Preparing

I know it is only June, but I will admit that I am already thinking about Christmas.  Primarily I am thinking of shopping for my kids' gifts.  So far I have the following set aside for Christmas:

Jack:

• Monsters, Inc. DVD, which he has been begging for for a long while now.  This is such a great movie, if you haven't seen it.  I highly recommend this to anyone, and not just if you have kids.  I must confess that I absolutely LOVE this movie.- I won a GC online and got this for free. Monsters Inc
• Batman Movies 4 pack (Here) since he is such an avid Batman fan- I won a GC online and got this for free.
• Arthur and The Invisibles 2 (Here )- I won this online on a blog (New Age Mama) and I know he is going to love it. Free
• A stash of 14 Chevron Techron cars (Like These) that I found at a yard sale, various styles for only 25 cents each! $3.50 total
• A car rug (Almost Like This One) that I scored at a yard sale as well, for $2.00!  I couldn't believe it when she told me that price.  It looks like it has been hardly touched.
• Last year's Lego finds.  One was at a yard sale which if I remember right was only $3.00.  One was given to us when their grandma was cleaning out their shed and I set it aside for when he was a little older.  $3.00 total
• I decided since I got the 2nd movie to the Arthur and The Invisibles, I would get the first one (Here)with some left over money on a GC from Amazon that I won on a book blog a couple weeks back.  (I decided to purchase used books vs. new, so I was able to buy 2 books and this movie instead of just the one book I would have been permitted to had I purchased brand new.)  The overage was exactly $2.69. 

So far the total for Jack is $11.19!

Bug:

• Enchanted (Enchanted)- I won a gift card online and bought this primarily for her for Christmas.  She has been wanting this movie for a while now.  Every time we check it out at the library, she throws on her dress ups and sings her little heart out.  It is so precious!   So this was free.
• I entered a giveaway on Hip2Save (Hip2Save) for a Build-A-Dream Playhouse and won a little while back. I was so excited, as I knew my daughter would absolutely love it.  I picked the castle. (Check It Out).  It is sitting in the garage hiding. So free.

Bug's Total is $0.00!

So a total of $11.19 spent so far in all.

How far in advance do you do your Christmas shopping?  As a single mom, I never know what life is going to throw at me, so I shop throughout the year.  It is soley my income that provides for Santa.  If you don't check out yard sales or online giveaways, I highly recommend it!  It can be well worth your time, especially the yard sales.  I tend to find some great finds in my searching.  Get planning ahead of Christmas!  Happy hunting :)