Our new easy budget has been working like a charm the last two months. Until now. Enter Christmas! Gak!
I managed to buy all of the kids' gifts without going over budget, but now that it's time to cross the adults off the list and buy the odds and ends that seem to never go on sale, I'm going to be way over our weekly spending caps for the next two weeks.
Oh well. I half expected this to happen for holidays. We have trimmed our list a lot this year, and many of those on our list still will be getting homemade brandied marmalade and tins of Christmas butterscotch blondies. But those who are still on my list: my mom, sister, husband, and in-laws all cost a pretty penny.
The in-laws is the cost of gifts plus the cost of travelling to Vermont to see them for the holidays, which is the most expensive part. And for my mom and sis, I'm to the point where I refuse to buy gifts that are useless clutter and only want to give people things they will truly use. Sometimes, that's more expensive.
For my mom, my sister and I are splitting her airfare to go to Las Vegas to see my late father's only living sister. We are all going to go in the spring. It would mean a lot to her, and it would be a fun trip for us.
I bought a TV for my sister. I got a great deal on just the one she wanted. Hers is so old, the closed captioning randomly comes on and off (only in Spanish) and it makes a loud whining sound like it's going to explode. It's more than I wanted to spend, but I know she's actually going to use it everyday for years to come.
And, I have no idea what to get hubby. So far, it's a book and a T-shirt. Maybe I'll buy us a "date" to our favorite restaurant, complete with sitter for the night.
Christmas is wrecking the budget!
November 18th, 2010 at 03:45 pm
November 18th, 2010 at 03:57 pm 1290095844
November 18th, 2010 at 04:25 pm 1290097556
husbands are definitely tough, mine too. Rack your brain for a little something that is meaningful that only you would know about him.
For example, my husband is typical and loves the gadgets, electronics, etc. But these are too expensive for me to buy for him anyway. He cares nothing for clothes and has little personal time to read, watch video.
One of his favorite things is ice cream and when we travel it is fun to see him have a 'mission' to find new ice cream stores (a novel way of meeting a new city or town). So for his bdays sometimes I help the kids give him baskin robbins gift certs, or a box packed with cones/toppings. We once obtained a big ice cream maker (from craig's list) and packed it with rock salt and a grocery store gift cert (for the cream) for him.
Mine also is a rock hunter (loves that stoopid Meteor Man show). There are guidebooks and maps (but he has most) and tools (but they are expensive although we once gave him a metal detector). But even better, one year I just gave him some nice specimen stands. These are little footed display racks that you have to get from rock stores. Didn't cost much, but made me happy to make his samples organized and shown off.
Does he cook at all? Mine has put 'iron skillet' on his list this year. Bleh, I don't really want to go for that. On Father's Day I splurged on a Vittorio food mill for him because he wanted to make sauce from the excessive tomatoes in the backyard garden. OHMYGOSH what a good thing that has been. It was $60 and we will use it I'm sure for 10 years or more. (We've already made 10 quarts applesauce with it also).
What are his top dreams to do in life?
Try the PBS on line store, there are inspiring shows on history, science, and a huge variety of subjects. It's here
Good luck!
November 18th, 2010 at 05:41 pm 1290102090
Well, hubby does really want to take a trip to NYC or Philadelphia to look at some art. We would need someone to take the kids for 3 or 4 days so we could go, which is a lot to ask since they are both so young. Maybe I can come up with something.
And the gifts aren't that generous. It's a small TV! And, airfare from here to Las Vegas isn't too expensive when you book during a deal.
November 18th, 2010 at 06:42 pm 1290105748
an art aficiando? that should be the tip off, run to your local art association and see what they have going on (ie gifts, classes, workshops, events).
November 18th, 2010 at 06:46 pm 1290106002
November 18th, 2010 at 10:22 pm 1290118922
November 18th, 2010 at 11:00 pm 1290121248