Christmas--How Did We Do?

Before you read this blog, do two things first:  1--if you're just joining, click here to read how it all began and why we're doing a financial fast.  2--if this journey interests you, enter your email to the right of this post to get a notification sent to you whenever there's a new posting.

This Christmas we made a conscious decision that we were no longer going to break the bank in a 25-day frenzy.  So we made some strategic decisions:  we would start shopping in October in order to spread it out over three months instead of three weeks.  We also set a goal for $10 per gift--flexing a little if something was really perfect, but a max goal of $20.  And we set out to make homemade gifts for a number of friends.  We also saved a ton of money on Christmas cards using a pre-made website instead of our own photos and letters.

Last year gift total: $476.33
This year gift total: $333.13
    total saved:  $143.20

So how did we do it?  The goal of $10 per gift was a significant factor--though some gifts did end up slightly more, the highest single gift was $19.99.  This may sound cheap, but if you really look hard you can indeed find nice, well-made, thoughtful gifts for approximately $10.  Bryan and I also decided not to get each other gifts this year.  Unromantic?  Maybe.  But we'd both rather spend our money and efforts on quality time together, rather than gifts.  And at this stage in our 22+ year relationship, there ain't a whole lot left to buy that we haven't already done in the past.

So what DID we spend it on?

Bryan's gifts from the kids: $38 (3 gifts = $12.67 each)  He cheated slightly and picked out his own gifts but promised to practice his surprise face.  And now he tells me that in the past the kids and I have gotten him "weird" gifts that he didn't really like in the first place!  Saving money + picking out self gifts = happy dad.  In the past, our goal would be somewhere around $20 per kid plus $50 from wife = $110.  Potential money saved on just one person = $72.

Jill's gifts from the kids:  $41 (3 gifts = $13.67 each)  I admit, I too cheated but in a slightly different way--I set out the newspaper ad in the living room, circled in big black marker what I wanted, and printed the coupon online.  Saving money + picking out self gifts = happy mom.  Past goals would have been the same as for dad, so potential money saved = another $72.

Kids' gifts to each other: $48 (6 gifts = $8 each)  They had fun not only shopping for thrifty choices, but also sneaking the gifts into the cart while their sibling was still in the store!  Mom and Dad usually take the "divide and conquer" approach with dad-brother at one end of the store and mom-sisters at the other end.  This was particularly challenging at the craft fair when Kaela decided to get Graeson a PVC-pipe homemade bow and arrow.....large, specific shape, and near-impossible to hide.  But she put it in a garbage sack and filled it with air, set it right next to him in the back of the car and said "it's a gift for my friend."  Then she wrapped it in an oversize bicycle bag from the dollar store, stuffed it with newspaper, and put it under the tree.  TOTAL SUCCESS!  Our past goal would have been $15 per gift = $90.  Potential money saved on three siblings = $42

Parents' gifts to kids:  $150 (4 gifts each kid plus 3 stockings = $10 each)  This sounds like a high figure at the end, but if you break it down it looks like this:  each kid got three gift cards for $10 each, one creativity book (drawing, legos, stickers) for $10, and stocking stuffers at the dollar store for $10 each stocking (that's 30 stocking stuffers!)  They love gift cards because they get to spend their own "money" at specific stores, and mom loves that it results in sneaky little math lessons along the journey.  And our school uses the scrip program which gives money to the schools for ordering gift cards through them.  Our past goals would have been $100 each kid, plus stocking stuffers for who-knows-how-much = $350 or more.  Potential money saved on three kids = $200.

All in all, we are very happy with our financial fasting through Christmas this year!  Our annual family tradition is to go out to eat on Christmas Eve--we considered forgoing this tradition in order to honor our fasting, but since this was our first Christmas in a new town, and because we had saved a lot of money thus far, we agreed to splurge.  I won't mention how much it costs for a family of five to have a nice dinner, but even though it was a big chunk, the kids were very excited.....and all of us were very full and very happy.  Together.