Christmas on a budget

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays but it seems like every year it gets more and more expensive as our family grows! Normally, (when I was working) I spent most of my money on my nieces and would get several gifts for each of them, followed by one for everyone else in our families. This year we have our own little munchkin to think about (who also happens to have a birthday 2 weeks after Christmas!) so things are a little different and I am all about saving lots of money and still getting great gifts. I started my shopping earlier this year, knowing that I would need to spread it out across a few different paychecks. Luckily this year retailers have been having great Christmas sales way before Black Friday even arrives! 

If your looking to save some cash and have little ones to shop for but are trying to avoid the Black Friday madness, check out target and their awesome coupons from the kids catalog. They have tons of $5 off coupons that can help you save! If you don't have a printer you can text the phrase "kidsgifts" to target on your mobile phone and you will get a text back with a link. Just click the link and when you're checking out the cashier can scan the barcode and your coupons will automatically be redeemed! Easy peezy right? :) If you have family across the country like I do then you can order online and simply enter the online code to get your $5 off. Lots of toys on their site also come with free shipping until 11/27/13. I ordered my nieces gifts earlier this month and they already arrived! :) 

As for my little one, I used the Fisher Price coupons from their website to save a ton of money. I literally purchased $120 worth of toys for $30 at walmart! I did this by using a total of 12 coupons, 6 for $10 off and 6 for $5 off. 

{Gifts from Walmart...Total spent: $30!}

I was able to combine some more fisher price coupons with a few of the $5 off coupons from target and scored two of his big presents there, saving a total of $15 per toy. Basically I only paid for one of the toys and got the other one free since both were originally about $30 each. As for stocking stuffers, I picked up most of the stuff shown on the sides in the dollar section at target. 

I was able to complete my son's Christmas and birthday shopping, all for under $100. Saving money never felt so good! ;)

{Gifts from Target...total spent $60}

Unfortunately fisher price is no longer offering the printable coupons, but Walmart is having a Pre Black Friday event starting today with tons of Black Friday prices on toys and lots of other items. I hope you all can score some great deals like I did, and finish your shopping without all the stress!

 Have you started your holiday shopping yet this year? What gifts are you getting for your little ones?