Ack! We WAAYYYY overspent on Xmas

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Ack! We WAAYYYY overspent on Xmas
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Wed, 12-28-2005 - 2:59pm

Gee-imini. I just tallied up the total damage. Originally, we budgeted $200 for Christmas. Then, once we had purchased for the various gift exchanges we felt obligated to, we were out of money. So, we took $500 from my freelance income, and decided to spend *that* on our Christmas. We spent it all.

I'm not even sure *what* happened next, except that dh got a Christmas bonus of about $500, and without a computer to keep track on while we were out of town visiting family, and knowing we had that $500 sitting there "just in case," we managed to rack up *another* $500 worth of expenses! Yikes!

I have *never* even *dreamed* of spending that much money at Christmas. And I don't even know where it all went--we bought a karaoke machine, and music, and an extra speaker, lots of gasoline, went out to eat, lots of stocking stuffers and miscellaneous yummy stuff to eat. I also purchased some birthday things for the boys--they have birthdays in February and January, so I do my shopping for them while I'm Christmas shopping. We bought photo prints for extended family, and so on and so forth... But to have racked up a total of nearly $1200 just for Christmas and two birthdays!! Yikes!! And I'm not even *done* with birthday shopping--still have the "big" presents for the boys to go. Maybe they don't need a "big" present at birthday after their extravagant Christmas...

I think I'm going to have to splash cool water on my face to keep from fainting.

I thought I was being SOOOOOOOO good with my frugal but elegant little gift baskets. And having stocked up on goodies for the boys at yard sales. And then I went and blew it all! Sheesh!

Well, at least we had fun. And at least we paid it all in cash.

Anyone else in shock over their Christmas spending?

Heather

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Wed, 12-28-2005 - 3:41pm
Sheesh, Heather..I am so sorry to hear about all of the extra expenses. I have also noticed that money just evaporates when we are away from home. (blushing) i spent more on christmas than I would have liked too, but way less than usual. We just signed my husband up for an autism conference, though, which really wasn't in the budget, but the opportunity presented itself. Also, when I called my great-aunt at Christmas, she wasn't even able to taklk on the phone, her health is deteriorating, i guess, so i feel like I should find a way to visit her next month, though i cannot afford it.
Anyhow, my daughter has a January birthday, and just yesterday i asked her what she wants for her birthday, and she couldn't really think of anything. My husband and i decided we will take the family to Disney on Ice for her birthday...all we told our dd is that we are going to take her somewhere instead of buying more stuff, and she seems genuinely excited about that. Anyway you could do something like that for the boys...treat them to a day out instead of just buying more stuff...and sice their birthdays are close...maybe you could celebrate them together. i was genuinely nervous about cutting back on the gifts for the kids this year, but they handled it very well...in fact, my daughter was quite happy with the few things i did get for her (a CD, a Beverly Cleary box set, a few horse figures from fleet farm)
Anyhow, Heather, you have done great all year. We all let our guard down once in awhile...I have a feeling it won't become a habit for you guys : ) Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Wed, 12-28-2005 - 8:02pm

It's okay Heather...You should be so proud you didn't charge anything~ you'll bounce right back after the holidays and continue your normal money habits!

I think we spent around the same amount although I haven't added it all up for the fear of fainting. I really don't want to know. I've been buying gifts here and there all through the year but then I panic and think "It's not enough!" and go buy more!! Not to mention all of the eating out and food I bought. I did charge $300 on gifts but paid it off immediately, so that's good.

We just spent close to $700 for a golden retriever puppy. ($300 dog, crate $190, vet bill $100, food and toys?) Because of him, DH and I did not exchange any gifts.

I think that is a wonderful idea about the Disney on Ice. We took our dd to see Cirque du Soliel for her bday. She LOVED going somewhere with mom and dad without brother!!! It was her special time with us- it was great.

Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2005
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 12:08am
Hi Heather -
I don't really want to know the total we spent, but I really do need to sit down and figure it out -- and then put some plan into action for next year!
But just think how much you would have spent if you hadn't made the baskets!! And they were probably the best gifts people received this year. So -- figure you would have spent between 25 - 50 for each of the people you made baskets for, and you should be really happy that you saved that much money.
I loved your ideas for the Christmas baskets -- I plan (at the very least) to try to buy presents all year instead of the rush and expense all at once. I'd like a more fun Christmas -- and just getting presents all at once isn't much fun.
Thanks for all your ideas.
Megan
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 12:24am
Hi, Heather. Yes, we overspent on Christmas. Gifts to parents, in-laws. Not a whole lot of expensive stuff. But, as you know, little things add up. DH splurged on a stereo surround sound thing with subwoofer for the flat screen TV. Subwoofer is about it. It is so loud, it would get all the dogs barking, etc. He says it is to watch the football games and DVD's in better sound. I just about fainted when I got this huge package in the mail, not knowing what it was. On my end, well, let's just say there is about $1500 on the cc--for various things.--food, gift cards, gas, etc. Soooo--I now have to pay the darn thing every time I get paid. On a positive note---I did open a Christmas Club account at the bank, so I hope this will stiffle any spending next year. I avoid post holiday sales like the plague, except to get underwear on sale, etc. Lesson learned? Yes. The card is confiscated. It is no longer in my possession. DH hid it somewhere, so I cannot use it anymore. End of story. Whiz.
Avatar for cherfer
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-2003
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 11:34am
I spent a total of $200 and that's way more than I needed to spend. Then again I don't have kids.
Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 12:46pm
Hi Heather - I don't think I'm in shock, but we definitely overspent.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Thu, 12-29-2005 - 10:27pm

Heather, HUGS!!!

We spent more than I wanted.... but unfortunately it was mostly because my husband has a hard time agreeing with me on $$$.... ugh And since HE works, and I am a SAHM I feel guilty telling him he cannot spend his hard-earned money. :(

We WILL do better next year!!!!!!!

~Aravis~

 

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Avatar for siriele
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2003
Fri, 12-30-2005 - 12:39am
Oh Yea!!!!! I got "whalloped" with an $815 dollar CC bill!! Scary since it only took me a week to really blow it.... Iris
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 12-30-2005 - 7:58am

I'm enjoying and appreciate everyone's responses here, but I wanted to respond to this one in particular, because as a SAHM myself I have very strong feelings about the family's money.

My husband's income is our primary income (I also make a small amount of money freelancing, but it wouldn't matter if I didn't--I'd still feel the same about this). I feel very strongly that the money he makes is FAMILY income, not just his. Think about it this way--could he pay someone to do everything I do on a daily basis? Not likely. A housekeeper wouldn't do all the laundry too. A nanny wouldn't do all the housework. A cook wouldn't watch the kids. A financial planner wouldn't cook dinner. A tutor wouldn't stay all day with the kids. A gardener wouldn't teach the kids. A personal shopper might pick up groceries, but would he tend the yard too? And I can't think of anyone who could be hired to build relationships with neighbors so that we have free, trusted babysitting at the drop of a hat and friends dropping by to chat or to bring by yummy meals (one neighbor is a caterer--I watch her kids from time to time and she brings us wonderful meals and treats), and neighborhood kids available to feed the cat, get the mail, and take out the trash when we're away. If the kids were in daycare, would he have a hot meal waiting for him when he walked in the door? And even if he could afford to eat out every day, have the kids in daycare, hire someone to take care of bills and finances, get a personal shopper/errand runner, and pay someone to tidy the house and do weekly or monthly cleaning, what would their quality of life be like? And who would make dozens of gorgeous Christmas baskets from odds and ends picked up for next to nothing at yard sales? Who would shop for Christmas and birthdays for the kids? Who would shop all the loss leader sales to keep the grocery bill down? Who would search the Web for weeks to find a great deal on vacation flights? I could go on, because the list of *economic* benefits (i.e., things he would have to pay someone to do without me and things I do that save us money) I bring to the family is practically endless, let alone the emotional and quality of life benefits.

He may make the MONEY in the family, but I'm the one who creates the space for us to be the family we want to be. We're in this together. And we get an equal say in how the money is handled.

That's just my two cents. ;)

Blessings,

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2005
Fri, 12-30-2005 - 10:05am

Well I totalled up my Christmas shopping and came out around $500 which was what I had budgeted for. Next year, I'm cutting down to a $300 budget, we'll see how that goes though, I may be cutting myself too short. Thankfully after this year, some of the people who weren't too keen on cutting back on Christmas are on the wagon. Amazing what moving out of your parent's house does for a couple isn't it?

The week after Christmas however totally fell off the wagon. That's what I get for going out and spending the gift certificates I got. The temptation to spend more than what I received was just too much for me. Normally I just stay out of store because I know if I walk in even not planning to buy something I will walk out with something.

But I figure it this way, it was only one week and I'm still ahead of where I was a few months ago. After this weekend, I won't need to go to the store again for quite sometime. I was able to put off grocery shopping and fill up the car the entire week so I didn't have to charge it. I plan on going to the Super Walmart this weekend for groceries because my Uncle gave me a $25 gift certificate for Walmart for Christmas. I'll spend way more than that I'm sure but after that I plan on staying out of the stores all of January...I'm so tired of shopping it's unreal. I need to get around and make my list.

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