Fearless Money

The two of my three children who can talk have declared this “the best Christmas ever“. This, despite it being by far the least expensive Christmas in the last ten years. It is an odd thing, but repeatedly proven to be true, that setting constraints often sparks creativity.

The way we did it this year was by budgeting “gift money” every month. The money, $50 each for Dustin and me, goes in envelopes marked “Dustin Gift Money” and “Bruce Gift Money” in the safe. That money accumulates month-to-month in the envelopes. It is not separately tracked or accounted-for, which helps keep the presents secret. We use it to fund all gift giving throughout the year, supplemented by whatever we feel like kicking in from our personal “mad money” allowances. Since we started the formal budget in June last year, there were a total of $800 maximum dollars in the envelopes. Due to birthdays and such, the total left was more like $500.

$500 really is not a lot to buy presents for the five people in the family, relatives, and close friends. According to an article I read the average spent per person is between $1000-$1500, which means that we spent significantly less than the average. We did this by setting our limits up front, and by not really buying any “impulse gifts”. Most presents were carefully planned and ordered online for significant discounts.

When we did shop for gifts at the mall, we took cash. That is an entirely different experience to shopping with a credit card. I found myself thinking things like “that is a nice shirt, Dustin would love it, but if I buy it, I wont have enough left to get that bracelet I came here to buy.” Exactly the point. Temptation is just easier to avoid when you are using cash.

Another big help was something I read on another personal finance blog (sorry I can’t recall which). It pointed out that young children really don’t have the attention to enjoy more than three or four presents. Very true, and helpful to assuage guilt at not getting them everything under the sun.

Favorite presents:
Dustin: Bracelet bought in Mexico on vacation from a vendor on the Artisan’s street in San Miguel.
Bruce: Buddha statue
Ian: Electric Guitar
Mia: Plush velociraptor
Clio: Stuffed kitty with fuzzy green sweater

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