Cheap Holiday Traditions

This year's Christmas shirts (given at Thanksgiving, of course).

Have I mentioned yet how much I love matching?  I love matching.  When we go places as a family I love to have my kids wear matching (or at least coordinating) clothes. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, I LOVE IT!  Every summer our family goes camping at Grandma and Grandpa's house and we all wear our matching Fourth of July t-shirts.  Not only is it super cute in the moment, but when I look back on the pictures in our scrapbook and we look like a beautifully coordinated magazine ad...  I LOVE IT!

Okay, so maybe not everyone loves to match the way I do, but everyone loves presents.  Right?  We have a tradition in our house of giving our kids gifts of clothing for all holidays, big and small. For Thanksgiving all the kids get a cute new Christmas t-shirt.  For Valentine's Day they all get adorable heart covered t-shirts (and for the boys, perhaps a manly black t-shirt with the words "Heart Breaker").  St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, etc.  It is just one fun way we celebrate holidays throughout the year.

Wait, this blog is suppose to be about tight purse strings and simple living, so why are we talking about unnecessary gifts for second-class holidays?  Because I have a secret.  Those Christmas shirts I just gave my kids... I bought them last year on clearance for $2 each.  Hidden in my closet right now is a bag of July 4th t-shirts that I bought last summer for only a dollar!  Five shirts at $1 each, and I've got a fun, happy family tradition that only cost me five bucks.

All it takes is a little bit of planning ahead.  Really just a little.  Planning ahead is not my specialty, but even I can handle this level of forethought.  When you see the clearance racks a week after the holiday is over, snatch up shirts a size to big for all of the kids.  That's it.

Okay, so there are a couple of things that can go wrong.  First you can get the wrong sizes. Occasionally kids don't grow exactly as you predicted.  This year my daughter grew three sizes so the shirt I bought a year ago two sizes too big is now one size too small.  And my little boy didn't grow at all, so the shirt I bought last year one size too big is still one size too big.  That's just life, we do the best we can and move on.  If it doesn't fit somebody this year, it will surely fit someone else next year.  Be flexible.

The second possible pitfall is losing them or forgetting about them.  My mom is notorious for buying birthday or Christmas gifts months in advance and then forgetting about them for years.  I am completely forgetful in this same way, so I protect myself from this mistake by having a system that I never stray from.  I have a big box in the top of my closet filled with gifts.  Every holiday I pull the box down and see if I have anything in it to give.  What's great about this is that since I can't remember what I put in there a year ago, it's a surprise for me too!  Win-Win.  Is it tempting for the kids having a box of gifts where they can see it?  Yes.  But I figure if they peek into the box and spoil the surprise, the only person they are hurting is themselves.

So there you have it, a fun family tradition for less than $10 a holiday.
Merry Christmas!

Marcia