How far in advance...

its nice to buy things in advance for when we have some kind of occassion coming up and i must tell you that it saves you time and sometimes cost,i do this sometimes 3 weeks or even a month before at least i know i dont have to rush anything,not with the way prices are going up these days

I have four kids and their birthdays are spread out 3 months apart. So every three months we are celebrating a birthday. I buy things like the little goody bag stuffers throughout the year when I find good deals. I have a birthday box where I store things. Leftovers from one party get passed on to the next. I also have a spot in my closet(which the kids have recently dscovered so I have to move it) where I store up gifts. When I find something on sale or at a yard sale I buy it, then set it aside. Sometimes its a whole year in advance. So yeah, I'm alittle like you, birthday parties can be really expensive, and its not in our budget to shell it all out at one time.

I am lucky enough to have 4 months in a row of birthdays (yes I am being VERY sarcastic!) But really aside from Christmas in December it is my daughters birthday then January my other daughters then February my sons and in March my husbands. Needless to say that is a lot to shell out at once. I buy things all year long presents, goodies, paper products and so on. I buy a lot at Target in there dollar isle when it goes on sale. Like last week I got a bunch of head bands for 25 cents and some cute piggy banks for 50 cents. I also buy after holidays. I try to find things that aren’t necessarily for a holiday. Last year after Christmas I got a bunch of red bracelets they came 5 to a pack they were originally a dollar I got them for 20 cents a pack and I got 5 packs. I figure if I break them up and give the girls two or three each they will last for a few birthdays. My husband thinks I’m nuts buying all year long for holidays and birthdays but if he actually realized how much I save by doing it that way he would be shocked. In January of every year I write a list of birthdays, and write the names of who I buy Christmas presents for. I keep the page in my purse at all times. If I see some thing for some one I buy it and mark it on my list, along with the price. This year I am marking the original price and what I paid so I can show my husband at the end of the year how much I saved. It keeps me organized to know who I bought what for and how much I am spending. I know it sounds like a lot of work but having 3 kids and a huge family I have to keep organized some how, and the reality is it really doesn’t take that long to do.

I usually wait until the month before his birthday to organise something for his day. It's usually something small though because it's during the summer break and usually his friends are away. Not sure what we are going to do this year. we shall see.