Christmas yet?
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Christmas yet?
| Tue, 06-09-2009 - 11:05am |
(No offense to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas)
I'm one of those all-year shoppers, but I've been down on my game this year. I'm not as far along as I'd like to be, although I'm well below budget and have four boxes full of gifts hidden already. Is anyone thinking about holiday spending? Are you shopping or saving for Christmas, or a little bit of both? I start to feel the pressure in June and start to panic in July, LOL. It's been on my mind this month, but I LOVE it!

My new motto:
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
I always start thinking about what to get my boys and bf. Unfortunately, they may change their minds 100 times, and video games don't really go on sale. I always get them stocking stuffers from the dollar store. I don't know exactly what to get them or if they will want video games or not but my present won't be as good as last year(they got a new xbox 360). Bf and I have talked about getting ourselves a really nice coffee maker as our nice one died last month. I figure we should get a good one since we use it everyday and don't buy coffees from star bucks or other convenience places. We buy our coffee beans at Costco and get a good deal on them. We went a little overboard last year on ourselves so I would like to cut that down. I am hoping simple will suffice this year.
Well I have an account set up for gifts/showers/Christmas etc but its got a measly $80 in it at the moment that will be used up in 2 weeks when Dad comes (taking him to a nice dinner for fathers day). Good news is that for the rest of the summer I have no events to attend so the money can build again ($20 every 2 weeks).
I don't pay property taxes in November or December so that is $750 that I budget for but don't use. I put that into my Christmas fund (its WAY more then I need). I also redeem my Visa cashback in November (usually around $100 . . . nothing earth shattering).
Either way, I only have to buy for a few people this year so its not as crazy as usual!
Bex -
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."
Bex -
We have been weeding
The best thing I ever did was to open a Christmas club account through my mother's bank. The reason- she asks me every month for checks to put in there. I get paid twice a month and each pay period I put a certain amount in. I shoot for $30 and $45. It is great through her bank because she "nags" me for those checks and that way I continue to contribute. No excuses! I started doing $20 each time and have increased it, with the distibution coming in early November. I pay for Christmas gifts with cash so no new credit card debt!
As for buying, I usually start with small things in late September or so, but the real shopping is in December - I love the atmosphere, the bustle, all of it!
For the most part I'm done and wrapped.
I actually used to be teased by my coworkers because I would begin planning for Christmas in August!
Kate