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Home > A Spending Limit for Christmas Gifts?

A Spending Limit for Christmas Gifts?

December 5th, 2007 at 02:01 am

Do you set a spending limit for Christmas? I've thought about it, but I never have. I imagine it might be more of an issue when we have kids and it can be easy to go overboard.

I'm almost done with my shopping, and I was strating to feel a little anxious/guilty that I'd spent too much-- especially given the mattress we purchased this month a a plane ticket I bought to get together with my high school friends in February to celebrate turning 30 together.

A quick analysis in Quicken shows I've spent just under $450 of my own money. I'm unsure how much has been put on our joint credit card since Mr. Bean tracks that. I imagine it's somewhere around $100? We put family gifts on our joint credit card, but oftentimes I'm buying stuff for myself or a gift for a friend at the same time and don't bother to divvy up the purchases. I'm comfortable with these numbers, but knowing what they are will (hopefully) motivate me to cool the spending for the rest of the month!

Posted in Spending | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “A Spending Limit for Christmas Gifts?”

  1. miclason Says:
    December 5th, 2007 at 03:45 pm 1196869514
    1196869514

    I do. I assign a total for all Xmas gifts, then divide that in individual "maximum amounts"...it forces me to be creative...If I see something that I like for a person, but is over the limit, then I try to look for cheaper alternatives for someone else...IF I find cheaper gifts for the others, THEN I can get the pricier thing ...if not, then back to looking for that "perfect" gift [perfect to me means: 1. is something the person will love 2. is something I feel good about (I wouldn't give a child a toy weapon, even if s/he would love it, for example...or, I don't give smoking-related items to friends that smoke!) 3. it is within my price range!]

  2. koppur Says:
    December 5th, 2007 at 05:58 pm 1196877509
    1196877509

    I try to stay around a certain amount, but don't panic if I go over. My rule this year was I have to use all cash for gifts - no CC's. And I've done it! Smile

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