Budgeting

My kids are Jr. High and High School ages. So it's a little easier to explain to them that we're cutting back this year. I've always tried to do the "even number of gifts". I'm not doing that this year. I'm giving each kid a budget and sticking to it! (I've always tried to stick to a budget, but I would go over here and there trying to keep the number of gifts equal.)

We saved our stimulous check to us for Christmas (DH didn't get his $600 because he didn't make enough last year.) My goal is to save 1/2 and budget my Christmas for the other 1/2.

Is anyone else making major changes with their Christmas budget this year?

I wanted to have a low-budget Christmas, because of how I feel about the holiday. Year after year, it gets more and more depressing to see how my family spends money they don't have - and for what? Stuff to clutter up their houses? 

DH and I talked about what we would spend on our families and each other. I just added it up - $575. WOAH! Too much. We'll have to talk when he gets home. Somehow, that's more than ever.

Between us we have seven siblings. We usually send gift cards to the 5 out of state. But, I hate that, because they know how much you spent and you can't get away with less than $20 a pop.

I guess we could buy actual gifts through Amazon for about $15 - no tax, no S&H.  We'd save at least $5 on each gift.

Honestly, I really hate all this Christmas gift crap. I love Christmas - but not the gift giving. The kids don't appreciate it, the adults can't afford it, and nobody's happy with what they get.

Just give me a roaring fire (or my roaring fire DVD - haha), a cheese tray, and some Christmas music. We can all play board games until it's time to go to Midnight Mass, and I'll have a merry little Christmas.

If anyone has any ideas for cheap gifts for people out of state, please let me know.

<UPDATED: After posting this, I sent an e-mail to my sisters telling them not to get gifts for me and DH this year. They're off the hook, at least.>

"Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else."
Dave Ramsey

Yep, I know exactly what you mean. DH has 2 sisters and 5 nieces/nephews. I have 1 brother with 2 kids. We no longer buy for my brother or dh's sisters. Last year we had the kids draw names for the kids. This year DH's younger sister is getting ready to leave her DH. So she definately won't have the funds for hardly anything. I'd rather buy her kids a gift for them to open on Christmas morning and say it's from Santa, instead of from me on Christmas Eve...she still has a little one who is 6 yrs. old. My kids sure don't need anything else. Just let DH's mom do her thing for the grandkids and we can have a nice dinner together.

Our kids are all adults and we don't "exchange" gifts but usually we buy for the boys who still live here in town. That's not going to happen this year but there are teen grandkids to think of. A couple of years ago we just sent cards to them because we never hear from them, especially the stepgrandkids and I don't think they even recognize us as grandparents. I don't think I'll even do that this year. I'll probably send my granddaughter a gift card for $20 and we have my stepson's girlfriend's one year old to get something for. We already have a couple of books set aside for him and will probably get him a toy. I'm not sure I'm even going to do Christmas cards this year. Maybe just to a few people who don't have email.

My Dad had nine brothers and sisters and 15 neices and nephews. That side always did a name drawing so everyone would get one gift, but nobody would go broke. If we were all in one town, I would recommend that.

I hope to eventually stop getting gifts for my sisters. Maybe they'll respond to my e-mail with "Don't get anything for us either."

Even though they're adults, we're still getting something for two of DH's younger brothers. One has Down's Syndrome, so he'll always get a gift from us. The other is in his mid-20's and single. I remember being that age and single, and not getting squat at Christmas.

DH thinks he and I are both getting $200 worth of gifts. I seriously don't know where he got that idea. That's double our usual budget for us. We usually alternate the big gift from year to year. Like, one of us might get a nice watch, and the other person gets a calender, new underwear, etc. It's his year for the big gift, so I told him not to spend $200 on me.

I have to figure this out, because there's no way I'm spending $575 on gifts. We don't even have our own kids yet!