I usually start thinking about Christmas gifts in September. Since we work on a very limited budget, it helps to start planning our purchases a few months in advance. That way we can buy maybe one item every payday and not feel like we’ve broken the bank in order to have a pleasant Christmas. (Not to mention that Nicholas and Robert both have birthdays in December….)
This year, I’ve been slower in the uptake and didn’t give Christmas a thought until about two weeks ago. I started making a list…I thought maybe we’d get a Spirograph for James since he loves anything artsy/creative. Books for Nicholas, that was a given. I thought maybe we’d get them a Lite Brite too. Jon and I went to Target to price the items but didn’t buy anything.
A few days later, I hosted the hat giveaway here and encouraged my blog readers to visit my new (not-officially-opened-yet) store. I was thinking about how I hoped at least a few people would order hats from me, and then it hit me, “If I want people to buy from me, why am I not buying from them?”
I talked it over with Jon, and we’ve decided that this year we’ll make all of our Christmas purchases from other homeschool families who have a home business. So many homeschool families are selling neat and fun products that I know we’ll be able to find great things to get for the boys. I’m really excited about supporting fellow homeschoolers out there!
It seems silly, now that I’ve thought about it, to have spent money year after year at Wal Mart and Target to buy things for our children when we could have been spending our money to purchase things that were made in America by American families. Not this year – sorry Wal Mart!
