Thursday Thrifty Throwdown: Holiday Countdown! 12 Weeks!

[HeatherNYC]

With all of the back-to-school shopping, afterschool classes we have signed up for, the catalogs for Halloween costumes, and the wondering if we have to buy her a new winter coat, I'm tallying the dollar figures in my head. But, with 12 weeks til Christmas, I'm also starting to calculate plane flights, driving costs and the money we can afford to spend on presents this year. All of it makes mama want to reach for that Holiday Egg Nog a little early, I tell you.

These weeks, I'm really looking at where I can save money and as we've discussed, doing a holiday card myself can save some moolah. If you have a good printer (or decide to invest in one), you can do some really cool holiday greetings for those you keep in touch with: 

-- Alter your photo. With sites like Picmonkey and Ribbet, you can add a neat quote and make that ho-hum picture something really jazzy and jolly (also check out this guide on Google+). Print it out on card stock and chunk it in the mail and you are done without spending much money.

-- Forget the picture. Again, just send some fun quotes from the kids over the years, or a quote that you love from a favorite holiday book, sign it and voila--done!

-- Go paperless. Upload a cool photo to an email (use those cool sites I just mentioned) and email everyone this year. Saves money, saves time and yes, helps our planet too!

How are you doing with the holiday prep? Have you decided on your holiday cards? 

©iStockphoto.com/Zelfit

[TheBabyFactory4]

Same here. The only reason I did it last yr was because I was part of an influencer program

Quoting MamaBear2cubs:

We don't really do holiday cards.

[TheBabyFactory4]

And I need to find a job or we might not even have Christmas :(

[Rushn311]

Haven't thought about photos yet. As far as holiday prep, I have stuff on layaway...

[yvonne37]

Nothing so far and I am getting nervous.. with the kids school, my school and the hubby and the house... well, lets just say I feel overwhelmed.  But thanks for the ideas and for keeping me on my toes lol :))

[Stevensmomma]

we always do a picture card, i am so behind this year on my shopping :(

[jessicasmom1]

I am really at a total loss for this year  :-(

[michiganmom116]

Again, I don't do anything fancy.  I may make up my own cards using desktop publishing software that I have, my DD may make them using her creative talents, or I may buy a couple of boxes of cards from the dollar store.

[i.heart.myboys]

I can't believe how close we are getting

[heather4511]

I dont send out cards either. But i always do homemade gifts and that saves me money. The kids are still small so i dont go over board on their gifts. 

[allyn9]

... though I generally pick up things throughout the year that I believe will be "perfect" holiday gifts, I really haven't begun putting my "list" together of  "bought already" and "want to buy" - that usually doesn' thappen until early November, and the same is true of holiday cards.