Star Wars & The Christmas Crunch: Our Hectic Week Revealed

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a mom, a dad, a Mini Monster, and 4 pets. They lived peacefully for eleven months until the calendar tipped to December. Then, all “you know what” broke loose. Obviously, I’m talking about us. 🙂 Living in a household with 2 full-time working parents and running a blog on the side (also full time), you start to spread yourself a little thin. And before you know it, the Christmas Crunch is upon us. Full speed ahead!

With less than a week to go before Christmas, Mr. MMM and I realized we hadn’t bought one single gift. Not a one. That was only 3 nights ago. So we did what any good procrastinating parents would do, we loaded up our Mini Monster in our 4-door,  front wheel drive sleigh and headed to the closest mall.

While being over-heated in our winter coats and braving the crowds, we popped in and out of stores looking for the perfect gift for the people on our list. Luckily, I was also able to purchase gifts via my Amazon app at the same time. Yep, there we were, shopping online and in person all at once. We were total dorks. But, we were efficient dorks.

Of course, you must be wondering what we spent our hard-earned cash on that fateful night. Well, wonder no more, here it is!

A Cow Clock For Mini

Obviously, we weren’t able to buy a ton of things for our little Mini Monster during our night out. She still believes the plump man in the red suit breaks in every year and puts presents under the tree – so we just let her believe it.

But seeing as how we were being strategic, we were totally able to split her time between us and purchase a gift here and there for her while she was off with the other parent. #werock

Probably the most awesome and unique gift we bought was this cow clock! Because, you know, every little girl should have a flat cow clock. I mean, c’mon. 🙂

On a separate outing we also bought her:

• A Star Wars Porg – so cute!
• Charizard GX Pokemon card set
• Horseback riding lessons
• A Spirit stable playset (Netflix Original Series!)
• And my personal favorite: We invested $ for her into a US Total Stock Market Index Fund!

We Got My Mom A Most Expensive Xmas Gift

I’ll start by saying that my mom has never been good at managing money. While it’s true her and my dad never made much, they still weren’t good at planning for the future in any way. Because of this, we typically end up getting my mom (my dad passed away 10 years ago) a grocery store gift card or a basket full of scrumptious goodies.

But this year was different. This year, Mini pleaded with us to get her Mamaw a real present. Little Mini saw a beautiful manger set in the same store where we purchased her cow clock a few weeks ago. But instead of forgetting about it, she remembered it.

So when we walked into the mall the other night, Mini took us straight away to the same store and made her case. She pulled me aside and said this:

Oh my gosh, how could I argue with that? And she’s right, it just isn’t quite as satisfying giving Mamaw a grocery store gift card for Christmas. So, we relented and purchased the beautiful manger set that Mini had her heart set on. It set us back $150, but it truly was money well spent – for both my mom and the joy it will bring to Mini when she gives it to her on Christmas Eve. 🙂

And The Pets! We Did NOT Forget The Pets!

What kind of pet parents would we be if we didn’t thoughtfully pick out a gift for our furry companions? Terrible ones, I tell you. So, in an effort to avoid being labeled as terrible pet parents, we merrily stopped at the local pet store and lovingly picked out a well-intentioned and frugal gift for each one of our animal cohorts. Check them out!

• Mad Money Cat 1 = Small spindly toys

• Mad Money Cat 2 = Scrumptious kitty treats

• Mad Money Pup 1 – A meaty bone

• Mad Money Pup 2 = A natural-flavored bone (she has allergy issues 🙂

You’ll Never Believe How Much We Spent On STAR WARS!

After all of that procrastination and last minute shopping, we decided we needed a break to combat the Christmas Crunch. And we decided that Star Wars fit the bill perfectly.

The next night we invited Mr. MMM’s brother down, loaded into the car, and drove across town to the luxurious movie theater with the reclining seats! We didn’t hold back either. There was popcorn and M&M’s and soda for all. Our out-of-pocket expenditures for this little venture totaled around $60. And it was so worth it. After all, we’re talking Star Wars and Christmas here!

How are you holding up during the last minute Holiday Crunch?