Christmas in September

Posted by Shelley Elmblad Sep 3, 2007

My personal budget includes socking a bit away every month to pay for Christmas gifts. I put Christmas gift purchases on a credit card (with spending rewards, and balance paid in full every month). so I do not pay for the last Christmas gift until January.

It's September 3, 2007 and my child hasn't even started school yet, so why am I thinking about holiday shopping and Christmas gifts? Blame it on Wal-Mart.

I ran out of a common liquid fertilizer today with another month left in the growing season for landscape plants in these parts, so I was off to Wal-Mart to buy the fertilizer. My plants did not get that one last shot of nutrients today, though. You see, I could not find the fertilizer at Wal-Mart. The yard and garden care merchandise had been trimmed down and the doors to the garden center were locked as well. One of the long aisles that held bird food and lawn hoses last week now displayed...Christmas decorations!

Good grief, it was just August a couple of days ago and Wal-Mart has the holiday junk out already? What about Thanksgiving? It is bad enough that Wal-Mart had Halloween decorations out in August....now are we skipping straight to CHRISTMAS?

Well, Wal-Mart does not really have me thinking about holiday shopping just yet. I'm still enjoying 80-degree weather, shorts and sandals and haven't even purchased fall school clothes for my child yet. So, Wal-Mart won't bust my Christmas shopping budget by enticing me to stock up on tinsel and plastic holly just yet.

What do you think? What is the earliest Christmas display you have seen? In the mood to Christmas shop early? Know of any good holiday shopping deals? Share it with all of us in the Personal Budgeting Discussions.