are teens and tweens, and their lists are more expensive and particular. Because of this, I upped my Christmas budget to $150 per child plus stockings, which for our budget, is a lot. However, because of the 3 lessons I learned buying Christmas gifts for teens, I likely won’t spend the same amount next year.

Our Gift Situation

I should clarify that the presents my husband and I give our kids are not their only gifts. My mom gives them several gifts, as do their godparents. Our gifts are only a portion of what they receive.

3 Lessons I Learned Buying Christmas Gifts for Teens

I had determined now that the kids are older (18.5, 14, and 12.5), I would have to spend more to make them happy. However, I learned this year that the assumption is incorrect, so I will likely reduce the Christmas budget next year.

Buy from the List

The one piece of advice I want to give all parents of teens is to buy gifts your teen asks for on their Christmas list. Those gifts were a huge hit; the kids loved them! When we strayed from the list and got something we thought a teen would like, they were disappointed. Buy from the list!

Shop Black Friday Sales

My next piece of advice is to shop Black Friday sales. (Remember, since COVID-19, these sales no longer start the day after Thanksgiving. They often begin a week or two BEFORE Thanksgiving.) Black Friday sales are essential if your child asks for a pricey gift that you can’t afford.

For instance, my 18-year-old wanted Apple Air Pods. As I was only spending $150 per child, these were out of my budget unless I only got him one gift. Yet, a Black Friday sale allowed me to snag some for $80. Because of the deal, he got Apple Air Pods and other presents.

Sometimes Less Is More

3 Lessons I Learned Buying Christmas Gifts for Teens

Finally, spend the amount you have to spend, but don’t increase your budget because you’re worried about your kids’ expectations, as I was. I learned this year that a few gifts the kids really want are all they need. In fact, one of my kids said, “I got too many gifts this year.” Lesson learned.

Final Thoughts

The 3 lessons I learned buying Christmas gifts for teens this year will help me save money and buy presents my kids want next year. Yes, buying gifts for teens is different than buying gifts for younger kids, but don’t make the experience more challenging. Instead, buy from your kids’ list and stick to the budget. and you will both have a good holiday.

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The Best Gifts for Teachers

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The Best Gifts for Teachers

‘Tis the time of the year when people like to give gifts to those who help them in their and their children’s lives, such as teachers. I was a teacher for many years, and while I appreciated the gifts I received, many were duplicates or items I didn’t need. I felt bad giving them away or donating them, but there are only so many coffee mugs a person can have (and I don’t even drink coffee!). So, if you’re looking for the best gifts for teachers, here’s what I’d recommend.

Thank You Note

One of the best gifts for teachers is also an economical option—a simple thank-you note. You may not realize this, but teachers frequently have to handle upset parents or students. They also face administrative pressure. So, getting a heartfelt thank-you note stating why you appreciate your teacher is a welcome gift because teachers don’t hear thank you nearly enough.

Gift Cards

Most people don’t know their teachers well enough to know exactly what gift to buy, and even if they do, the teacher may get gifts from several students, so the chance of a repeat gift is high. Avoid that situation by giving the teacher a gift card. Then, the teacher can buy what she needs, for herself or the classroom. Popular gift card choices include bookstores, restaurants, and grocery stores.

Classroom Enrichment

Another idea is to buy something the teacher needs for the classroom.

Board Games

Educational board games like Ticket to Ride and 10 Days in Europe might be welcome because the kids can use them during rainy days when they can’t go out to recess.

Books

The Best Gifts for Teachers

Many elementary school teachers have small libraries in their classrooms. A gift of books can help the teacher expand his library at no out-of-pocket cost to him.

Some teachers have classroom wish lists on sites like Amazon. If your child’s teacher has one, you’ll find plenty of welcome gift ideas.

Necessities

While teachers get too many mugs as gifts, they can likely always use what goes in them. For example, coffee is a favorite among teachers, and so is tea. Likewise, you and your child can make a cute hot chocolate kit for the teacher.

At Christmas, teachers frequently get home baked goods like cookies, fudge, and brownies. If they get these gifts from a handful of students, they likely will have more than they can (or should) eat before they go bad. Instead, consider buying cookie or brownie kits so the teachers can make the baked goods when they want them—maybe even in four months!

Final Thoughts

The best gifts for teachers are not mugs or homemade treats (though those are good). Instead, thank you notes, gift cards, and resources for the classroom will likely make the teacher’s holiday season and continue to give for both the teacher and the students long after the holidays are over.

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5 Ways to Buy Legos at a Discount

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Buy Legos at a Discount

A few years ago, my daughter began a Lego obsession.  She asked for Lego Friends sets for her birthday, and she was surprisingly quick at putting the sets together.  Not long after, she advanced to Lego sets for teens like Lego Architecture sets with hundreds of pieces.  If your child is a fellow Lego enthusiast, I don’t need to tell you how quickly the prices for these sets add up.  Luckily, there are several ways to buy Legos at a discount.

How to Buy Legos at a Discount

You can buy Legos at a discount, but you have to be patient and use one or more of these methods.

Buy on Sale

Yes, Legos do sometimes go on sale.  Often, especially during the holiday season or when a Lego model is discontinued, you can find the sets for 20% off.  The best places to look are Target, Walmart, and Lego.com.

In addition, Lego.com sometimes offers free small Lego kits when you buy a set from them.  Last Easter my daughter got two free, small sets when she purchased a larger one.

Buy at Costco

Costco doesn’t always carry Legos, but they do during the holidays.  These sets are cheaper than you can buy them elsewhere, but they do sell out quickly.  Keep an eye out for Lego sets in October at Costco.

Join Buy Nothing Groups

Buy Legos at a Discount

If you’re not looking for a particular set but just pieces, consider joining a local Buy Nothing group.  People frequently sell large bags of miscellaneous Lego pieces at a low price.  This can be an excellent way to start a Lego collection.

Other Things to Consider

You can utilize two other strategies to lower the overall price of Lego sets.

Help Your Child Save for a Lego Set

One of my friend’s sons wanted to buy a Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon kit.  These retail for about $130.  My friend didn’t want to spend that much on one set, so she made a deal with her eight-year-old son.  If he saved $65 for the set, she would chip in the other $65.  She was impressed with how hard he worked and how much he saved to afford the set.

If your child wants an expensive set and you have the money to split the cost with him, this agreement can be an excellent way to teach your child how to save.

Can Sell to Recoup Money

Remember, your child won’t always want to build Legos.  When she is 16, she may have outgrown Legos.  If she has kept all the pieces to her sets as well as kept the boxes in good condition, she should be able to sell the sets and recoup some of her money, unlike many other toys.

Final Thoughts

If your child wants some expensive Lego sets, try utilizing some of these strategies to save money.  But remember, start your search earlier.  You’ll likely need some time to buy the Lego set at a discount.  You’ll need to search the sales and perhaps offer your child a money matching proposition to be able to afford the larger sets.

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What To Do When You Are Overspending at Christmas

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Overspending at Christmas

I have a confession.

I overspent my Christmas budget.

(And I’m not done shopping.)

Overspending At Christmas

I did everything right. I made a list of who I was shopping for and created an overall budget. All was going well until I deviated from my plan.

Typically I plan a vacation for Christmas. I prefer to gift experiences to my family over wrapped presents. Last year, we went to Disney World. The year before, we went to Great Wolf Lodge.

However, this year, my daughter wanted a saddle, and my son had been asking for some 1000+ piece Lego sets. These were items I’d buy for my kids outside of Christmas, so I thought let’s go ahead and have Santa buy them. We’ll stay home this year and spend our budget on Christmas presents.

I also expected this would create a more relaxed Christmas. I wouldn’t have to coordinate the logistics of travel, and I wasn’t planning to buy much for Christmas. After all, the presents I was going to buy weren’t extra for the sake of Christmas.

I was wrong.

It’s not more relaxed and I’m buying more presents than what was on my list.

Creating A Budget Buffer

Something I always do is that I plan to go over budget ahead of time. I do this by creating a budget buffer – usually 5 to 10% of my overall budget. Because overspending at Christmas is not an unrealistic scenario.

Since we’re home this year, I’ve been more inclined to accept invitations to Christmas parties. Also, because we are home, we’re going to my in-laws Christmas morning. This added additional people to shop for that were not on my original list.

But good plans are fluid, so I adjusted the budget per person to accommodate the extras.

Another thing that surprised me is my kids wanted to buy presents for other people. I appreciate this, and it was a simple budget obstacle to overcome.

They pitched ideas on what they would do in exchange for extra money. I was able to secure some “maid” service for the next few weeks in exchange for some small gifts. The amounts were small enough that it didn’t set me over budget because I had built in a buffer for unexpected purchases.

Plan For Budget Obstacles

What I didn’t expect was nostalgia to travel over Christmas. Impulsively, I booked a 3-day trip to Legoland. I paid the full price for the hotel room and park tickets. I was able to use miles for two of our plane tickets and paid for the other two. This was the primary reason that led to my overspending at Christmas.

So what am I going to do now that I’m WAY over budget?

Good plans should be fluid and be able to accommodate roadblocks.

I have to sacrifice in other areas of my budget. I reduced the amount my husband is allowed to spend on me and I pulled from our travel savings account to cover the hotel and tickets.

To pay for the plane tickets, I pulled from January’s budget by cutting expenses. Food was cut back, clothing was eliminated, and I cut the flash cash budget in half.

What I Learned

Through this process, I have been reminded of how grateful I am that:

1) I have set my budget up to accommodate impulse decisions – knowing this is standard behavior for me,
2) I have diversified my income so that I know I can generate some back-up income when I needed, and
3) I am committed to remaining debt-free. A few years ago, I would’ve slapped the trip on a credit card and not thought twice about taking two years to pay for it.

 

Have you gone over budget this Christmas? How do you handle impulse purchases? Is your budget set up to accommodate your personality? Let us know in the comments.

Read more:

5 Ways to Buy Cheap Christmas Gifts for Kids

Three Things You Can Do to Make Money for Christmas

Favorite Family Christmas Traditions, Modernized!

 

Unique Mother’s Day Activities for Celebrating Mom

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unique mother's day activities

Mother’s Day is around the corner, and if you have been celebrating a few years, you might be stuck on what to do this year.  Breakfast in bed, lunch out, and spa days are wonderful and are a bit too common to use every year. Rather than sticking to a boring routine, here are some ideas for unique Mother’s Day activities that I have used over the years.

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Keep Them Busy This Year With Cheap Holiday Activities for Kids

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holiday activities for kids

Soon your kids will have a lengthy holiday break and it will be up to you to keep them occupied. You don’t have to spend a lot of money taking them to see the latest light show or event. Here are some creative and cheap holiday activities for kids to help you keep your kids happy (and keep your sanity) over the holidays.

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How to Have a Fun Frugal Halloween

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frugal halloween ideas

Your kids are probably getting excited at the thought of all the trick or treating candy, but they are probably planning their costume, too. Costumes can get expensive with some as high as $100. That’s a lot of money for some families to spend on something your child will likely wear just once and then outgrow. But don’t worry. There are a number of great frugal Halloween ideas that will keep your kids happy without spending the money you are saving for Christmas.

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