What’s more fun than waking up Christmas morning, dumping out a stocking full of goodies and checking out your loot? When you are a kid, not much. Since I am the kind of gal who shops for Christmas year-round, I was already pretty set on gifts for my kids when Dollar General presented me with a stocking challenge. But since I am always up for a little shopping, I decided to accept the challenge and create stocking(s) to donate to a child(ren) who might not otherwise experience the thrill of opening a stocking on Christmas morning.
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The Challenge – Spend $25 at Dollar General on stocking stuffers.
Ever the deal hunter, I quickly Googled “Dollar General coupon” before heading out the door. Happy day for me, I found a $5 off $25 printable coupon on the Dollar General website! With my $25 gift card in hand, that meant I now had $30 to spend. So we headed out.
Because I didn’t have a specific child in mind as a recipient, I decided to shop for a 3-4 year old little girl. (After all, that’s my typical mindset when shopping, and I knew K would have fun helping to shop for things she likes.) To combat the gimmies this holiday season, I have been talking to K a lot about not getting everything we want and also about donating things to other children who might not otherwise get any toys at Christmas. I don’t know how much of this a three-year-old understands, but I figure if I keep repeating it every chance I get, I will eventually make an impact. In the meantime, involving her in this shopping trip was one thing we could do together. And she was excited to buy toys for “other boys and girls.”
The first stop in the store was the stocking section. I was surprised to see so many stocking options. There were even some really nice plush and embroidered stockings for only $3 each. I decided my money was best spent on the items in the stocking since kids don’t care a hoot about the stocking itself, so we chose a $1 stocking.
Stocking in hand we walked up and down the aisles looking for the perfect stuffers. I was surprised to see how many Disney items were available for just a dollar or two. And lots of yummy Christmas options in the candy aisle.
After loading up on girly items to fill the stocking we realized we had lots of money left to spend. YEAY! We decided to start a second stocking. Since we already did a girl, we decided we should fill a stocking for a little boy too. So we started our shopping all over again with a little boy in mind. We quickly filled our basket and before we knew it we had enough toys to fill both stockings. Here’s what we bought:
Girl Stocking:
- Stocking $1
- Princess Doll $3
- Wand $1.50
- Purse & Necklace $1.50
- Disney Princess Bracelets $1
- Hair Ties Ice Cream Cone $1
- Dora Coloring Book $1
- Christmas Stickers $1
- Strawberry Shortcake Lotion & Lip Balm $2
- Minnie Mouse Figurine $1
- Santa Chocolates $0.50
- Candy Canes $0.50
- Christmas Pop Rocks $0.50
Boy Stocking:
- Stocking $1
- Hot Wheels $5
- Hot Wheels Pit Crew $1.50
- Lego Block Kit $1
- Putty $1
- Elmo Coloring Book $1
- Christmas Stickers $1
- Mickey Mouse Christmas Cup $1.50
- Disney Candy Book $1
- Santa Chocolates $0.50
- Candy Canes $0.50
- Christmas Pop Rocks $0.50
Somehow I managed to spend exactly $15.50 on each stocking! It worked out perfectly.
There were tons of stocking stuffer ideas at Dollar General to choose from, plus Christmas decorations too. (The inflatable Mickey Mouse we saw almost came home with us!) But remember, whenever you head out the door to go shopping this holiday season check Google before you go. You never know when a coupon will pop up that could help you stretch your budget just a little further or even let you come in under budget. Happy shopping and saving this holiday season.
In case you are checking my math here, I did buy a stocking stuffer for K too.
This is amazing … I give new books to kids in need!