About 9 months ago, I decided to read Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. I read the entire thing in one day, and was ready to tackle our small amount of debt ($5000 on a Jeep). I've always been a little flighty, when it comes to sticking to things, and I worried that I would even quit before the 90 days. When that 90 days saw us completely pay off the debt and live more at peace, I was hooked! No going back now!
What really helped me was my first tip for paying cash for Christmas:
Download the Every Dollar App
We are cheap people, and have continued to use the free version, but I can see the appeal of upgrading to the premium one. Either way, it helps you track ALL your expenses and guides you to giving EVERY DOLLAR (get it?!) a home. I researched our expenses from previous 3 months to get an idea of how much to give each category. Because of this, our eating out expenses, and random Walmart trips have decreased by $200 a month!
After you put in all your expenses, make a category for Christmas and put a number there that you will stick to! How do you get that number? Here is my next tip:
Write down everyone you need to buy for and assign a price point for each person.I also write down 'co-worker gifts', 'Christmas parties' and then add maybe $50 just to cover any last minute people I have forgotten about or that come up. For my husband's extended family, they put a cap at $25 per person when they draw names for Christmas. This is so helpful in putting an average of how much we will spend! I try to find sales and deals that allow a gift to be worth $25, while paying a little less. I also apply this $25 limit to the rest of the extended family members, to make things easier to budget (And so I don't get carried away!).
When it comes to your children:
Kids don't need $1000 worth of toys and the latest trendy items!
Look around your house (or yard). Where are the gifts you got them last year? Stinging I know! Half of what my son got has either been trashed, or not played with. While this may seem depressing, this encourages me to make sure what I get him will be useful (or well played with) and not cost me an arm and a leg (no guilt then, if we have to give it away). We put a cap of $100 per child in our house, but before the age of 3-4 it was $50. This includes stocking gifts and wrapped ones from us. If you are needing ideas, I will be compiling a few gift guides this month, so stay tuned for that!
The number you put as a budget for your kids is up to you. Know that your kids crave your presence over presents. It may not seem like they do, but when they look back after they've grown, will they remember that you gave them the high dollar gadget they requested, or that you always made homemade pancakes Christmas morning and watched a new movie that you got for Christmas?
Were you looking for handmade items to be the next tip? Well, I'm not much help there!
I absolutely love my husband's aunt's homemade sourdough bread she makes every Christmas, or the handmade apron I received one year. I am sort of, kind of, crafty, but I haven't gotten the hang of DIYs for Christmas gifts. If you make the world's best cinnamon rolls, or love to crochet, by all means make that scarf! Don't think you actually HAVE to spend a lot money on people at Christmas.
What tips do you have for paying cash for Christmas? I would love to hear them!
I love this! We are huge Dave Ramsey fans! My older kids have always been great at homemade gifts. My husband gets a homemade board game from them every year.
ReplyDeleteWe love to do an assortment of homemade cookies or other goodies. We'll wrap a shoebox with the lid separate from the box (like you'd do for Operation Christmas Child), line it with tissue paper or baking parchment, then fill it up with goodies... cookies, muffins, Chex Mix, popcorn balls, nothing elaborate but just a nice assortment. You can also throw in a handful of Hershey's Kisses or other wrapped candy to make it more festive. Doesn't cost a lot but makes a nice gift, especially for a family or a group.
ReplyDeleteI love Dave Ramsey! Our Christmas budget varies each year, but it’s usually around $200 per kid. That still adds up to a lot when you multiply that by 7. My rule is never buy anything without a coupon. This way I can make the money stretch.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! We usually try to spread buying gifts out over the year if we can. This way we are not getting everything at one time. Plus we also buy lots of books and useful things for our kids.
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