Happy Halloween!  I was able to pull off Halloween for $20.  Pretty good.  $10 for candy and $10 for my two year old’s pirate costume.  My daughter’s father bought her costume so I got out of that one.  I can tell you that everyone is pretty excited around here!  It’s going to be a long day.

Hot on the heels of Halloween is Christmas.  Hopefully you’ve been planning for this all year.  We kinda do, kinda don’t.  If you get paid biweekly then you should have 2 months when you get 3 paychecks instead of 2.  For us, one of those extra checks comes in October or November.  We use that one to fund our Christmas budget. This year it happened to fall in October.  So that means our Christmas money was deposited in our checking account today!  Yay!  Which gives me exactly 54 days to get ready for Christmas.

This year is going to be tight.  Lack of over time means that we got a check with no padding.  We can do it, but we are going to have to be careful and maybe pass up the “perfect” gift in lieu of something less expensive.  Which is so hard.  I have a habit of thinking “But it’s Christmas!”  I get caught up in the supposed magic of it all and go a bit overboard.  I want everyone to have a great holiday.

If you don’t have a Christmas Budget then this is the time to make one.  If you have been a good saver then you know how much you have to spend and making a budget will be fairly easy.  But even if you don’t know where you are getting your Christmas money you still need a budget.  For one, you need to know how much money you are going to need and can start thinking about what you are going to cut to make it happen.  Secondly, you will then know what you need to be ready next year.   Without a budget you are bound to overspend.  I would probably spend twice what I should if I didn’t have a plan.

To make the budget, list everyone for whom you are going to buy presents.  Then take how much money you have to spend and divvy it up amongst your loved ones.  I hate this part.  Make a list of everyone you love, and then prioritize them in order of how much you love them.  I love this person $50 worth, but I love this person $100 worth.  Bleck.  But it’s got to be done.  Don’t forget things like wrapping paper, Christmas cards, decorations, ect.  If you need to cut people then so be it.  Don’t feel bad.  Send cookies.  If it’s someone who you usually exchange gifts with then let them know ahead of time to avoid awkwardness later.  My best friend and I usually exchange gifts and buy gifts for each others kids.  I can’t do it this year.  They were an unfortunate casualty of our trim budget.  I’m going to let her know that I won’t be exchanging gifts this year.  Who knows, she might be relieved.  I’m sure this economy is hurting her too.

We budget $200 for each of the kids.  I’m curious how much everyone else spends on their kids for the holiday.  So how much do you spend on your kids for Christmas?  And how do you fund your Christmas budget?

Pic by: Krosstok

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