I’m aiming to have a reasonable spending year, this year. I’m planning to spend about $500-$650 on Christmas/holiday related things. That’s including the tree, gifts, outings to Christmas markets, stamps for my Christmas cards, etc. One thing my immediate family and extended family did years ago was start a Secret Santa tradition, which was much much more workable for our budgets and took some serious pressure off the holidays. We used to have family gatherings where each person was buying gifts for 10+ people, and this happened on two sides of the family. Too much. Just, way way too much.
When I think back to the prices of gifts I was giving multiple people every year when I was in university or only making $34,000 per year, I can barely believe it. What the heck was I thinking? I couldn’t afford it, but I felt pressure to give good gifts.
This year, for the Secret Santas I’m part of, I have very workable limits of about $30-40. And my partner and I have a gift limit of $200, and we also plan to do activities around the city to celebrate.
I’ll be keeping a running tally just to see how I do.
Happy saving,
Squirrel
