Thirteen Weeks to Go - Challenge 2 (The Budget)

n · Thirteen Weeks to Go - Challenge 2 (The Budget)

I should say from the outset that this is what I am going to do this year... I'm not trying to tell anyone else what to do, but this is what I know will work for me.

Working out the budget is the bit I don't like doing, but it's essential for me or I would spend like Rockerfeller. I don't like sitting down and working out the figures, because even if it makes me very organised, it seems mean somehow.
Well it's not.
Working it out now, before I make lists of who to buy for is the only way for me to go. If I make the list of people first and then try to make the budget fit, I know I will feel miserable and stressed and will probably feel the whole thing is impossible before I start. It takes all the joy out of giving.
You don't believe me?
How many nieces and nephews and teachers and crossing patrol people and friends and neighbours and cousins and .... feel exhausted yet?

So, I'm setting my budget first.
This is less to do with how much is the maximum I can afford, and more about what is a reasonable and sensible amount for EVERYTHING, including wrapping, stamps, cards, replacement fairy lights, tree, champagne (!), stockings.... charity collections, everything.

Only when it's worked out, will I start making the list of who to give to.
This will allow me plenty of time to contact people and say.... shall we agree to just buy the nieces and nephews one carefully chosen book this year? (for example).
One of the best gifts my eldest son was given one birthday was a second hand charity shop copy of the huge edition of "The AA Book of the Car". He was nine at the time. He still has it, and he's eighteen now!

Everyone's budget will be different, and it's a very private thing.

After I have set the budget, I'm going to set up a money sheet in my file with the total amount at the top, and from now on, every time I buy something, no matter how small, even that roll of sellotape which gets slipped in between the cornflakes and the sticky buns counts....it needs to be subtracted from the total.

I'm sure this sounds crazy, but having control of all this and knowing where I stand will take my stress levels right down, honestly.

Once I have worked out the figure... AND written it down, the fun will begin. Now I will be able to start the list of who? what? when? make it? And if I need three balls of handspun fibre from a hobbit-sheep in pink, I can start looking for it and telling everyone else on here so they can look too on my behalf. They may even have it in their stash, and be willing to swap it for a pot of pumpkin pickle and the loan of a set of size 3.75mm dpns for a few weeks.....

n

Hobbit-sheep yarn anyone?

YarnAddict

Wow, I'm impressed with how organised you have. We have a spending limit for each person. We spend the same on all the adults in our family and slightly less on the kids as they alwasy end up getting loads anyway. We're lucky it's a small family and sadly it's even smaller this year with the loss of my grandparents in the last few months. Sad

We only buy for my parents, my nephew, Simon's parents, his sister, her husband and two boys. My sister decided we should stop buying each otherpresents and just buy the kids something which is fine by me as I never knew what to buy her anyway. So it's not a big family really. I don't normally buy anything for my friends or their kids, apart from my God daughter and her sister. And I will probably get their Mum somethign this year as she's been throuhg a horrible time since Easter when ehr husband walked out.

Our neighbour always get the girls something and I'm not that happy about it. The kids used to play outside together a lot but we're not that friendly with them but as they buy for ours I feel we have to buy for them. Last year they got a present for me and Simon too but I'm just buying for their kids. I'm really reluctant to get into buying everyone we know presents.

The girls are given a small amount of money to buy a couple of friends a present. That's okay with Em but Vanessa has more friends she'd like to buy for so she ends up having to spend her pocket money too.

As for everything else Christmassy I don't really budget for it. I try to set aside money all through the year but haven't this year but Simon is getting a payrise this month which will be back dated to 1st August so I think I may put the extra away for christmas and I'm getting an inheritance out of it too so I'll some money away from that too.

We only have Christmas at homeevery other year, the other years we go to Norway which is my favourite kind of Christmas as it means we won't have to do anything here.

I don't think I'll get around to being as organised as you n. But Ithink it's a good idea especially to plan this early and setting a budget. It's a bit sad still paying off Christmas in July. Confused

n

loobyj

You're right n, deciding now takes away a lot of stress later on! I'm always alright with the pressies - I set a limit for each person and buy creatively to stay within it.

My BIG problem is the food budget. I know I spend far too much - but I'm a bit like John Lewis - never knowingly undercatered! I can't bear the thought of people popping in and I've not got lots of yummy stuff to offer!!!!!!

The plus side is we hardly spend anything on food in January....

lj

n

Anna

I don't have that many people to buy for, as a most of my friends and I decided to just exchange cards at Christmas and to buy birthday presents instead, which takes some pressure off (except for the November, December and January birthdays!).

I buy for my parents, my sister (and I'll probably have to extend that to her husband this year, though we don't like one another Sad

), my granddad, my aunt and cousin, who spend Christmas with us most years, and my oldest friend. This year I'll send something for my almost-niece, though her mum and I have always just exchanged cards and letters.

We used to have a secret Santa at work, but the year the team went from 6 to 18 in the space of a year we gave that up and now we don't bother amongst ourselves, but we all put in a few pounds and send that to the local hospice which is used my many of our students for respite care.

I also have six birthdays (not counting my own) to buy for between November 25th and January 13th. I usually get those presents as I'm doing my Christmas shopping, so they don't get forgotten.