I am!  I need about 21 presents for the kids- 3 each, and something for dh, and 7 stockings!  Time to get serious about samples, freebies, and looking for things that would be nice enough to wrap.  Sometimes the kids get garage sale and thrift store items.  Dd, age 11, got a thrift store bike last year as her main present- she loves it!  We still have to tighten the seat more, but it is great.  

I would like to get some homemade soap from the farmer's market, they have a nice strong cinnamon one, lavender one, etc.  That's a start for the older kid's stockings.   

 Tracy, I agree Christmas will come way to soon for me. I will be making jelly soon. We alway give that to friends at church. Last year, DS showed up wanting jars for their Christmas baskets. I have been hunting out empty jars. I was also looking at Brandys post about making soap. If I can pull together the money, I may try that for gifts and to keep. Yard sales here havent had much so far. I think that people are a little nervous aobut the work to have one and no one showing up. we went out last Sat and found only 4 sales No one was at them. I am hoping that they will pick up. I like to pick up Christmas coffee mugs, tins , small ornaments . books to add to baskets with the jelly. Baskets too....you can spray paint them a different color.  

More ideas????????............Babs 

Tracy glad you posted this.  I need to start thinking about what I'm going to do this year too.  In the last few years we have shortened our list of people we exchange gifts with.  So I don't have as many as I used to.  Might put together some "goodie baskets".  I used to do that and just got out of the habit of doing them.   Think I will inventory my craft cabinet and see what I already have on hand to make some ornaments with.  I also saw an idea for a really cute "pedicure pail" in a book, have a couple girlfriends that would love those.  And I did see some pedicure/manicure items at the dollar store the last time I was there. 

I would really like to be ready early this year instead of trying to finish way to many things at the last minute.  Thanks for giving us a nudge to think about this early.  Guess I need to start a list and really put some thought into what I want to do. 

Shellia

You know, usually I'm about 1/2 way done by now, but I really haven't found anything. I did manage to find a K'Nex building set (small case) for $8.00 at Big Lots last week. I got it with my youngest nephew in mind, but I might save it for his bday which is in January. Last year, my sister's family and ours didn't exchange gifts, and I'd like to do that again this year, but she gets so flippin' nasty about it. However, we usually do buy for the kids' birthdays...

Anyway, I have my 2 kids, my husband, my parents, & his parents to buy presents for this year. I also buy for my best friend & her 2 girls ($10 spending limit), and we usually get our neighbor's a GC to a resteraunt as well. We also buy for the kids teacher, the principal & secretary, nothing extravagant, just something to say thanks for all you do. We usually get them each a GC to a bookstore or eatery, but this year, I may get them each gas cards!! Plus I usually make them some chocolate chip pumpkin bread or homemade fudge. I'm going to make some jams & jellies that I'll probably use for gifts as well. I just know that we are scaling WAY back this year!! I might even do most of my shopping from home (and from my stash in the basement)!!

It's pretty ironic that I saw this post because just yesterday I started thinking about Christmas shopping. I usually start around August or so, picking up things on sale and such. But this year, I have a baby due the end of January so things will be crazy come fall and extra money will be focused on preparing maternity leave.

I do the MyPoints thing. It would take a long post to explain, but to sum it up I get emails (about 5 a day) and if I visit the website (I just wait for it to load then close out) then I get 5 points each email. The points build up and you can use them to purchase gift cards. The whole concept is that they want you to buy things through their website (for example, you sign up for Netflix and you get like 1000 points) but I stick to just cliking on the emails for points. Well, in 6 months I built up enough to get two $10 gift certificates and I hope to have enough points by Christmas time to get two more. So, I'll use those for gifts (probably for the teens).

Kind of on a side note: one thing I've noticed within the last few years is those throw blankets... usually they are fleece.... well around the holidays you can always find them for cheap ($10 or even $5). I usually pick up these when I see them because you can give them to pretty much anyone, even the kids. I think its a great (and cheap) gift.

I love the idea of putting together baskets. It's such a heart-felt gift and people love them. But it's too easy to let it get pricier than just buying something! My mom did them last year and they were beautiful but I think she spent a ton of time on them and really had to put in some cash (baskets, jars, ingredients, etc.). I think the key to doing something like this is to buy the items right after Christmas (last year I got a few jars and baskets for really cheap) to use for the next year.

Keep the ideas coming!!!!! I'm sure we could all use them.

God bless,

Julie

Gift Idea: If you have a Bass Pro Shop in your area, they are advertising a Bass Pro Shop TShirt (I think a fish and an American flag on the front) for $5. We have one but it's like 45 minutes away and unless I were buying a ton of the shirts I don't think it's worth the gas money. BUT if you have one in your area I think it would be a great gift.

God bless,

Julie

Gift Idea: (I think a previous poster already said something about collecting samples). Samples are great for stocking stuffers. I am a sample freak and get about 2 samples in the mail each day. Out of all the sites I've been too here is the best one (see below). If you go to that page and click on the "Newest Additions" on the left side of the page, that's a great place to start.

http://www.mysavings.com/

juju_mommy:

I do the MyPoints thing. It would take a long post to explain, but to sum it up I get emails (about 5 a day) and if I visit the website (I just wait for it to load then close out) then I get 5 points each email. The points build up and you can use them to purchase gift cards. The whole concept is that they want you to buy things through their website (for example, you sign up for Netflix and you get like 1000 points) but I stick to just cliking on the emails for points. Well, in 6 months I built up enough to get two $10 gift certificates and I hope to have enough points by Christmas time to get two more. So, I'll use those for gifts (probably for the teens).

I do this too - I also complete surveys on line; some have prizes you buy for a certain number of points, and some give cash and/or PayPal, Amazon, iTunes, and other certificates.

My family loves my "green" gift baskets, even comes to expect them.  I started making them as a way to try and get them to be more environmentally friendly.  Throughout the year I pick up earth-friendly products, CFL lights, make my homemade air freshener (non aerosol).  Since I've learned so many uses for vinegar since I've joined this site, maybe I'll use the computer to make a decorative list of ways to use vinegar, tuck it in this year's baskets.

Hi, I just started thinking about Christmas, I quilt so I have to plan out what I'm going to do.  This year I have at least 3 quilts planned for christmas and one for a wedding in Oct.  Hopefully I can get them all made by christmas.   Last year I used Ebay to get rid of allot of stuff/junk then used the proceeds to fund christmas.  (I was cleaning out our basement)  I am going to try to do it again this year, but I know most of the good stuff is already gone.  It is amazing what people will buy off of EBAY.  I sold 3 old amiga computers plus a ton of software for the amiga.  We'll see how that goes this year, I have a ton of fabric and toys that I'm going to put up.  I don't think beanie babies are going to be a big seller, but I think they have been bredding in my basement for the last couple of years.      They need to go to new homes.

For the last ten years we have done a name pull for my family, kids get kids and adults get adults, so there are 8 presents there I'll need to buy in December.  For my Husbands family we have been doing a rotation through his siblings so I already know who we have and can look for deals for his side.  My side can be tricky depending on who you get.  One year my cousin said her son was a huge red sox's fan, so I got him Red sock's themed things on sale for his new room.  He hated it, even after I o.k.ed it with his mom.  We try to keep the cost down to $20 a present, but some people go overboard, then feel let down when other people keep to the limits.  

So I'm looking forward to reading everyones ideas, I'm looking to put the Christ back in christmas and take the greedness out of it.