New Year's hangover?

[Like2Plan]

We save all year for the Christmas holidays. It has been a very effective tool to keep us motivated to stay on budget. (DH and I love the holidays--if we overspend during the year- it comes out of the Christmas savings and neither DH or I want that to happen!)
We stayed within our guidelines again this year. The most difficult time I have is in Jan where the fun's over and adjusting myself back to the no extra spending mindset.... (Jan--we are over halfway! I feel like I am in the routine again. )

[daviddane]

I have decided that this year i will try to maximize a lot of money which i have and try to capitalize on each and every bit of it, last year was a dreadful year and i will make sure that this year won't be the same.

[red92s]

Between December 1st and now I've put $3,347.78 (including interest) into my savings account. Not bad for someone who is unemployed .

This year our the (grown adult) children in my family consisted of two students, and one unemployed person. The one person with an income (my sister in law) just bought a house this summer. So we paired off and bought one gift under $50 for one person each. Then pooled funds for each of my parents. Beyond that, I got something for my girlfriends mom. The largest outlay was for the girlfriend, part of a quick vacation, but that isn't happening until spring and I'll have the cash saved.

I ended the year with a negative credit card balance. I rented a tool from the autoparts store and they charged my card $20 for a deposit. I forget I'd get the deposit back when I returned the tool, and paid the bill off in full before returning it.

[Ima saver]

We stayed underbudget also. We gave the granddaughters money and only bought for each other. I did give my mail lady and all my favorite waitresses each cash in a card.

[elessar78]

Yeah, December was expensive for us as a whole (gifts + travel to see family). We started buying gifts in September to spread the hit out and to alleviate the insanity of going to the mall during Xmas season. I thought we could've spent less, but my wife gets generous.

I really don't like spending as much as we do on xmas gifts, but I agreed to a $50 cap for adults and $25 for kids 13 and below. We probably stayed pretty close to budget and third straight year I didn't have to charge presents!

[EconoMutt]

Definitely went over budget, but was able to get some good deals.

[HistoryChick]

I came in way underbudget on gifts and put the excess to savings.

[kork13]

Most of you were talking tough about reining it in this season. Were you able to stick to your guns? Or did you succumb to the temptations?

haha okay, I'm man enough to admit when I lose a fair fight

I had planned on spending about $300-$350 on gifts for my immediate family plus one friend with whom I've exchanged gag-gifts for a few years now. Final tally: $500.02. Not totally overboard, and well within my means, but still admittedly more than I had expected/planned for. Well, at least I can console myself with the fact that everything was practical and very much appreciated. Plus, once my younger brother finishes his SCUBA lessons (that was my gift for him), I'll be able to go diving with him the next chance I have to visit home!

I realized, though, that shipping is a bugger! Over $50 of that went straight to Daddy Postman!

[minnie1928]

DW & I splurged on one of those new LED-LCD tv's - the ones that are like 1.2" thin. We were in the market for our first flat-panel & succombed to the "latest-and-greatest" technology. Originally planned to just get a no-name-brand cheap-o variety, but we got a great deal (aka: fell for the sales pitch). I thought we might have buyers remorse, but a month later we love it!!!

Everyone else got hand sanitizer so we could pay for our tv!

We did the exact same thing. 52" of LED-LCD Tv is now in my family room. This is the upgrade to the 10 year old, 32' tube tv that we were using. I've been watching them for a while and got a great deal at BJs. No buyers remorse here!

[Credit Girl]

I resorted to other ways to give people gifts this season as I am sure many others did as well. Instead of buying gifts, I made them home-baked goods which saved me a lot of money and they all enjoyed it as well.

[Caoineag]

December was expensive but not much more than planned. The only reason it was higher was due to car repairs, not excessive splurging, lol.

[am_vanquish]

DW & I splurged on one of those new LED-LCD tv's - the ones that are like 1.2" thin. We were in the market for our first flat-panel & succombed to the "latest-and-greatest" technology. Originally planned to just get a no-name-brand cheap-o variety, but we got a great deal (aka: fell for the sales pitch). I thought we might have buyers remorse, but a month later we love it!!!

Everyone else got hand sanitizer so we could pay for our tv!

[wincrasher]

Another great Christmas season without accumulating debt.

I did go WAY over budget again. But no dread of going to the mailbox!

Most of you were talking tough about reining it in this season. Were you able to stick to your guns? Or did you succumb to the temptations?