It's a common thing where I live to be able to buy Christmas decorations already once the "ber" months reel in (i.e. September onward). Sometimes, you can already buy them even during August! Is it the same for where you live? Do you buy your decor at this early in the season?
I am not, but I have been seeing several around. As I spend Christmas at my hometown I will rarely do much decorating at my house, so whatever I buy, I do it at the end of the year around mid November to early December. I mostly get something to put in my entrance door, sometimes festive mugs and some decor for the table. Nothing too fancy!
I don't typically buy Christmas decor unless it's meaningful or really stands out as unique and classic enough to last. My decor is almost all meaningful (my tree is covered in homemade ornaments the kids or I made, memories, ornaments passed down etc).. so I generally don't buy much of anything at all. The main thing I've needed to buy is replacement lights or supplies to make new items. In which case, I usually don't know what I need until the festivities begin near the end of the year.
I don't see Christmas decorations out yet. The Christmas decorations usually are out just after Halloween so right now all the stores are gearing up with candy, costumes, and Halloween decorations. I like to have meaningful tree ornaments so every place our family goes I pick up a tree ornament so we can reminisce while we decorate the tree. Most big cities have a Christmas store that is open all year round so I'm always able to get an ornament even in the middle of July.
I economize and use the same decorations year after year. I'm 60 and Mom is 89 with no children at home we use the same decorations every year. Nothing elaborate either for our Christmas décor. We see them in stores from about after Halloween usually. When our family lost our party giver for the family we all drifted apart for the holidays and we celebrate at home only.
Oh yes, as soon as the kids are back to school and the last of the rush to get supplies for it are over, out come the seasonal decorations for Thanksgiving, Halloween and of course, Christmas. But I find this is not the time of year to bring home the savings. Except for a few "beat the rush" sales, I find that the only real savings for Christmas decor is after the event itself. Now as I just said, there are a few good sales happening but I find that they are usually right around Thanksgiving, Halloween and maybe even the beginning of November. This is sometimes a good time to stock up on chocolates and other Christmas treats that are not going to go bad quickly. I have found some really super savings on a few things this way and I usually buy quite a bit if its a good deal. I think the reasoning behind it is to kick start Christmas shopping. Mostly I have found that the savings are on edibles but there may be savings i in other departments as well. I do buy some new Christmas decorations each year before the big event and those are usually at their best price in the month of December closer to the actual day, A good place to get decorations for your home is thrift stores. They are a treasure trove of odds and ends at unbelievably low prices. I've gotten beautiful tree ornaments still in the original packaging for a tenth of their retail.
There are already Christmas decorations here particularly in big supermarkets and department stores. The sales attendant said that the items are discounted and some even up to 50% discount if you buy today. But it is too early for us. We usually buy Christmas decor by the end of November. And although it is not as cheap as today, it is all right because the stock of items are fairly new by then.
Our financial belt-tightening to make ends meet, for the meantime, will not have room for luxury Christmas decors and presents. Those are extras that we don't actually need. But we gather with families and relatives and spend on festive yummy food to decorate our tables on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. They're usually happy and festive moments with loved ones even our Christmas is bare of evergreens and red decors.
Decorations here are started to be sold around November because I think that's when most people here start thinking about decorations. I don't really decorate that much anymore though. I just have a small tree with some lights and a few other small ornaments that light up but that's about it because I'm too lazy to put up decorations at this point and I know I'll be a lot more lazy to take them down once the season is over. It helps that I live in a community area where decorations are taken care of for everyone so I don't feel like I'm missing out on the atmosphere.
