Monday, September 14, 2009

Camera & Holidays

Click here to enter my giveaway. Ends this Friday!!!!!

Ok guys..I forgot to charge my camera. Why does it seem like I always forget to charge things; and its just not the camera; it's my phone too! Yes, I constantly forget to charge it and when I need it, its dead. Gotta stay on top of these things.

So while that's charging, I have been thinking about the upcoming holiday season. I'm sure you guys have been too. I would be lying if I said it wasn't my favorite time of year!! I LOVE everything about Thanksgiving & Christmas; the meaning, decorating, spending time with love ones, and just enjoying the moment.

Now, with that said, that is the time of the year when we spend the most money in my household. Aside from the rise in our bills due to heating, electric (Christmas lights, etc), and food...we have gifts, wrapping paper, parties and the like.

Before you know it, you'll find yourself drowning in overdraft fees, bounced checks, high credit & card balances..IF there isn't a tight rein on spending.

To prevent myself from going through this and to avoid a massive headache as a result, we have developed a budget system for gifts and such. Here's a peak:

Christmas Budget- $550.

Now that may seem like a lot, but when you add up wrapping paper/bags, food, presents, and a donation...$550 seems very low. I remember when my husband and I had our first Christmas together 6 years ago, we spent close to a $1,000 on each other, which in my humble opinion is too much. S0 $550 will include our daughter's gifts, my hubby and I, a donation, and our family pollyanna's.

Gotta love that time of the year, I sure do.

Hvae you starting thinking about the upcoming holiday season? What are you looking forward to?


4 comments:

Dr. B. said...

I need to get started on mines. Good Job!

Jenny said...

I also have a budget that I try to stick to. I put money away each month, so it's there when we need it.

We also have 7 birthdays between late October and Mid January that I budget for.

My husband and I also don't spend as much on each other as we used to.

Katrina said...

Last year was the 1st year we cut our Christmas budget back. My DH & I bought each other a couple of items (spent about $200 on each other) and we spent $200 on our daughter. We bought for the children in our families that are under 18 yrs after drawing names for 1 child and could only spent $30 and we bought for our grandparents. We told other family members (siblings, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc.) to not buy for us and we wouldn't buy for them. It helped everyone financially. This worked last year but this year we may cut back even more. Guess I need to get started on a budget for this year!

Anonymous said...

Yes I have started thinking about the holidays. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, the food and decorations are the best. I have a family of 6 so my budget will probably hover around the $1000-$1500 range, but I usually give two gifts a piece, with my husband being the most expensive. I will try to be creative this year! T. Champagne