Spread cheer without breaking the bank!

Tis the season to spend a lot of money in a short amount of time!  Some people buy Christmas presents all year long to cut down on the money spending between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is a super idea if you find gifts that you really want to give.  One thing I found over the years that if I would buy all year long for someone that when Nov/Dec hits I'm still buying and end up with way too much stuff and in the end spent way too much money.

Not to brag but I'd like to think of myself as a fun gift giver!  I like to buy the unexpected present from someone.  I love buying something that suits them.  I've found over the years that if you find that one fun present then you don't have to go crazy and buy a bunch of items that aren't needed.

Here are some examples of some fun, inexpensive presents to suit someone:

1) My Father-in-law had surgery a few years ago around Thanksgiving time.  So for Christmas I bought him and my mother-in-law a joint present.  Guess what it was?  The gave Operation!  No joke and still  years later they get a good chuckle out of it.

2) Photos are gifts that you can give to about anyone.  I don't just hand someone a stack of photos.  I take an event and give them a mini album of that event.  So I take my camera with me to get shots of events.  Then use an online source to print off photos and or even make a mini album for you if you don't have time to scrapbook it yourself.  I had some friends move from their old home which they lived 15 years.  So I made a book of pics from their old home.  Things that I knew that they loved.  It really was a book that keeps giving all the time because when they get lonely they look through the book to cheer them up.

3) One year right before Christmas my family watched the movies Napoleon Dynamite and UHF.  These movies had the guys laughing and cracking bad jokes.  Common themes of their conversations were "my lips hurt real bad" from Napoleon and the song "Spatula City" by Weird Al from UHF.  So the 5 big brothers and dad all got a mini stocking with chapstick and a spatula for Christmas.  Of course toss in some candy and they were laughing up a storm!  Year later that still gets talked about.

So those are just 3 examples of my ways to save money around the holidays without breaking the bank!  Go hit the sales!  Staples has one going on right now! Make your Christmas presents something that suits that person.  Make it a little fun to spread some good cheer.  You will create memories that will last for many years to come!

Thanks to Twittermoms and Staples for pairing up and offering this blog contest about how to save money over the holidays!  Click Twittermoms to join in the contest to win a $25 Staples gift card!  Click on the Staples widget below to go see their savings!  The Flip camera would make a real memorable gift!