Another year, another Christmas season, another Christmas budget.
I figured I’d carry on the tradition of breaking down what we spent for Christmas gifts. This year we had a big boost to our income, and while we’re still working on some big financial goals so we can’t go hog wild, I didn’t have to keep things quite so tight. Last year our total spent on Christmas gifts was $343
Total spent on gifts for Christmas 2018: $484.47
Here’s the breakdown:
Spouse gifts: Here’s a shocker… we spent nothing. I can’t remember the last time we bought each other gifts. Honestly, I’m totally fine with it. Maybe someday I’ll allow it but for right now I’d much rather have money go into savings than on a sweater or some earrings.
Total: $0
Nieces and Nephews: We added a couple of beautiful nieces to our family this year so we had more people to buy for so all together so we bought for 3 nieces and 2 nephews.
Total: $78
Neighbor Gifts: We made chocolate dipped pretzel rods for neighbors and friends this year. A fun afternoon with my daughter and we were able to have gifts for about 20 families.
Total: $30
Teacher Gifts: This year we have my daughter’s teacher and 9 preschool teachers to buy for.
Total: $129
Kids: Obviously the bulk of our budget goes to our wee babes. My son was easy to buy for (read anything dinosaur), my daughter was more challenging but I stalked some of my favorite websites and waited for the best deals and was able to score everything I bought at a great price.
Farrah (age 9) gifts:
-Four shirts from Justice. She needed some long sleeve shirts anyways, and I usually don’t shop at that store unless there’s a major sale and there was so I scooped up some cute tops for her and spent $32.05.
-A Lap desk from Justice. She’s been doing more reading, writing and drawing in her bed so I thought this might be helpful and it was on a pretty good sale for $12.93
-Swingball set- I wanted to get her something she could play outside and since we’re so close with all our neighbors are so close I thought this would be something fun she could do with the neighbors. $29
-Games: She loves playing games so I picked up 2 from target when they were having a sale on games. I got her Rummikub and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? (heck yes I want to play that one myself!) All together for both it was $17.84
-Books- $16
Evan (age 4) gifts:
-Dinosaur Play doh set and playdoh- It’s dinosaur themed and it keeps him busy… winning! $18.98 for both
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-Dinosaur bath play set- It comes with a bunch of the foam things that stick to the sides of the bath when wet. I already know he’ll love them. $11.99
-Frontier Logs- I’ve been wanting to get him something he can build and be creative with so hopefully this will be a hit! $20.99 for a 114 piece set.
-Blue ride on car- This is his bigger gift that will hopefully keep him busy outside. Even better I got it for a great deal at $27.99.
-Magic School Bus Dinosaur Science Kit- Because dinosaurs. $13.99
My parents- I picked up a nice cookbook I thought they might like and it was on sale… winning! I also got them a game since they love games. $15
Christmas Eve gifts- I started a tradition a while ago that on Christmas Eve the kids get to open a present and it’s always new Christmas pajamas and a new ornament for the tree. In the past I was able to get away with hand-me-down Christmas pajamas. We’d get hand-me-downs and if there were Christmas pajamas in there I’d put them aside until Christmas. This year I bought new ones from Carters when they were on sale. I also got them ornaments from Hobby Lobby. I’ve found the best deals on Christmas stuff there. $30.71
We spent more than last year but still did pretty good. How did your Christmas budget turn out this year?
<3 Krista