How do you budget for Christmas?

Into+the+Kitty

Just for fun, how do you save/pay for Christmas?

Into+the+Kitty

I put 10% or more of J's second paycheck into a holiday savings club that pays out in October (which is funny because now I have two months worth of savings for next Christmas before this Christmas has even passed). Then at the end of the year we make a list if who we need to buy for and divide up the money as we see fit. Any surplus either goes into our general savings or goes towards household needs, like we bought new silverware last year.

stoneycakes

We just go "Oh shit.  It's December again.  How much extra money do we have?"

freezorburn

Every day is Christmas in the Freezorburn house!

Into+the+Kitty

AFwifelife said:

We don't set money aside technically but once it gets to September/October, we watch our spending a little and hold off on buying big stuff we want.  DH is also a super saver so we never really spend too much to get worried because he's saved so much.  This Christmas we spent a lot on each other and are taking a trip next month so DH is a little sad to see a dip in the bank account.

I could never do this. I love spending money, and totally have a minor issue with overspending, but once my money goes from my checking into my real savings, one of us had better be losing a leg or something to make it come back out. I nearly had an aneurysm when we bought my car using a big chunk of our savings. I actually did cry about it too.

unaveragejane

We just aim to save a bit every paycheck to pay for the big expenses that come up throughout the year like car insurance in January and July, vet bill in August, car tags in October, and Christmas. We actually don't spend a ton on gifts bc my side of the family is small and his side of the family draws names.

frass

We have an online account designated for Christmas spending with weekly automatic transfers. Then every year I go on a Christmas shopping weekend with a group of friends and we get all of our shopping done together. It's something I look forward to all year, and it's really the best way to get shopping done quickly with no kids! I love not stressing about holiday shopping come December. I'm usually a procrastinator and stress over it!

Kelly11235

I used to save all my coin for a year and turn it into paper money in October or November.

Now we just try not to over spend, we buy one toy, some clothes, and let his grandparents spoil him with gifts lol.

candlequeen

Into+the+Kitty said:

AFwifelife said:

We don't set money aside technically but once it gets to September/October, we watch our spending a little and hold off on buying big stuff we want.  DH is also a super saver so we never really spend too much to get worried because he's saved so much.  This Christmas we spent a lot on each other and are taking a trip next month so DH is a little sad to see a dip in the bank account.

I could never do this. I love spending money, and totally have a minor issue with overspending, but once my money goes from my checking into my real savings, one of us had better be losing a leg or something to make it come back out. I nearly had an aneurysm when we bought my car using a big chunk of our savings. I actually did cry about it too.

You actually cry? Like real tears?

Into+the+Kitty

candlequeen said:

AFwifelife said:

We don't set money aside technically but once it gets to September/October, we watch our spending a little and hold off on buying big stuff we want.  DH is also a super saver so we never really spend too much to get worried because he's saved so much.  This Christmas we spent a lot on each other and are taking a trip next month so DH is a little sad to see a dip in the bank account.

I could never do this. I love spending money, and totally have a minor issue with overspending, but once my money goes from my checking into my real savings, one of us had better be losing a leg or something to make it come back out. I nearly had an aneurysm when we bought my car using a big chunk of our savings. I actually did cry about it too.

You actually cry? Like real tears?

Like a crocodile, anyways.

I loved my jeep so much too, so it was like a double whammy of suckiness buying my car.

freezorburn

In years past I have done some of my Christmas shopping throughout the year - picking up things on sale or bringing back souvenirs from vacation and then saving them for Christmas. That way when December rolls around I probably only have a few gifts to take care of and it doesn't feel like the pocketbook is taking a huge hit all
at once.

CLLDLL

DH and I realized right after we got married that we were spending a boat load on eating out. We made a deal that we'd both get $10 a week to spend for lunch or coffee during the work week and we'd only go out to dinner one night a week. I learned to cook dinners and we take a lot of leftovers or sandwiches for lunch.

The savings we got from that change helped pay for furniture for our house, then baby gear when D was born, now it pays for Christmas. We just move a chunk into savings each month and then decide how much to withdraw at Christmas time and divvy it up between everyone we buy for.

frass

Oh! And I use a Christmas budget app that I LOVE. I paid a few dollars for it a year or two ago and it's been so helpful. I have lists of people to buy for, a budget I set for each person, and a record of what I've bought/paid. I always think I've spent less than I actually have, so it's good to know the real numbers as I go along. Plus, it's helpful to look back on it the next year to remember who to buy for and what I've bought them in the past.

flummadiddle85

We save money every month, so it's probably just less money going into our various savings funds (IRA, college, savings acct, etc). If we didn't do all the extra work (DH especially), we would have no money and no savings.

frass

Chickypoo2468 said:

frass said:

Oh! And I use a Christmas budget app that I LOVE. I paid a few dollars for it a year or two ago and it's been so helpful. I have lists of people to buy for, a budget I set for each person, and a record of what I've bought/paid. I always think I've spent less than I actually have, so it's good to know the real numbers as I go along. Plus, it's helpful to look back on it the next year to remember who to buy for and what I've bought them in the past.

What app is this? Sounds better than the notepad app I'm using now lol

Yeah, I traded using my notepad app for this one. Way better! The one I use is The Christmas List. The app looks like a white present w/ a red ribbon.

Nvywife

I set aside a certain amount from each check from september til Christmas. This year I will have to start setting aside more money or earlier since we will have 2 little ones to buy for.

bumpuser5078523

Ours comes out of savings. We try not to go too crazy and this year we decided as a group that we aren't buying for siblings, just for the kids and our parents. That saved us at least $200 right there.

redrockmama

We don't do anything  :-S

I have a general idea of how much we can spend and tell J. We also don't spend as frivolously in Dec/Jan. I'm sure as we have more kids we'll have to adjust that, but we live a pretty comfy lifestyle right now. It sounds so much less stressful to have a plan and save throughout the year. I should get J on that bandwagon. I'd love to be done shopping by the beginning of Dec instead of starting in Dec. 

km_md

We don't really do anything too specific. I do put money into a couple of savings accounts with every pay. And we usually have an idea of how much we want to spend on people and then I try to pick things up early if I see them so it's not a bunch all at once.

skibunny59

We keep it cheap.  DH and I don't buy for each other.  We also don't buy for any of the adults in our family and just the kids.  The only adults we buy for are our parents.  Makes it SO much easier.  We have 12 kids to buy for and we budget at $20 per kid.  Most of the gifts we bought this year were under $20.  For DD we budgeted $150 (I think we spent 100 this year).  Honestly, I feel like we bought her too much and we may keep it more simple for this year but we got excited because she's 2 1/2 and this is the first year she really "gets it" and is really excited about Santa.  DS is only 3 weeks old so we just bought him 2 small things.

For our parents we budget $100 for his parents and $100 for my parents and we usually also do a homemade gifts from DD and DS.  This year DD made salt dough ornaments and I made a salt dough footprint from DS foot for them.  We also try to do framed pictures or small handmade gifts for DD's great grandmas.  

My parents do a white elephant at their christmas eve party where each person brings a gift valued between $30 -$40.  This year we only spent $3 for both gifts.  Shh don't tell anyone.  We bought a christmas cookie jar valued at $50 that was on super clearance and we also had a coupon for.  And the other gift is regifted.  It's still in the package and brand new.

IMO, the holidays should not be about the stress and pressure of buying gifts and going into debt.

skibunny59

I also do like other PP's mentioned and start shopping super early (towards the end of the summer) so it's not all at once.

nanabanana06

This year we used my school refund check. Typically we just pay for things as they come, maybe dipping into savings a bit. This year instead of us taking money out we used a portion of my school quarterly refund.

mrshudson618

We don't do anything special.
I/we have never "saved up" for anything specific. We just save in general. We do have retirement and HSA, but those are taken automatically from the paychecks.

We just spend as little as possible on everything always, and save everything. Used clothes, cloth diapers, used presents, used cars, clearance racks, etc. We have been lucky enough doing these things that we are living well below our means, so saving is easy. If/when another few kids come along, I imagine things will be a little tighter and might take some more planning.

Danielle2482

All of my bills and set amount for savings come out each month.  Whatever is left in checking at the end of the month (above the minimum balance I choose to maintain) is money for discretionary spending.  In October and November when I do my shopping, that goes to Christmas shopping rather than other spending it would go to the rest of the year.