Christmas shopping panic vs guilt

[Shemozzle]

I spend months feeling anxious and desperate to finish the kids Christmas shopping, and as soon as I've crossed off the last item I'm overwhelmed with guilt that I might have got too much. Anyone else the same?

I had this when I started shopping too early. It was a necessity because of money but unless you have it all out in front of you its easy to overdo it, especially with online stuff. This year I got everything out to look at it regularly before buying any more. For e,g I bought my ds a Transformer for around 8 quid using vouchers thinking of it as a little extra, but when it arrived it was much bigger than I was expecting and could have easily been his main present!

Luckily my ds has a birthday a few months after Christmas so I usually carried stuff a couple over for that or little bits for a good report or holiday present throughout the year.

I don't like to overdo it at Christmas, though.

I just feel relief!

Then panic that I haven't bought enough!

I HAVE.

Every year I've been convinced I've not bought a lot then when putting it out on Christmas Eve I'm cursing myself about where it's all going to go. This is the first year I've managed to get a grip.

Ive twitched already. I was "done" a week ago but keep seeing extra things.

yes op, but then I wrap it and feel I have too much but then on xmas eve, putting it under the tree I dont think it looks like much and get angst all over again!

However I feel quite confident this year I have got a good range of stuff. Just got to resist the twitch now.

I haven't started yet ..

I won't allow myself to start now until mid Nov. I find I buy less as a result.

I saw a great suggestion on here about creating a private Pinterest board with images of everything you've bought- it's much easier to keep track of how much they actually have when you see photos rather a list or spreadsheet.

We set a budget and keep a written record of what we have bought including costs, once we reach budget that's it

Well the last few things I ordered arrived today and are in much smaller boxes than I anticipated. Now I think I could get away with a few more things . And I do this every year, first think I've got too much, then change my mind and buy more, then have a last minute Christmas Eve buying panic. I never learn.

I'm hoping to get them all out and wrap over the weekend and I can assess properly then. I'm due with number 3 Christmas Day so want to have lots of things to occupy the eldest (the most hard work, and most likely to get bored) for the first few weeks (books/dvd's/science and craft kits to do independently etc) so I keep seeing more things I want to get...

The Pinterest thing is something I've done the last few years, except this year when I've written everything on a Note on my phone. It's been easy to keep track of prices this way.

Last year I had a panic. It was the first year the oldest dcs didn't want anything. I ended up getting them some Xbox games and an iTunes voucher each which were expensive but obviously looked like very little. I almost bought a pile of cheap crap to bulk up the pile but glad I didn't. It made me more confident this year to buy less (but what they want).

I've finished shopping and bought almost everything online.

I have taken photos of what I've bought so far and flick back when I forget.

My pile looks tiny but its because its all things like books, CDs, memory sticks and PS4 games. Need the 7ft pool table to arrive so that I can focus on that and stop stressing that it doesn't look much. I am going to do the pinterest board though, that's a good idea