At his old job, my husband received a bonus every year right before Thanksgiving - that was our Christmas budget. It wasn't huge, but it was just enough to pay the holiday expenses without us going into debt.
We won't be getting a bonus this year, and with everything that has happened, saving for Christmas just didn't happen.
We had some serious planning to do if we are going to enjoy the holiday rather than stress over paying for it.
First, a list of all the expenses -
1. Gifts for the family - each of the 5 kids, me and my husband
2. Stocking stuffers /Saint Nicholas Day (All the little stuff adds up!)
3. Extended family(his family and my multiple family parties)
4. Other misc. gifts (teachers, daughters' boyfriends, Secret Santa at work, etc)
5. Cards and postage
6. Gift wrap/ribbon
7. Decor (this includes the tree as our old artificial tree was ruined in our move)
8. Food - special meals, potlucks, cookies
9. Events - Polar Express train tickets, donations
10.Clothing
Basically, everything we could think of.
Tsh, at Simple Mom, has a great Christmas Budget download available here:
http://simplemom.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/xmas-budget.pdf
Even though I wasn't extravagant with anything in our budget it added up to a shocking amount of money!
I went back and cut a bit here and there until the numbers in front of me seemed more manageable. It would mean we had to plan carefully and keep away from the temptation to impulse shop.
Then we made a savings plan so we could cover the expenses.
With that done, I headed to my "Inspiration Mecca" -aka Pinterest- and started pinning away!
(You can follow me on Pinterest here! http://pinterest.com/posymosey/)
Next up- sorting the ideas, choosing which ones to tackle, and creating a calendar so these pinned ideas actually make it into reality!
