Budgeting and Saving on Gifts $ Weekly Money Check-In $

momofcatan · October 2014

I'm changing up the format a bit. There will still be a general "check-in" questions and each week I'll focus more on a specific area of budgeting/savings/personal finance. Feel free to participate in either section or both!

Part I: If you have a savings goal, how is it going? Hit any roadblocks this week? Any success you want to share?

Part II: Gifts - How do you budget for Gifts and Christmas? Do you try to put money away throughout the year? How do you save money on gifts? Any inexpensive gifts ideas you want to share?

ETA: If you have a topic you would like to see discussed let me know.

momofcatan · October 2014

Part I: If you have a savings goal, how is it going? Hit any roadblocks this week? Any success you want to share? DH and I both get paid bi-weekly and this month is 3-paycheque month for DH, I'm doing a happy dance. I budget based on only 4 paycheques/month so most of the extra check will go into savings.

Part II: Gifts - How do you budget for Gifts and Christmas? Do you try to put money away throughout the year? How do you save money on gifts? Any inexpensive gifts ideas you want to share?
We add money to our gifts budget all year long and pull from that category when necessary. $65-$75/month is what works for us. We don't do christmas, I guess that makes it a lot easier.

For things like bridal shower or new baby I usually try to split a nice gift with a friend. I think one $50 gift is nicer than two $30 gifts (and I just spent $5 less)

Lizzybizzy80 · October 2014

Part 1: we did ok last week but spent a lot at the state fair. Meal planning and roasting a chicken on Sunday to use for three meals was great.

Part 2: I usually keep a list on my Outlook calendar for people I'm buying gifts for and keep my eye out for things throughout the year. No set budget for each gift but I try to spend fairly evenly between my family and DH's. DH's extended family (aunts, cousins, etc) is so big they do a lottery every Thanksgiving so you are just buying for one adult plus kids.

This year we already told both sides that we're not doing gifts for the adults and we don't want anyone to buy anything for DH and I. Frankly I'm relieved we have an excuse. I like gift shopping but I don't like getting gifts all that much. My MIL bought me a cape jacket two years in a row that is so nms and never includes a gift receipt so it just feels wasteful.

momofcatan · October 2014

@Lizzybizzy80 receiving gifts I don't want is a huge pet peeve of mine, I hate seeing the money wasted.
@sympkin is my fellow birthday scrooge if I remember correctly

Just give me cash or nothing at all.

daffy2k · October 2014

Part 1: we are doing ok with our savings, but I haven't been as successful with my budget as I usually am. M and I have been in town a lot for various activities and it has been so busy that we have eaten a lot of lunches out instead of driving home (10 min out of town) and back in to finish our errands or attend her next activity. While I love keeping her busy and I think all the interaction is great, it's starting to feel like we are participating in a little too much and maybe need to stay home a little more during the week.

Part 2: I say every year that I am going to set money aside for Christmas, but I never really do. We live below our means, so the money is there I just don't "save" it in a specific place. My bigger issue is making sure I stay on budget when shopping for Christmas... And this is where spending out of a specific account would probably keep me a little more accountable in this department. While I find a lot of the gift giving around the holidays sort of excessive, I also feel terribly guilty if I don't reciprocate. My brother and I are the only grandchildren on my mom's side, even though she has 3 other siblings. So not only do we get spoiled by the grandparents, but my childless aunts and uncle spoil us as if we were there own kids. Both my parents and H's parents are outrageously generous at Christmas too, and always get us really great gifts that we actually want and will use. So I go a little overboard on all of them too. One day we'll convince them to ease up on gifting us, and then I can cut back too.

momofcatan · October 2014

@daffy2K Maybe you should enjoy all your out and about time now, you might be more motivated to stay home once the cold weather hits. Instead of planning on driving home for lunch you could also just pack some sandwiches and snacks before you go out?

daffy2k · October 2014

We could @momofcatan‌ , really what has happened is I'm getting distracted visiting with my mom friends while M plays, we end up leaving story time 30-40 min after it ends (or whatever else we are doing) or plan a play date with someone we were at our activity with after we are already in town. Since its been happening so often I should really plan ahead and pack our lunch. If we get home in time we can always eat our picnic in the yard, right?

GraceInCA · October 2014

Part 1: We save for retirement and for the kids' college. For retirement, we have 401Ks through our jobs (me in a corporate job and DH as a freelancer, but union). For the kids' college, we have 529 accounts. All of these accounts have money automatically taken (the 401Ks from our paychecks, the 529 from our checking account), so it's a nice passive way to save. My goal is to not work or drastically cut back by the time my son is in his last couple of years of high school, which actually isn't all that far away. I don't dip into them for big expenses, and keep a savings that is more accessible on hand for that sort of thing. Also, I use an American Express instead of other cards in most cases. I know I have to pay it off at the end of the month, so I don't go overboard. The only exception is that I regularly use a Target Red credit card to get that 5% off, but I also pay off that balance every month.

Part 2: There are 2 great sites for online shopping: Slickdeals dot net and retailmenot. I have alerts set up on Slickdeals for things I'd like to purchase (for example, I have an alert for "Shun" because I like their knives). I also check the Hot Deals section, and the main page about once a day. That's how I found out about the Fitbit clearance. I LOVE that website and can't rave enough. Also, before I finish any online purchase, I check retailmenot for coupon codes. I save a tremendous amount each year just by entering codes.

I think it's ridiculous to go overboard on Christmas gifts. With the exception of the kids, we do very little Christmas shopping: one or two items for each other, one item for each grandparent, cash/gift cards for our niece and nephew. That's it. For neighbors, we take over a tin of homemade cookies. It is such a hit that I have neighbors requesting it now. One came over before she was hosting a dinner party to ask when the cookies would be ready. For others, we buy a case of wine from our local wine merchant in early December. Each bottle is in the $10 range, and it's a really quick & easy gift that most everyone loves. If we have to drop by at a holiday party or something, we just take a bottle from that with a tag like this on the neck. https://www.i-do-it-yourself.com/2008/12/part-7-free-wine-gift-tags/

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Budgeting and Saving on Gifts $ Weekly Money Check-In $

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