Christmas in July: How to Budget and Prepare for Christmas all Year Long

Love, Ashley E | July 11, 2020

What do you think of when you think of Christmas? We love Christmas in our family and some of my favorite memories come from all the magic that the holidays bring.

 

But with all of this Christmas magic comes a hefty price tag and if you aren’t careful it could add pretty quickly!

   

How Much Money do American’s Spend on Christmas?

 

In fact according to Fortunly.com American’s spent an average of $1,496 on Christmas in 2019. They also reported that 22% of Americans believed their spending would leave them in debt. That is almost 1 out of every 4 people believe they will end up in debt at the end of the holiday.

 

This along with the 6% of people that didn’t even answer the question, tells us that as a whole we can do better about preparing for a Christmas budget. If you are wondering about the statistics I just gave or are curious about other Christmas and money related statistics you can find out more information on the Fortunly website here.

 

I love giving at Christmas (and all year). However, I’m a budget girl (okay … some may say tight wad) through and through. Although I love giving gifts it honestly almost pains me to spend money!

 

Why is Having a Budget for Christmas Important?

 

We prepare and budget all year for Christmas. It helps allow me to feel comfortable spending our money. Having a budget gives me boundaries and makes me feel in control of spending my money.

 

We also keep a spreadsheet on the computer. This helps us keep track of how much money we have already spent and what items we have stored away for each person. We allocate $100 each month to our Christmas budget starting in January every year. By doing just this we will have $1,200 by the end of the year for our Christmas budget.

 

Sometimes we have to make the Christmas budget a little bigger in October, November, and/or December to reach the almost $1,500 that Fortunly found most families spend (because we usually spend about this much as well).

 

If we find something for someone on our list that we know they will love during anytime of the year, we buy it using the $100 allotted for that month. Otherwise we save that money back until we find the perfect gift for those on our list.

 

This is a huge time saver in November and December as well because we usually already have some what of a head start on our Christmas gift purchases.

 

January is a pretty big month for buying end of the season gifts, lights, and decorations for the next year. However I don’t think much about it because it comes from our Christmas budget fund and gets us on a head start for the next year.

 

This is where July & August come into play for buying GREAT Christmas gifts. Just this month alone I have bought 2 stocking gifts for my kids and 3 of my son’s presents (he is 3)! I know, I know what if what he wants changes by the time Christmas gets here? Well he’s 3 so I pretty much can guess what he’s going to like and we make sure to leave some items for him until December.

 

I’m going to give you a run down of gifts we buy in July (& August) to help make Christmas more affordable. We will also have some of our shopping underway come December.

 

What to buy in July & August to prepare for Christmas!

 

Pool Toys

 

Pool toys are great because they can be used for so many things outside of a pool! We use our pool toys in the bath, in sensory bins, in our water table, and even as extra figurines when playing.

 

Last year we found a whole fishing set complete with fish and a net for less than $2 at Walmart! It was the perfect add on toy for his stocking.

 

We have found great summer toys for a huge discount at stores like Walmart, Target, and T.J. Max.

 

Don’t forget to look at things like flippers, goggles, pool floats, and other swimming apparel.

 

We found my son’s baby float for $1 last year and this year it retails on Amazon for $10! Even if you don’t frequent an indoor pool in the winter months these things won’t go bad and they’ll be there when you are ready to hit beach for Spring Break!

 

Toys

 

I was at Target yesterday and they had toys marked down throughout the entire toy section! Most toys were anywhere from 30-70% off! That is a huge savings!

 

We found the Frozen 2 Slide Surprise game marked down to $9.05 and they were having an extra 15% off all games on the Target App making it just $7.69. It is on Amazon today for $24.99, I may have two little boys but my 3 year old loves Frozen! If you want to read about some other games perfect for 3 year olds, you can check them out here.

 

They also had board games for adults that were marked up to 50% off including The Big Bang Theory game and The Golden Girls. We love giving games as gifts because it’s something we can do while we are altogether.

   

We also found great deals on Little People, doll babies, Our Generation Doll accessories, Leap Frog, Paw Patrol, P.J. Masks, MagnaTiles, VTech, Melissa & Doug, and Toy Story toys. We found a Magnext 5-in-1 Explorer that was originally marked $69.99 and had been marked down to $34.99.

 

These toys also double as great birthday gifts or if you know your child has a gift exchange every year.

 

Beach Towels

 

As a swimmer and lifeguard growing up I could never have enough beach towels! It seemed like they were always dirty or drying on the back deck when I needed them.

 

Now as an adult I know that we can never have too many beach towels around, I feel like I’m always doing the laundry on them.

 

I also like gifting these to my children at Easter.

 

School Supplies

 

I love gifting my son a fresh pack of new crayons at Christmas in his stocking and this is the perfect time to pick them up! You can also find notebooks, markers, journals, scissors, and glue for a discounted price (most of the time less than a $1.00).

 

Just make sure you watch the ads of places like Target, Walmart, Office Depot, and Staples. You can even make a fun art box for a nice price that any artistic child (or adult) would love to receive at Christmas.

 

Tumblers & Water Bottles

 

I found some cute cups with straws at Target yesterday marked down to less than $5! The one I picked up was originally marked for $9.99.

 

They even had cute prints and designs that would be a great stocking stuffer or gift for a daughter, sister, mom, teacher, or any other person that you typically gift during this time.

 

They may not be themed for the holidays but they will work better as an “all year” type of gift.

 

Fourth of July Themed Items

 

One of my favorite gifts from my mom every year is a box of kitchen hand towels for different holidays and seasons throughout the year. It is fun being able to pull out new hand towels for the seasons and it makes Christmas feel like it’s all year long.

 

Some of the items they mark down after the holiday aren’t even specifically holiday themed. Make sure you watch for items that are specific to being red, blue, or summer in design.

 

My favorite places to find mark downs on holiday decor are Target, Walmart, and Kohl’s.

   

These are all the ways that I get a jump start on our Christmas list. These tips will help you save money, stress, and time later in the year.

 

What do you do to prepare for the Holiday Season? Do you shop ahead or wait until November? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! As always if you have found my post helpful or you have learned something please share with your friends & family!