Christmas Tips 101

I thought that I would share with all of you my personal tips for how to handle the whole Christmas process from decorating to the day of Christmas.  It's not mandatory or written anywhere that these are the ways that you have to do Christmas, but perhaps some people might find the way I do things to be of interest to them or even work in their favor.

Decorate at a halfway decent time --  This is Jason and I's first Christmas on our own, so we decorated literally a week before Thanksgiving due to getting a little bit too excited about doing things on our own.  However, next year we have decided to put the tree up the weekend before the first of December along with all the other decorations.  You work SO hard at doing it all up, why not get the most out of it?  Besides, the month of December is the Christmas month!  I would probably say that we will be putting away our Christmas stuff the day after New Years.

Get all of your Christmas shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving -- I recommend this tip specifically for mainly two reasons.  Number one, things tend to start becoming picked over from Thanksgiving on.  Number two, there is nothing I need THAT bad to risk my life over, especially on Black Friday.  Granted, things will be a little more expensive shopping before Thanksgiving, but that's fine with me.  Money is made to be spent.  Some people like to be out in all that chaos, but I'm not one of those people.

Use gift BAGS instead of GIFT wrap -- This may make me sound cheap, but gift wrap makes a mess and can't be reused.  Some people find it odd or embarrassing to reuse a gift bag for next year.  Nothing is embarrassing about saving money.  While you may think the bag makes all the difference in the world, it doesn't.  People are more concerned about what's in the bag.  If you're gifting to close family and friends, it shouldn't be that awkward to ask for the gift bags back.  However, if you really feel that awkward about asking for them back, just save the gift bags that your presents came in.

Expensive Christmas cards for the close, cheap Christmas cards for the distant -- Believe it or not, it's not that difficult to drop a hefty dime on Christmas cards.  What I do is, I take the time and money to pick out the fancy Christmas cards with the intricate sayings in them that are relatively expensive for close immediate family and friends.  This would include people like: your best-friend, boyfriend/husband, mother and father (on both sides), grandparents (on both sides), brothers and sisters.  For the rest of the people in your life that are not as close, you can get a Christmas card kit that has 50-100 cards with 4-5 different variety of styles.

On that note --

NEVER, EVER put Christmas cards with money or gift card's in your street mailbox --  Out of all the tips I list here, you BETTER listen to this one.  It's a federal offensive to steal mail out of other peoples mailboxes, but as you all know, people don't always follow the law.  I understand that you may have friends or family that live a distance that you would like to send a little something, but take it to secured postal service mail box.  People have stolen postal service mail boxes before by finding a way to rip them out of the ground and mail carriers aren't always so honest as well, but this method is more likely to be secure than a street mail box.

Gift cards can be a gifters BEST-friend --  If you ever become stumped on what to get someone, get them a gift card.  Obviously if you are buying a present for someone, you should know them well enough to know at least one store or restaurant that they like.  Some people believe that not enough thought goes into a gift card.  Heck, I LOVE getting gift cards.  It allows me to get out of the house and enjoy a day to myself shopping and dining out!  Also, it helps out the awkward situation that you could possibly find yourself in if people turn out to not like your gift or have no use for it.  Some people are not so good at hiding their dislike face.  Others may not say anything, but then you don't know whether they have your gift laying around the house being unused or if they throw it out ... hard earned money going to waste in my opinion.  Gift cards are also cheaper to ship out than presents that have a lot of weight.

Please be courteous -- Please, please, PLEASE refrain from shopping on Christmas Eve and Christmas day!  I realize that some stores remain open on these holidays, but it's out of business greed.  The major holidays should be solely reserved to be spent with family and friends, not working.  Get everything you need before the holiday and if there is a chance that you forgot something, please be selfless enough to do without it.  Remember, there are people out there in the world that are happier with less than what you have.

Don't drink and drive --  Unfortunately, I feel like I have to stress this topic because no matter how much it's put out there, people still do it.  Either find a designated driver or park your ass for the night.  Driving drunk, no matter how important your desired destination is, is not worth risking your life or someone else's if ya'll don't make it out alive.

What tips do you think could potentially benefit others for Christmas?  Share your ideas down below!