Did you stick to your Christmas budget??

[a1tinkfans]

I did not do a set budget, it'd be too frustrating cause I'd no doubt go over, since I was so late to shop. That being said. I bought gifts n then for some crazy reason, ended up adding gift cards to each. That was just getting " caught up" in the season. I'm out of state now and it's a first Christmas away ...plans changed and we stayed South instead r one p north. Definitely a different Christmas for us,.
What I did not really think about was all the postage .... Of course was last minute priority boxes, even flat rates, added up fast, Ouch! And all the fees to activate all the gift cards, another ouch" looking at some budgets on the board here, my postage n fees were more .
Next year, checks, they're all basically young adults now. Merry Magical Christmas Eve and day to one and all!

 

[bdcp]

Yes. 3K was my budget and I spent almost all of it, probably 2800. DH and I have two sons, a DIL, both sets of parents, 3 nieces and nephews we buy for plus "secret santa" for siblings. DH and I are buying for each other are included in the total.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You shouldn't feel cheap - you should be proud of yourself that you were able to buy for all these people with $120!!!!!

I agree!

 

[turkey1031]

I didn't set a budget but I spent more than I thought I would.

 

[clh2]

I went over our budget by 7 bucks. We tried to stick to it very hard, since DD's main present was big $$. But, I went to kohls today to spend a $10 coupon, and one of the Monster's Inc characters literally jumped into my arms.

(DD, 20YO, dressed up as this character at Halloween.)

So, that was 5 plus tax, and the other thing I got for the $10 coupon, was actually $11, so about 7 over!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[smcabee]

Yes. I have a $1000.00 christmas club through work and I spent about $600 of it. No kids but I buy stuff for my wife, my 3 nieces and 2 nephews. I also got gift cards for my manager and coworkers. The remaining money will go toward my April trip.

 

[gracie1]

I went over our budget by 7 bucks. We tried to stick to it very hard, since DD's main present was big $$. But, I went to kohls today to spend a $10 coupon, and one of the Monster's Inc characters literally jumped into my arms. (DD, 20YO, dressed up as this character at Halloween.) So, that was 5 plus tax, and the other thing I got for the $10 coupon, was actually $11, so about 7 over! Merry Christmas everyone!

You still did a great job!

 

[gracie1]

Yes. I have a $1000.00 christmas club through work and I spent about $600 of it. No kids but I buy stuff for my wife, my 3 nieces and 2 nephews. I also got gift cards for my manager and coworkers. The remaining money will go toward my April trip.

You did great coming under budget!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I under spent by $225 so that money is going back into the Christmas club acct.

 

[KELLY]

I underspent on my kids by 300.00. Everything else I kept in budget.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

To the penny on the kids. They are all early to mid-twenties. I set the budget, they each have the same number of presents to open, then they each get a check for any money I did not spend of their budget.

 

[gracie1]

Sounds like everyone did great sticking with their budgets this year

 

[StephMK]

Um, no. I had such good intentions, and well, you know how that can go. I did really enjoy the gift bag app I used to track what I spent. I was on track until the last week or two. Plus next year I know to add more categories - eating out, unexpected holiday expenses - new lights, and an increased food budget for work events in addition to the usual increase for holiday meals.

 

[superme80]

I went over on all my kids and my husband. It was worth it!

 

[MomToOne]

I went about $250 over on DD14s gifts and my two nephews and my mother by about $25 each.

But I came in slightly under on plane tickets and other travel-related costs, plus I was under on Christmas-time activities and spent less on "gifts to myself" this year

So all in all, about on budget. Probably a little over in the long run. But I find that while setting a budget is important, tracking my spending is really the most important thing in this case - it's OK in my eyes to "rob Peter to pay Paul" in my budget. So as long as I cut in one area, it's OK to overspend in another. And that's what I did - savings rates were maintained as a result - so all is good

 

[wishesuponastar]

Yes we stuck to our budget. But it was a little more than we spent last year.

 

[DawnM]

What is a Christmas Club account?

I have an ING account set up for Christmas and put about $100 in each month. Is a Christmas Club account similar?

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

We no longer exchange with extended family, so it is pretty much just us.

I save $100/mo. so I had $1,200 in the account. I spent about $900 of it. So, we did come in under budget.

 

[ken2]

Nope.I never pay with credit cards for Christmas though so I look at it as its ok.I already the money and dont haave to pay anything back

 

[Judique]

I didn't actually have a budget.

But - this is an extra paycheck cycle as I get paid every 2 weeks so I essentially used that extra deposit and my checking/savings looks like a normal month.

Except for the cash gifts, I ran it all through the credit card and then made the payment so I would get my cc points.

I also received a rather expensive gift that needs returning as I'll never use it so I'm trying to figure out how to turn it into cash.