I make no excuses for my husband's desire to spend money infrequently. Translation? He's tight.And in the course of the (almost) ten years of marriage, I've managed to deal with this in several ways.
1. I always give him a heads up when I need to make unusual purchases. Unusual meaning... stores appearing on the credit card bill that are not the normal gas and groceries I buy each week. Stuff like clothes and shoes for the girls, gifts for birthdays, etc.
2. He gives me a bi-monthly allowance. I get xx amount of dollars to spend at my discretion without him asking why, what or where. It's nice to have cash in my pocket. Cash is king! This money is usually spent at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or if I see a clothing item I want (but do not need...) Basically, non-essential items.
3. Major purchases are discussed and then researched before we head out to the store. We don't make impulsive purchases... ever.
And finally, the purpose of this post...
4. Christmas Budget! Each year about this time, I plan out our Christmas budget. I'll print out the chart, he reviews it and signs it. Yes, signs it! It's our contractual agreement that I can freely spend money!
In the last 7 or more years, our budget hasn't changed much. Truth be told, we still spend the same amount of money on my parents as we did when we were first married. The same is true for my nephews and niece. Our budget has increased a bit since we are now buying for school teachers and school gift exchanges, but for the most part, the bottom line is still the same.
Several years back, my brother's wife and I decided to not buy for the adults in our families, and just buy for the kids. That has worked out beautifully! This year, I contacted my BIL's wife and suggested we do the same. She happily agreed!
I was visiting with my friend yesterday and I showed her my Christmas budget and she said that they have never gone by a 'set' budget for Christmas. Just as she was surprised we did, I was just as surprised that they didn't!
So, my question(s) are:
1.) Do you follow a Christmas spending budget?
And if so, what is your bottom line spending amount -- that is, if you care to share!
2.) If you don't follow a Christmas budget, have you ever considered doing so? Why or why not?
And... if you care to share, what is your approximate spending?
3.) Finally, just out of curiosity... how much do you spend on each of your children?
4.) Any suggestions/tips you'd like to offer the crowd about spending/saving money at Christmastime?
Here are my answers:
1.) Yes; Our bottom line this year is: $660.00 (give or take... depending on gifts that we need to buy that were not planned for in advance.)
2.) N/A
3.) We spend $100.00 on each kid. I'm sure this amount will increase as their ages increases, but for now... that's what we spend. Two years ago, it was $50.00 per kid.)
4.) We buy a lot of gift cards and that helps to keep the spending amount precise. I know people tend to think gift cards are not personal enough, etc., but I only give them to people I know will appreciate them and use them. I'd never give a gift card to someone who would not use it on themselves. I found out a few years ago that the gift card I gave to a friend for her to use on herself, was actually used on her daughter. Of course, my friend was entitled to use the gift card however she wanted to, but my purpose was for my friend (the mom) to buy herself something that I knew she had wanted from that particular store. Oh well... needless to say, I never bought her another gift card... she gets actual gifts now!
We don't have a set amount for family and friends in total, but talk about what is acceptable to spend on others. I always go overboard on my niece and nephew which really needs to stop!
ReplyDeleteIt is all on a spreadsheet to remind me what I have already bought/spent and to look back at what I did last year.
I think $100 per child is very reasonable and spending more on kids that adults is fun!
1.) Yes ~ I follow a budget in my head and stick to it pretty close. My hubby generally doesn't know what I spend on Christmas gifts or what I buy for Christmas gifts (he doesn't have any interest in knowing either.) I handle most of the bills and money issues in our home and he trusts me to do so (I've never given him a reason not to trust me with it so that works well for us.) My budget this year will be about $600.
ReplyDeleteMy budget doesn't include the charity gifts that I will be purchasing for our church's angel tree. That will probably be another $100.
2.) N/A
3.) Approx. $100 per child.
4.) All of my siblings and I talked and we decided years ago to stop buying gifts for each other. We found it ended up being a lot of gift cards going back and forth. My husband and his siblings decided to do this a couple years ago as well. This saves us tons of $$.
I try to make each of my siblings a handmade gift each year and they do the same for me. If one of us doesn't have time to do that during certain years, then we just skip it, but it's fun when we are all able to do so.
My mom and dad asked us all if we could stop exchanging gifts with them this year as well. They truly have everything they need already and it will help their Christmas budget tremendously not to buy for all of us. They'll be getting a homemade gift this year as well. :)
For my kid's cousins...they all usually exchange $1.00 store gifts. They still love those silly toys and could care less that they are so cheap.
I am so interested to see the responses to this!! I'm surprised to see that I spend a bit more on my daughter than you and the other commenters do because I feel like it is minimal compared to what I hear from others. And I'm surprised how closely our overall spending matches up.
ReplyDelete1.) I don't sit down with a specific amount in mind, but I have ranges of spending for each person on my list, so when I make my list, I know what I'm going to be spending.
2.)The problem I have with budgeting for family Christmas is that my family members are not as budget conscious as I am. If they're buying my kid an extravagant gift, it is hard not to spend comparably on theirs. I certainly can't keep up to their levels, but I don't spend as little as I'd like.
3.) I've spend about $125 on Caroline for this year -- that includes stocking stuffers and a gift that I'll hold back to give her on Epiphany.
4.) John and I don't exchange gifts. Never have, really. Last year we started drawing names on one side of the family for adult gifts and we'll add the kids to the name exchange next year (thank goodness! We now buy for all the nieces on that side.) We did NO gifts for my family last year, but I think my sister didn't like that. We agreed no gifts for the adults, but they want to buy for the kids, though. I'd love to work on getting my sister and / or sisters-in-law to agree to a homemade or thrifted gift exchange for next year.
This is so interesting. I'm just really perplexed and trying to figure out if we are way to materialistic or what? We do a budget and we spent $1300 last year including $350 on our one child and plan on doing the same this year. That is so far off from what you all spend, I'm just amazed. Don't know how we would scale back now that we have got relatives used to what we have been doing. And that doesn't include what we do on the Angel Tree every year. We don't go into debt or anything for any of it, so maybe we just need to keep up our giving ways!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add:
ReplyDeleteWe also do charitable giving and I did not include that on my budget sheet.
Our church is hosting an "Operation Christmas Child" and both of our girls will be participating in that. I didn't include it in my budget, b/c I only included family/friends/teachers on that list.
1.) We don't have a budget. Husband will tell me if he feels I'm spending too much (I do most of the shopping).
ReplyDelete2.) I guess if we ever thought we were over-spending I'd set an actual budget, but we spend about the same on the same people each year, so I figured why go to the work?
I just calculated our approximate spending, which includes us on each other, one child, 12 family members, 8 friends and our daycare provider. Around $450.00. We spend a lot on my mom (almost 1/4 of our $) because she spends a lot on us and expects it back (weird, I know). The rest of the gifts are usually between $5 and $40, depending on if store-bought or handmade.
3.) Anja hasn't received very much from us. We bought her one stuffed animal last Christmas (which we'd had since before she was born...just wrapped it up and gave it to her), one $10 gift for her birthday, and this year she'll probably get a potty chair, which is something she needs anyway. My mom spoiled us (still does) and spends probably a bit more per child than Anonymous mentioned. I have come to loathe that more than be grateful and refuse to spend that much on my kids ever (unless inflation makes $400 like $100 eventually). We also spend probably another $150 on a combination of Operation Christmas Child, gift to our sponsored child, and to a local crisis pregnancy center. Guess that puts our total at about $600.
4.) We've cut back over the years. I used to spend $20 on a myriad of friends, but now I only buy for the closest ones. Husband doesn't get any guy friends gifts, save our small group guys for whom I pick out something. I handmake some gifts, which helps save (like hats, scarves, and this year I'm trying my hand at aprons). Some relatives we buy for don't really "need" anything, so I usually try to get them perishable things, like a pretty tray of homemade baked goods or a nice bottle of wine.
Thanks for bringing this up, Erica--it's interesting!
No, we don't have a specific Christmas budget, but I do have an amount I'd like to spend on each family member. We have A LOT of family (Chris is one of 6) so we spend $20 or less on gifts for most people.
ReplyDeleteI don't exactly know how much I spend on the girls, but we generally pick out one big present for the girls (trike, dollhouse, etc.), at least one book, and then a few smaller things. The price of their big present could vary wildly, but we talk about it and agree on what it will be before we buy it.
This year Chris' family is struggling financially since their work depends on tourism in New Orleans, so we're keeping it really small for them. I've made apple butter for his newly vegan parents, and I'll be making gifts for most everyone else, which I'll eventually post on my blog.
In short, I HATE having a specific dollar budget, but I have budget goals in my head that I stick to as closely as possible, and since I do most of the shopping, it works out.
1. We don't have a spending budget overall, but we have a spending budget set per person. Parents - set amount, uncles and sis-in-laws - $, etc.
ReplyDelete2.We tried to set a $ amount, but we kept remembering last minute who we had forgot to shop for so we always blew it.
3. Not sure I can give an accurate amount - b/c I have a gift closet and I buy them gifts when I see them on sale and then hold on to them for b-days and C-mas. For instance - Disney princess dolls are on sale for $7 so they got one of them, but they are normally 12-15.
4. The gift closet is the way to go - I do not want to spoil C-mas for others, but I buy all year round so it does not kill my everyday budget come C-mas. So, last baseball season when a certain college team was finished I was able to purchase their licensed merchandise for like $5. So, got a $30 item in March that is in my gift closet for a certain someone. I do this for everyone when I see sales, it is just a matter of keeping inventory of what is in there and who I have already purchased for.
Budgets - gee you got me there - I have tried with budgets for years - but I am just the kind of person who ends up with most of the expenses filed under miscellaneous anyway. Sad - I know - but I do have other things I am quite good at - so plleeeease bear with me on this one.
ReplyDeleteWe have a fixed amount to sisters and brothers. Not so much for budget reasons as to avoid the confusion of either giving or receiving a gift that's twice the amount of what you expected (gee I didn't really succeed making that sentence - hope it's understandable).
When our daughters were younger I think we gave them for approx. 75USD each. Now we tend to see what they wish for and decide whether we think it's what we would like to give them. Our GS will get approx. 100USD worth - good thing we only have one! We still give each other presents - my DH and I. We are such big kids about that - and our GS, Mie, and both of us have advent calenders with tiny surprises for every day in December.
We exchange gifts with people we see during Xmas. Talked about the only for kids topic - but doesn't seem fair in our family as we would end up sitting in a circle all evening wathching GS open parcels - would be good for him either IMHO. Xmas is for children - but we are all big kids that time of the year.
I have chosen UNICEF as my charity and donate every month - but since I stopped using their x-mas cards because mine are homemade - I usually send them an extra amount around xmas.
We might spoil each other or the kids - but we still live by my wise old mum's saying "It is called a x-mas wish-list for a reason - wish away - but don't expect it all to arrive at your doorstep".
Interesting topic - thanks for asking.
I love this post and your blog. Love John Maxwell! And I have that book and LOVE it too. I'm just full of love LOL.
ReplyDeleteAnyhooo. We try to be frugal over the holidays. No set budget but we do go through our list and figure out who we can make something for. We do food boxes with church and the giving tree. We tend to spend more $$ on our girls than most of you, probably about $250 each but we also take this time to buy socks and pajamas and other necessities that we don't buy during the year. I can't remember the last time I bought either of my kids a toy or something they didn't HAVE to have other than at Christmas. They are responsible for their own extras for the rest of the year. We also quit exchanging between the adults in our family a few years back feeling that we were just exchanging gift cards. Now the women in the family do an ornament exchange and this has worked out well.
This post has been great and the comments full of insight. Because of it I will probably sit down and write a budget. Thanks! : )