My husband and I have scrimped and saved and finally paid off our mortgage…8 years early on a 15 year mortgage!
As freeing as this is, it means that we are pretty much broke going into the holidays as every spare penny has gone towards the mortgage for 2 years.
We are trying to stretch each and every dollar as far as it can go.
So to that end we have had to set up a budget. One made especially to cover the months of November and December.
First we needed to come up with the amount we felt we could afford to spend over and above our standard spending on bills…our Holiday Budget
This amount would become our spending limit for the season.
Next we came up with a list of things we will be purchasing.
- Holiday Food
- Gifts
- Supplies for handmade gifts
- Decorations
- Cards and Postage
- Gift Baskets Supplies
- Charitable Giving
We then set a budget for each of the areas which became their specific spending limits…the total of these is the figure we came up with for our Holiday Budget
Being a spreadsheet wiz hubby came up with something like this free worksheet found here.
We are going track what we budgeted against what we actually spend throughout the season.
This gives us parameters for holiday spending…which actually feels freeing as I have in the past dreaded the after Christmas credit cards bills. This year I know that there will be no more spent than is budgeted.
It also has my creative juices flowing trying to come up with creative and inexpensive ideas for the holidays!
Besides it’s not about how much you spend at the holidays…
It is who you get to spend the holidays with!
So do you budget for the holidays?
Kim can also be found at the inadvertent farmer where she raises organic fruits, veggies, critters, kids, and…a camel!
Not Dabbling In Normal 
Great post—and very timely, as the commercial shopping season will whip up in a frenzy very soon—and the mentally unprepared will be swept up.
Your advice is great! Making a plan and sticking to it goes a long way to maintaining sanity during the holidays.
I agree – great post! And we don’t budget for the holidays, but we absolutely should. Why did we not think about this before?! Thank you for this very timely idea!
Congratulations on paying off your home. We, too, are paying off our mortgage early (30 yr in 5 yrs with 18 months to go). Budgeting is a way of life around our home. We are drawing names this year between the adults in our family. Our kids are thrift store addicts .. so they don’t mind re-purposed/used gifts that are of good quality as well. Not having TV and magazines touting the latest-greatest is helpful too. I imagine once our home is paid for we will still use a budget.
Budget, very hard to stick to sometimes but maybe in the day and age it should be done a little more often! I think it is time to work on one!
Love the post.
We (my sister and I) started a new tradition this year and joined Handmade holiday http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/p/handmade-holiday.html
Our goal is to make (idealy from free or recycled materials) all of our gifts. I have really found that it is making the holiday more fun. I’m making all but one gift and all fo the gift bags to put them in. My husband is in school full time so there is no money to spare till he is out, so this was perfect for us.
We are really blessed that our parents cover the cost for us to drive home and that our Mom LOVES to cook so that is not an expese for us (which is a huge blessing)!
Thanks for the budgeting tool and kudos for the house!!
Congrats on the paid off mortgage! We paid off our mortgage this year too (7 year adjustable rate mortgage paid off in 5 years–take THAT Wells Fargo!) and it feels so good to be free from that bondage.
I have used the Flylady Holiday Control Journal for the last several years and it serves as a great way to organize all the holiday planning and spending. http://www.flylady.org
Yes we budget for the holiday days and everyday of the year. I also keep a list of who I have purchased a gift for and how much. Go thought your craft room or supply list and start making with what you have. It is amazing what you can make with very little money, just time. Enjoy your holidays!
We have such a tight holiday budget this year that my husband and I agreed not to buy each other anything and instead just enjoy spending time with our 2 adult children.
God always provides: I was walking downtown on my lunch break and walked by a used bookstore. They had 2 large boxes of books out on the sidewalk with a free sign. I found a brand new book for my husband and another brand new book for my co-worker!!
Now I have gifts to give to those I spend the most time with and it didn’t deplete my budget. What a blessing!!
Congrats – we just paid off ours as well – ironically 8 years after purchasing as well. We too have scrimped and saved and will continue to do so as we save for our goal of buying 100 acres close by.