The Gift of Gift Cards

The kids just went through the last round of opening presents, Christmas gifts sent back from their grandparents house. They were thrilled of course and I was glad to finally have the holidays behind us. As we were trying to find places to put all the new treasures they'd received, I found myself really taking stock of what our whole family had been given over the holidays. One of the most practical gifts any of us received were gift cards. I really like gift cards for a variety of reasons.

For us, gift cards usually allow Dan and I to go out to dinner somewhere we normally wouldn't, or buy ourselves a little something extra. Sometimes we use them to purchase something for the house, other times we use them to buy gasoline. You can get gift cards to so many places that their uses are quite varied!

I love it when the kids receive gift cards. There is something very nice about them being able to buy that thing they will just die without on their own. Plus, I really like that gift cards help teach about budgeting, making them really think about how they use the money on the cards. Ashley is such a hoot when it comes to this, she wants to stretch her gift cards as far as she can. She scored huge on bath, hair, and lip gloss gift sets during the after Christmas sales. She received gift cards for her birthday that she kept balances on for months because she refused to buy anything that was not on sale. She is so much like me! Tristen is also very wise about is gift card usage, he puts a lot of thought into what he purchases before he makes them. He very rarely buys something he doesn't truly love. For some reason my kids seem to put more value on things they've picked out themselves. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm all for them taking care of their belongings.

We will probably be giving gift cards a lot more this year. So many of our family members are hard to buy for, so gift cards are just perfect! Some people think they are impersonal, but I believe letting the recipient choose a gift they truly want is a great thing to do.

What do you think? Do you enjoy giving and/or receiving gift cards during the holidays? Do you find them impersonal or do you love them? I'd love to hear what y'all think!

Children's Birthday Musings

How much do you spend on your kiddos for their birthdays? I've been looking up party ideas all week and am blown away by what I'm finding! If the parties cosat several hundred dollars, what are these kids getting as gifts? I am truly dumbfounded!

My little girl turns 9 very soon. To e perfectly honest, we don't have her party even planned yet. We are trying to juggle family from all over the state, accommodate everyone, and do it all in an "in the process of being remodeled" house with no oven. Joy! I am actually very anxious about how this is going to turn out.

Anyway, I do have her gifts nailed down. We decided this year to not go all out for birthdays, thinking we'd be able to do a little more than normal for Christmas. So, I did some creative thinking and shopping. I picked up a great child's charm bracelet at a local antique store. Once I take some silver polish to it I think she'll love it. Then, I used my last Paperback Swap credit to order a book she's wanted for months. I love it when you can get a child that "one thing" they've been hoping for! Lastly, I picked up a bottle of girly tween body wash and matching body spray at Family Dollar on clearance. She loves that kind of stuff! So, Ashley's gifts are bought and we spent about $5.

Is that awful of me? I actually was told by a friend today that this was too little and I'm just cheap. I do not agree! I think buying her things we can't afford, that she doesn't need is just wrong. The child does not need another toy. Spending money on toys for her just seems so wasteful. Sure we didn't buy her 15 different gifts, but will she really care after it's all said and done? Between us and all her grandparents, she will get a lot and be tickled pink. But, I have been thinking ever since that phone call, am I too cheap?

So, my question to you is, how do you handle birthdays and Christmas too? Do you have a set amount of money you spend on your kids for these occasions? Do you do a set number of gifts? I am very curious as to how other moms handle these questions.