Holiday Budgeting

[wincrasher]

If you watch the news, the conventional wisdom is that everybody is cutting back on holiday spending this year. Even if you have the means, the fashion is still to keep it low key.

What are you doing this season? Same as always, a little more, or a bit less?

What about Thanksgiving and any holiday parties?

Here at the office, the tone seems to be to keep it the same for the kids, but cut back on everyone else. But most folks are still doing the big Thanksgiving dinner.

[MonkeyMama]

Same as always - which isn't much.

None of our family or friends are particularly into *material* Christmases. Except for Grandma, which is why we don't really buy the kids anything. Between "spoiling rotten" Grandma, and whatever free stuff my spouse scores during the year, we don't really spend much on them. & they get 10 times the presents I ever did as a kid. Which I am not particularly thrilled with, since I don't much care for the materialism of the whole thing.

Anyway, we don't plan to spend much of anything. But that's quite usual, for us.

We always host Thanksgiving at our house - potluck. Doesn't strike me as an expensive thing either. Can usually score a free turkey, and our family is so big that everyone brings a dish, and we eat quite well! No plans for anything different there.

We generally don't really go to any holiday parties (kind of goes along with just keeping it low key. It's that time of year everyone goes crazy, and we try to keep it simple as possible). I did notice last year there were less party invites. I am sure this year will be more of the same.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

Same as always - which isn't much.

Ditto. I think this is the key. If you normally spend money you don't have and rack up credit card debt, you probably aren't doing that this year. If you have money and usually spend a ton on the holidays, you may be trimming back.

We normally don't do that much as I said in your other thread. This year will be no different than usual, no more, no less.

[wincrasher]

My spending usually reflects how I'm doing that particular year. If I've had a good year, then I can justify spending more. In lean years, I spend a good bit less. Never, ever would I gift on credit. That's just nutty.

This year, my budget is pretty healthy, as least as compared to past years. But I just calculated out that in total, it is only 1.7% of my gross. Some would think I'm a cheapskate - guilty!