cutting Christmas budget significantly?

ready2go

anyone else faced with cutting their typical Christmas budget significantly this year?  I'm just looking at our bills/expenses, etc. and don't see how we can afford to spend what we normally do each Christmas.  I think we need to HALF what we normally spend.  Every year, I try to cut back but it seems harder and harder.  In addition to buying for family, our budget includes a bonus to our cleaning person, bonuses to daycare staff (3 teachers in each of our 2 dd's rooms, plus support staff = $$$), adopting a family through Salvation Army, donations at work, etc.  It adds up to a LOT of money, but I don't know how to cut it back significantly?  We can easily cut back on what we buy our own children and what we buy for dh and I (probably to nothing this year) but the other things seem so hard to cut back.  I feel like if we're feeling the pinch, those people we normally give bonuses/gifts too that are not "musts" (cleaning person, daycare staff, adopting family) will be feeling it even more than us.  kwim? 

any tips?  or anyone that can at least sympathize w/ being in this tough position? 

Kersbear

I would skip the bonuses and give small gifts and hand written thank you notes instead.  Money is tight for everyone and I don't think you should have to pinch your pennies just to give those people bonuses.  Maybe give bonuses during the year (say maybe in July as Christmas in July) if you still want to give bonuses, but be able to not have things be so tight at Christmas.

monchichi

Try a group gift.  For example, maybe you can get a flock of chickens or something for a family through the Heifer Project (I think that's what it's called).  Just give the day care providers a little note saying that the gift has been given in their name.  That way you can do a good deed, but also cover your bases with gifts.  And, the gifts can be relatively cheap!

Ciarrai

We are.  We cut majorly on adults.  I won't cut on the cleaning ladies too much or the girls' teachers, but they have 7 teachers this year including a music teacher (at school) and a dance teacher plus two directors.  Last year I did home made cookies for all the teachers and then a $15 GC to Starbucks.  We'll do something similar this year.  Costco has 5 $20 Starbucks GC for $80 so I'll probably get 10 of those to cover the teachers and such.  They also have spa GC and such at a discount - $80 for 2 $50 GC and such so that helps.  Every $ helps. 

Beyond that, the ILs (and even my family to an extent) spend way too much.  With the ILs alone, they spend $200-$250 per person including SIL and BIL on us.  We've asked them not to many years in a row and I know it upsets DH, but we cannot afford $800-$1000 on just his family.  We won't even spend that on our family.  I feel bad but I put my foot down last year and this year even more.  We've budgeted $50 per person (or $100 per couple) and that's it.  In my family, we've had the same budget except for my brother and his wife and my cousin and his wife (who we always exchange with).  They both have kids (2 for my brother and 3 for my cousin) so we're doing $35/kid (I'd rather spend on the kids) and then $35/couple for the adults if anything.

DH and I aren't getting each other next to anything but we just got new couches.  We've been saving for them for a while and decided we'd call them our Christmas present to each other.  

emilykristene2006

Do you have to buy for other adults in your family? We either have DD make them something or frame a nice picture of the kids.You could also do baked goods.

Don't go overboard on the teachers and cleaning person. Just a small GC or something.

I would still adopt the family or you could do something smaller like a couple of children instead of a whole family. Or care package for soldiers.

Snowbride02

Our budget is so tight that we can't even afford a cleaning person.  

calico77

Yes---we are having to cut back.  I am giving handknit scarves my mom made to the 4 people at DS's school.  I planned ahead and bought at the 50% off or more at end of last year for our next door neighbors---just little candy cane dish towels.

We have minimized the list as far as we can....I actually spent more for my mom this year than I ever has but she is constantly buying DS clothes/shoes on sale so I never have to buy him any so I splurged on her.  We have cut out all aunts and uncles and first cousins after the graduate from high school in the last two years.  This year, I cut out a family friend (really my mom's friend but she told him we were tight with money and to not give us anything either). 

DH and I usually don't do anything for ourselves and DS is getting a swingset  that we have shopped for for months and found all three pieces at half price at Lowes by getting dinged up/open boxes with missing parts and calling for free replacements.  His stocking is done---full of stuff that my mom and I have bought for pennies on the dollar after Christmas last year or seriously clearanced out.  We won't give DS anything additional.

One way that we have found to help things out when times get tough is to sell stuff on craigslist/online.  For example, DH's loaded aunt sent DH 3 brand new books on CD that he never plans to listen too so he put them on half.com and has sold 2/3 in the last two weeks which will hopefully give us about $35 after fees.  That money will help for other gifts when it shows up in our checking acct.  We also have downsized when we moved to a new state for DH's job and just sold a high end desk (gift from the same loaded aunt) for $200 on craigslist because we just don't have the space for it.

 I have already decided for next year that I am going to take out $75/month for gifts and put it in an envelope so when Christmas comes, hopefully I won't have to dig into our regular budget any farther.  We are almost done with the Dave Ramsey course and a written spending plan/budget fits our style perfectly. 

 Again, I will shop after Christmas this year for stuff for next year and keep it in tub in the attic.  I will specifically look for teacher gifts, neighbor gifts and DS gifts for older boys (like Legos and stuff that he does not play with yet).

 

 

 

 

Purrrfect433

Kersbear:

I would skip the bonuses and give small gifts and hand written thank you notes instead.  Money is tight for everyone and I don't think you should have to pinch your pennies just to give those people bonuses.  Maybe give bonuses during the year (say maybe in July as Christmas in July) if you still want to give bonuses, but be able to not have things be so tight at Christmas.

This is smart! 

~Kat~

Every year DH's grandparents buy a family of rabbits in our honor through the Heifer Project. I love that they do that. I think it is a good way to save money and give to people who need it rather then buy us something we don't need.

We have alot of adults in our family to buy for. This year I bought some large Chinese takeout boxes and I am going to put some Christmas cookies (the kind my late G-Grandma used to bake) and an ornament in each one. I am spending less money, yet it is still a thoughtful gift.

lucyfox

What is this buying flocks of chickens and families of rabbits???

??????

emilykristene2006

lucyfox:

What is this buying flocks of chickens and families of rabbits???

??????

I'm wondering the same thing!

monchichi

Here's a website:

https://tinyurl.com/ye2pn92

We just raised $2000.00 from our staff at school.  It's a fantastic opportunity.  You can buy all sorts of things....like pigs and water buffalo in addition to chickens  

magnoliablossom

emilykristene2006:

lucyfox:

What is this buying flocks of chickens and families of rabbits???

??????

I'm wondering the same thing!

https://www.heifer.org/#

I like the program, but there are so many people here in the US that need help too, that I prefer to give to charities that work here. 

CubbyMama

I posted this long manifesto on our blog, and emailed it to our families, explaining why and how we're simplifying the holidays this year.  I did it way back in August or September, before people started shopping, and let them know that we'd like them not to buy for us, and to take it easy shopping for the girls.  My family all shops for 20+ adults, none of whom need anything, and refused to do the "name draw" thing...but once we opted out, the funny thing is, they decided to reconsider picking names, even though we said we had no problem with everyone else continuing to exchange as usual if they wanted to.  I was pleasantly surprised!

Rebekah1021

I would cut the coworkers and the bonuses without thinking twice. You pay your cleaning people and daycare people. IMO they do not need a bonus.

Also, if you can't afford to adopt a family, then don't. You can donate food to a Christmas basket.

DH and I don't buy anything for each other either. We are cutting back a bit with DD too.