Christmas, 

A beautiful time of year (if your a Christian). It's family, it's fun, it's bloody expensive let's call a spade a spade. I'm not a spoiler but I'm not about to place an orange in my kids stocking and wish him all the best either. That said, I have perfected the art of Christmas shopping. I'm sharing this secret with you because if someone had of told me it would have saved me years of fine tuning. 

Obviously your shopping during Sale season. If I don't have ALL my Christmas shopping done by August then I've lost my touch. I start in January and finish after the winter sales. So whatever month your reading this is- think 'im already behind, I need to get to steppin'! 

First rule: Target sales for some toys not all!! Not sure what your motto is on toys but I like to give one big special NEW toy to each kid for Christmas (not including bikes- that's a whole different thing). Target and Big W have the best Australian retail toy sales, but Target is limited as to how much they can discount the bigger brands. For other toys stick to warehouse sales- you need to be open to travel, as wholesaler warehouse sales are all out West. But you will save yourself serious money if you do this. They have brand names and won't advertise in the mainstream so you need to google search year round. Subscribe to newsletters, set up an account as a small business owner - anyone who has argued with me that running a household is not a business has left that conversation with an emotional limp...... am I right!??! 

Electronic toys I buy overseas. I never pay full price and have never been jooped. There often is an issue with shipping to Australia so if you've got a friend in the US who can ship it to you then golden. Otherwise all Asiatic online merchandiser will send to Aus. Refurbished Ipods and phones are alot cheaper but honestly don't last more than 18months (i've seriously road tested this). However, what I find is that due to constant upgrades in technology newer games etc are not compatible after 2 years so buying refurbished electronics every 2 years can be an inexpensive alternative and won't make you go so postal when they've left their brand new Ipod on Coogee beach!!!!!! 

Next blog- Christmas part 2, books, bikes and family 
Later mamas!