This is one of my favorite times of the year! But it is super easy to get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of everything and forget to stop and enjoy it. I caught myself just this year talking to a friend and she asked what I was doing over the weekend. I replied as “Oh my gosh we are so busy. I’ve got to run here and there. We have a birthday party. I need to get caught up on the laundry. And I HAVE to get the tree up and decorated. UGH. I haven’t even started….”

That used to be one of my favorite things to do! It’s not an ugh. It’s just a busy time. I decided right then and there that we were going to slow down a bit and enjoy the Christmas time season. When I started thinking about all the ways to enjoy it, I realized that we will be as busy as ever, but now it’s not an UGH so much we have to do…it’s a YES there is so much we get to do!

Just because we are busy doesn’t mean we can’t make our lives easier! One of my tips is to shop at places that you can pick up everything you need under one roof. And one of my favorite places to shop is Dollar General! I love that I can grab some NESTLÉ® Hot Cocoa Mix (The 6 count is on sale for $1!) for us to cross off #1 on our list as well as things like Christmas tree decorations (#9!), toys for our own family gift giving or for donations (#4!) and even new pj’s for the kids (#3!)

It’s literally everything under one roof to cross off our entire Christmas Time Bucket List! And I can run in and out so much more quickly than at the big box stores. That’s a HUGE win!

Can we just talk about cost too? This is the time for giving and we love to do lots of service projects as a family. So being able to save on the things we need for our family is important. Did you know that Dollar General has Digital Coupons? (They also take printed coupons!) You can find coupons for products that you love like:

-DIGIORNO® RISING CRUST® Pizza -$1/1 – Feed the gang!

-NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Morsels – $1.50/2 – Bake their holiday special

-NESCAFÉ® TASTER’S CHOICE® Instant Coffee – $2/1 – Fire up the conversation and connect with family and friends

-NESTLÉ® COFFEE-MATE® Liquid Coffee Creamer – $1/1– Fire up the conversation and connect with family and friends

-NESTLÉ® Stand Up Bags – $1/1 – Perfect stocking stuffers

You can check out all of the great coupons here!

One thing that we do to make the holidays a little less stressful is to wrap gifts BEFORE Christmas Eve. (No more staying up late!) We’ve turned our pizza night into gift wrap nights! It’s actually a lot of fun and something we look forward to. (We do it a few times during the month!) First I grab a quick pizza like DIGIORNO® RISING CRUST® Pizza (don’t forget your coupon!)

We come home and while it cooks we gather our supplies. Wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, ribbons, bows and lots of tape! Everyone takes their supplies to their room. When the pizza is done, we grab a slice and head off to our rooms to wrap a few gifts. Normally, we are never allowed to eat anywhere except for the kitchen table. So this is a big treat!

I’m all about taking the stress out of the holidays and bringing in the fun! And places like Dollar General and products like DIGIORNO®! What are some things on your Christmas time bucket list? How do you take the stress out of the holidays?

Don’t forget to pin!

This post was sponsored by Regions Bank.  All opinions are my own.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…and the kiddos keep coming up to check to see if somehow something has been dropped off early!  Sound familiar?  While the holidays are about so much more than just getting presents, finding those perfect gifts to give is one of my favorites.  I love to pick it out, the anticipation before they open it and the look on their face when they see the gift for the first time.  But holiday shopping can get stressful if you go in without a game plan.  Here are 3 tips to make your gift giving be stress free and easy!

Make a List

If it were up to me I would have gifts for not only my family, but also for our extended family, our neighbors, teachers (and geesh we have a lot of teachers!), our mailman, and gifts to donate.  I feel like I’m Oprah.  Gifts for everybody!!

However that’s not really realistic.  Actually, that’s not realistic at all.  So start with a list.  My lists have 3 columns.  In the first column, I write down everyone I would like to give a gift to.  In the next column, I write my budget for that person. And in the third column, I write down any gifts that were requested or ideas I have.

While I want to give a gift to everyone, I don’t want to go into debt with the holiday season either.  When I sat down and thought about why I want to give a gift to, say our mailman, it’s because I want them to know I appreciate them.  While I would love for them to reach into the mailbox and find the keys to their BRAND NEW CAR (sorry, I’m still channeling my inner Oprah…), what I really want them to see is that I care.  A nice, thoughtful thank-you card can go a long way.  If you still want to give something, try homemade cookies, a loaf of banana bread or a $5 gift card to let them know that coffee is on you next time.  Gifts don’t have to be expensive.  People will be happy just by you telling them how much you appreciate them!

Don’t Buy Stuff Just To Buy Stuff

When I was younger, my grandparents had a big huge tree.  Every year there were hundreds of gifts underneath the tree.  One year they had to move the tree into the study.  My Grandmother may have gone a bit overboard that year, because when we opened the pocket doors to the room, gifts just tumbled out.  We still had to open some of our gifts in the living room, because you couldn’t even get into the study!  I’m sure when my Grandfather saw it he saw dollar signs, but as a small child it was like something out of the movies.

As an adult, I want my child to wake up Christmas morning and see that YES, Santa has arrived.  My son has never been a big toy child though.  Every year I would buy things and they would go unopened or un-played with.  Finally, I got smart and stopped buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff.  I will admit, at first I was a little anxious about it – our tree looked a little more bare than previous years, but my wallet was thankful.  And honestly, I think my son was happier, too.  He got exactly what he wanted and got to get to playing!  Don’t waste your time or money on items that aren’t going to get used.  This year, be sure you are shopping intentionally.

Shop Online

I’m a huge fan of shopping online.  Not only do I not have to worry about finding time to go shop, but for family and friends, I can have their gifts shipped directly to them.  Easy Peasy.

Speaking of easy, Regions Bank is ready to help!  With mobile apps, mobile banking and text bank options banking isn’t the chore that it used to be.  Plus, they also offer Visa Checkout, as well as Apple Pay® and Android Pay™.

What exactly are those options?

Visa Checkout eliminates the need to have to type your card information in every time you check out, which can be a total pain.  Online shopping is faster and easier – not to mention very secure!  They offer a multi-layer security system meaning that you can shop confidently!  Once you have registered with Visa for Visa Checkout, you can use this service at participating merchants on your computer, smart phone and/or tablet.   (This is my personal favorite way to shop!)

Apple Pay® allows you to store your Regions card information on your Apple products securely.  It’s easy to set up and a breeze to use.  At participating merchants, all you have to do is use the Touch ID on your iPhone® by placing it near the merchant’s card reader to authorize your payment at checkout and you’re done! How cool!

Android Pay™ is similar to the Apple Pay® in that you are able to store your Regions card information, but this time for your Android™ device.  It’s fast and convenient.  Android Pay™ doesn’t actually send your card number through with your payment.  Instead, they have a virtual account number that is used to keep all of your information nice and secure.

Regions Personal Pay® (powered by Popmoney®!) is perfect for occasions like when you are splitting a large gift for your mother with your siblings or if you are paying for part of a holiday dinner, fundraisers or just sending cash to friends.  It’s secure and fast – you can usually send/receive payments in a few business days.  And it only costs $1 to send funds.  (There is no cost to receive funds.)

No matter how you choose to pay Regions Bank has an easy solution to help make your shopping easy and secure!