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How to Get Through Christmas

Christmas Day is in 75 days…

I know that I sound like a huge retailer trying to make up for the missing back to school specials! If you are like I am you want the holidays to be PERFECT! So far it never has been and I am starting to think that it never will be. Last year we did not have the money to go out shopping until December 23rd and it made the entire season VERY stressful. So here we are with 75 days left to make it perfect. I know, I know, it will never be PERFECT but perhaps I can come a little closer if I start planning it all out now. There are so many things to think about. Forget about Halloween this year, forget about Thanksgiving! This year I am setting my sights on Christmas!

OK, so here I am sitting all motivated to do something to make the season better than ever. Where should we start though. I think that the most important thing to do this year is to establish an early budget. This will make the entire season more enjoyable. I think that in order to examine a budget I have to look at who I need to buy for and how much money I plan on spending. This will help me determine how much money I will need. So here it goes…

Nieces and Nephews: There are 6 of them now and I estimate that I will spend $15 each. I know that I sound cheap but I am a bargin shopper. I am going to round this up to an even $100. This way I can go over and under and stay within my budget. The truth is that kids do not know nor do they care how much you spend on them. All they care about is that you buy something fun!

Parents: I tend to spend about $40 for each of my parents and about $100 for Rob’s mother if not more. Any presents that she gets come from all of her kids so I think that it is important for her to have a Christmas that is magical too! I will round this up to $200 to be on the safe side. It never hurts to have extra money.

Siblings: This year Rob’s family has decided to do a grab bag. We need to pick two $20 gifts for the grab bag. I also have one brother who has no children. I try to get him something cool since he gets the girls things. I figure about $40 is what I will spend. Again I am going to round up to be on the safe side. This makes this section $100.

Our Girls: While Santa does do some of the work, Christmas is still an expencive venture. I figure that we will spend aboiut $300 on Abigail and Emma and about $150 on the baby. As kids get older they want things that cost more and more. By aiming high we will assure that we have enough money to make their dreams come true. This brings this section up to $750.

Pictures: It is important to me that we have pictures taken this year. The last few years we have not had the money so I plan on doing this early. Although there are deals, I figure we will spend about $100 on pictures this year.

Cookies: While baking cookies is a day or two of fun for the kids it can be quite expencive. This year I would like to put about $100 aside for baking. I figure this will cover any cakes, candy, and cookies.

Wrapping and shipping: Wrapping paper can add up. For family gifts this year I plan on making wrapping paper. This will help us to save money and it will be a great activity to do with the kids. We will have to buy and ship Christmas cards and a few gifts to family who lives far away. We will also need to donate some paper to Santa. This will all total about $80 this year.

New decorations: Well, last year our tree fell and about half of our tree ornaments broke. I was quite upset. I have had almost a year to recover though. Now I am excited about being able to get some new treasures and memories for out tree. I am putting about $50 aside for this.

Teachers, bus drivers, mail person and others: If you are not careful this can really add up. I think that it is ok if you do not have a lot of money to give these people cookies and treats that you are baking. Last year I gave the bus driver a Dunkin’ Donuts gift certificate for $10. This way he could stop and have some coffee. Classes in our school do teacher presents all together so this should only be abbout $10 this year. It will be cookies for the rest. This will add up to about $20 this year.

So all in all I think that I will need about $1400 for this Christmas. It sounds like so much for one day but I am determined to make it special. They key is to spend cash! With the economy in a state of “crisis” I would rather not have to rely on anything other then the money that I have.

I would like to do a lot of my shopping on Black Friday. I find great deals and love getting up early with my female in-laws and hitting the pavement. So I would like to have at least half of the money for Black Friday. Thanksgiving is about 6 weeks away. This means that I will have to put about $130 away a week to assure that I do not have to spend on credit on Black Friday. This is going to be a huge challenge. Things are tight right now to begin with, but I have a plan!

I think that we should all avoid spending money on our credit cards this year. Work out your personal budget and see what you have to save a week to reach your goal. I will post new posts everyday with craft ideas, fun activities, money making tips, and recipies to use for the next 75 days. It is going to be a great Christmas this year!

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