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Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

How to Do the Most Efficient Holiday Shopping Ever

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Holiday shopping may be one of the reasons why most people dread the holidays because it’s synonymous with a lot of hassle. This doesn’t have to be the case, however, since you can make it an efficient endeavor. Keep reading to learn some helpful tips that you can borrow to make holiday shopping an event that doesn’t leave everyone, including the kids, frustrated.

Compare Prices

One of the best things to do right now and take advantage of the internet is to compare prices. If you’re shopping for common items that are in stock across different retail outlets, take time and check to see the prices that these items are available at. Doing this can prove to be very beneficial to you when you find retailers that are selling the items that you need at the lowest prices. Keep in mind that, according to High Rock Studios, the audiences that are the most engaged actually end up spending 76 times more money on services and products that are advertised online. That said, take care not to fall victim to filling your cart with things other than what you explicitly went out to shop for.

Shop Early Sales

Next, you may have noticed that certain shops are currently starting their sales earlier than was traditionally the case. With this in mind, remember that it’s a good idea to take advantage of these early sales because you can snag an amazing deal early enough to rid yourself of the pressure come the holidays when everyone is out or online shopping. Look for personalized offers in your area as well, since these are going to be a lot easier, faster, and more affordable to get back home, especially in the case of larger items. For example, you may have bought your family an in-ground pool, which make up around 51% to 60% of all the pools in the United States, according to Pool Research.

Expand Your Options

The best thing about starting your holiday shopping early is that you’ll most likely have the luxury of shopping around. This way, you can expand the options that you have, shopping from retailers that you may not have shopped from before, and getting amazing discounts and deals. Keep in mind that a whopping 73% of purchasing decisions are actually made in-store, according to Fohlio. This means that you stand a better chance of shopping online and then picking up the items from the stores you bought from in order to avoid shipping costs, which can add up. The more options that you have, the more sales you’re likely going to come across over the holidays.

Redeem Your Rewards

Last but not least, keep in mind that this is the best time for you to redeem your rewards, including credit card rewards. If you have credit card reward points, you can get cash back by using your card, for instance. Other cards, such as travel cards, can help you make savings in the future when it’s time to travel. You can benefit immensely from paying attention to the offers and promotions that you can get from the credit cards you use. On this note, you may also want to look closely at various reward cards and make comparisons so that you get the best ones and make the most of your savings when it’s time to redeem them.

With these tips, you can turn your holiday shopping around and make the most of it, even saving money in the process. You’re most likely also going to have a lot more time to spend as a family, doing things that the kids will remember for a long time to come if you have some. Start planning early enough so that when it’s time, you know what you need to do so that you can get the best outcome.

How to Keep Your Kids Safe in the Winter

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Winter is a great opportunity for families to have fun and do activities like ice skating, sledding, and throwing snowballs. However, it’s also characterized by significant temperature drops, icy roads, blowing winds, and snow. Despite the chilly weather, you can’t always keep the kids in the house. What you can do is take precautions and ensure they’re warm and safe. Here are some safety tips to guide you.

Ensure Your Home Is Winter Ready

Part of keeping your kids safe is ensuring your home is ready for winter. The last thing you want is freezing air to enter the house or water to leak through the roof. According to a safety guide, FEMA’s snow load safety, one foot of fresh snow weighs between 3 to 21 pounds per square foot, with three being for light snow and 21 being for wet, heavy snow. Ensure your roof is solid enough to withstand such weight. In addition, check all areas of your house, including the windows, ensuring you’re protected from the chilly weather,

Dress the Kids Warmly

Dress your kids in more layers than usual. Toddlers and babies need to be in an additional layer of clothing than you would wear in the same conditions. Also, the less you expose them to cold weather, the better. Unlike adults or teens, babies don’t tolerate cold weather well. Encourage the slightly older kids who dress themselves to wear winter accessories like scarves, hats, socks, gloves, and boots.

Prepare Your Teens for Winter Driving

Driving in winter is often a nightmare for most people. The icy and snowy road can challenge even the most seasoned drivers. It can be even harder for teen drivers who have only been on the road for several months or a few years. Advise your kids to pay attention to the road to avoid getting into accidents or trouble with the law.

In 2019, the Buhl Foundation did a study and discovered that every year, over 57,000 people aged between 18 to 24 in Pennsylvania have their driver’s licenses suspended. The most common reason for this is speeding. Let your kids know they need to drive below the speed limit during winter. This is for their safety to avoid the inconvenience of losing a firearm.

Ensure They Put on Safety Gear

As mentioned earlier, your kids will likely go skiing, sledding, or snowboarding. Before they head out, ensure they wear the right gear, like helmets, knee pads, gloves, and boots. These items will keep them warm and safe. If they hit something, the risk of injury is low, thanks to protective gear. You should also get them goggles to protect their eyes from the glare of the snow when light hits it.

Pick Suitable Winter Activities

It’s good to prepare for the winter activities you’ll be doing. Your kids will want to go out from time to time. Pick activities based on your kids’ ages and what you love doing as a family. For example, are you an outdoor family? Why not go hunting? Note that for such an activity, you should teach the kids how to handle, use, maintain, and store firearms to keep them safe.

Maintaining a gun ensures it shoots well while also increasing its value. According to A Girl and A Gun, refinishing a firearm can increase its value by up to ten times. Aside from that, it ensures your gun looks great. That said, whichever activities you plan for winter, ensure your kids are adequately equipped to handle them.

Be Cautious Around Fires

Fireplaces, fire pits, and wood-burning stoves create a warm and cozy environment but can present danger to small kids. It’s best to use protective gates around them to avoid accidents. If you have to use alternative heating methods like electric or kerosene heaters, ensure your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are functional.

Winter doesn’t have to be boring. You can plan activities for your kids and ensure everyone has fun and remains safe. Use the tips mentioned above to enjoy the chilly season while keeping everyone healthy.

Costco LEGOs Q & A: The Best Deal In Town or Not Worth the Trip?

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Costco LEGOs

Costco can be so beneficial for families. You can often find quality products at a great price. Their various organic food selection is an example. But, what about something like toys? More specifically, what about Costco LEGOs?

Worth the trip to find a deal or keep on looking?

LEGOs have been one of the most popular toys for boys and girls since their start in 1932. The colorful, interlocking bricks give kids a chance to put down their screens, engage their minds, and unleash their imaginations.

The problem is, buying new LEGOs can get expensive quickly. Sets that follow a certain theme, like Star Wars or Harry Potter, charge more than normal for the affiliation. If Costco is known for its competitive prices, then are Costco LEGOs the best deal?

Let’s do some Q & A and find out:

Costco LEGOs Q & A: Best Deal In Town or Not Worth the Trip?

Q: Does Costco sell LEGOs?

A. Yes. There is often an assortment of LEGO products available at Costco, although it does vary. You can also shop online at Costco.com. Overall, you will see considerably less variety than a place like Walmart, Target or Amazon.

Q: Why does Costco have less selection than other stores?

A: According to Costco’s Wholesale Disclosure:

Costco operates membership warehouses based on the concept that offering members very low prices on a limited selection of products will produce high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover. This rapid inventory turnover, when combined with the operating efficiencies achieved by volume purchasing and reduced handling of merchandise enables Costco to operate profitably at significantly lower gross margins than traditional wholesalers.

Translation: Costco sells hand-picked, quality brands faster and with fewer employees than supermarkets.

After speaking with an administrative representative at my local Costco who declined being named for this interview, he explained that Costco doesn’t carry any particular product year-round. Their mission is to find the trend, buy it early, mark down the price considerably, and sell it at the peak season.

Q: How can I save the most money on LEGOs at Costco?

A: Knowledge is key. Costco’s LEGO selection is very limited during the first two-thirds of the year. Your best bet during those months is to glance at the selection online and keep in mind other options like Amazon or Walmart.

The best ways to save money in general at Costco are:

  1. Browse your monthly Costco flier. It’ll come to you in the mail right before the beginning of a new month and includes every sale, including toys.
  2. Sign up for email offers. You’ll receive exclusive coupons and deal alerts from Costco via email.
  3. Follow deal hunting blogs like Krazy Coupon Lady to receive the most up-to-date information about Costco products. For example, KCL created this detailed post on every LEGO toy available during the Christmas shopping season of 2016. Many of the LEGO products were discounted significantly!
  4. Sign up for an Executive membership.  If you don’t have a Costco members, definitely get one. By doing so, you’ll receive 2% cash back on every qualified purchase. At the end of year, you receive a check in the mail – redeemable only at Costco – for all the money you earned back.  Costco also has a ton of deals on travel, food and kids furniture.  You can get a Costco membership here, or you can click on the button below:

Get Your Costco Membership Here

In Conclusion

Is Costco the best place to buy LEGOs? Not until the holidays, and not if you’re looking for a wide variety.

If you just want to buy some new LEGOs within your price range, then I suggest using some of the money-saving techniques mentioned above.   The great thing about Costco is that you can’t loose, their return policy is outstanding. If you find a better price on LEGOs, and want to return them at Costco, they’ll probably take them.  So, keep your eyes open for a deal, follow a blogger who’s going to do the leg work to keep you informed during the holidays, and go find yourself a great deal.

What’s your favorite thing to shop for at Costco?

Image Credit: Roger Ahlbrand (Creative Common)

Are you a stay-at-home mom? Make sure you bookmark or pin some of these resources for later!

6 Frugal Christmas Break Activities

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6 Frugal Christmas Break Activities

Your kids are likely out of school on winter vacation, and you have two weeks to do what you will as a family before school starts again. For many families, this is the time to leave and see family or go somewhere warm to beat the winter weather. However, this year, many families are struggling with inflation and the increased costs of daily necessities like gas and groceries. So, if your budget is too tight this year to travel, don’t despair. Instead, utilize these 6 frugal Christmas break activities to have a fun vacation with your kids, even if you are staying home.

6 Frugal Christmas Break Activities

With a bit of creativity, you and the kids can have an enjoyable winter break without spending much money.

Movie Marathon

Who doesn’t love movies? Get the kids together to decide what films you’d like to watch. Then, snuggle in for a movie marathon. Make the day more festive with hot chocolate and popcorn.

If your kids are young, you may only want to watch one movie, but if they’re older, why not watch two or three?

Sledding

This winter has already produced an abundance of snow. If you have snow on the ground, head to the local neighborhood sledding area and have a few hours of fun sledding. Even though you’re the parent, you don’t have to miss out on the fun. Your kids will enjoy the experience more if you, too, head down the hill on a sled.

Local Museums

Many local libraries offer museum passes. You can check these out from the library and then go to a local museum for free. If you have access to these library passes, going to a museum can be a fun way to pass the day.

Snow Ice Cream

6 Frugal Christmas Break Activities

One of my favorite childhood activities was making snow ice cream. So, if you live in an area with snow, have the kids scoop some up and make this delicious, novel winter treat. They’ll beg you to make it every time it snows!

Volunteer

If your kids are ten or older, you can take them somewhere to volunteer as long as you volunteer with them. For example, my daughters and I are cat lovers, so we’ve been volunteering at our local no-kill cat shelter. Our tasks have ranged from cleaning the cat litter and changing the cats’ water to helping with office tasks. As a bonus, we hang out with the cats when we finish.

Giving back is a great thing to do during the holiday season and helps teach kids that the world is bigger than them and that others are in need.

Decorate a Gingerbread House

When my kids were little, we started the tradition of decorating gingerbread houses AFTER Christmas when I could snag some clearance kits for 50 percent or more off. Who says you have to decorate them before Christmas?

Final Thoughts

Traveling during winter break is fun, but sometimes that can’t happen yearly. If you need or want a simpler vacation this year, consider doing some of these frugal Christmas break activities. You and the kids will have fun, and you’ll save money.

Read More

What to Do When You’re Overspending at Christmas

Favorite Family Christmas Traditions Modernized

How to Pay for Vacations and Holidays without Debt

Our Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Teens

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Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Teens

After you buy Christmas presents for your kids, you have one item left to tackle—the stockings. Unfortunately, I find stocking stuffers can be challenging to buy, and if you’re not careful, they can be more expensive than the gifts under the tree. Still, stockings are a nice bonus and one of my kids’ favorite parts of Christmas. Over the years, we’ve acquired several favorite stocking stuffers for teens.

A Hint for Affordable Stocking Stuffers

Every parent’s budget differs, but we’ve found that we prefer smaller stockings to stuff. For a few years, we had giant stockings, and filling them was expensive! So, we got rid of those stockings and picked smaller ones (luckily, while the kids were still little, so they didn’t notice). Now, we can fill the stockings more affordably, and they also overflow with gifts (since they’re smaller), which the kids get excited about.

Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Teens

We try to include both necessary and fun items in their stockings.

Fun Stocking Stuffers

Over the years, the kids have enjoyed these stocking stuffers:

Compact Games

We like to play games in our family, so their stockings often include a smaller game we can play as a family. Card games like Uno, Sushi Go, and Five Crowns have been hits.  We’ve also included dice games like Tenzi and Yahtzee to Go.

Lip Balm

My kids like flavored lip balms such as fruit flavored or Christmas flavors like candy cane, vanilla, or mint chocolate. Their favorite brand is Burt’s Bees.

Sweet Treats

Even though my teens now have money to buy their treats, they love getting candy in their stockings, especially milk chocolate bars. They also enjoy receiving hot chocolate packets so that they can enjoy hot chocolate on Christmas morning.

Gift Cards

The older teens get, the more they enjoy gift cards to buy their own items. My kids’ favorite gift cards are from Amazon, Starbucks, and local fast-food joints.

Art Supplies

My artist in the family enjoys receiving art supplies such as paints, paint brushes, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, and other art items.

More Practical Stocking Stuffers

Favorite Stocking Stuffers for Teens

In addition to the fun gifts, we also like to fill the stocking with some practical, necessary items.

Socks

Every year I give my kids some socks in their stockings. These bulk up the stockings, and everyone needs socks throughout the year.

Batteries

If the kids are getting any presents that require batteries, I put the batteries they need in their stockings. Then they can use the battery-operated gifts they received on Christmas day without making a separate trip to the store.

Final Thoughts

Christmas stockings in our family are not an afterthought. Instead, they’re a gift as important as the wrapped presents under the tree. These are our favorite stocking stuffers for teens, and our kids love receiving some variation of them each year.

Read More

What to Do When You Are Overspending at Christmas

Favorite Family Traditions Modernized

5 Ways to Buy Cheap Christmas Gifts for Your Kids

Should Your Family Invest in a Vacation Property?

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Planning for a vacation can be a hectic process. Besides finding a destination, you need an accommodation facility that will give you a pleasant experience. The availability of vacation properties creates an avenue to meet your needs. You can rent the property for the few days or weeks you are on vacation, but the costs can increase. So, why not invest in and own vacation property? This guide explains why your family should invest in a vacation property.

Your Getaway

For starters, you want to invest in a vacation property for your interests. You find it easy to go on vacation without worrying about accommodation. Finding and using the right place to stay with your loved ones throughout the vacation can be hectic. The case differs for investing in a vacation property. You get your getaway without thinking about the related costs. You can conveniently use the place for special events, including parties, get-togethers, and birthdays. You can also consider timeshares with other investors and make the place more lively and productive. Did you know that the number of families that own timeshares across the country is more than 9.9 million? Investing in a vacation property and including timeshares helps meet your expectations faster.

Income Generation

Understand that going on vacation means getting ready to spend considerably in the process. But why spend more on accommodation when you can generate income instead? Investing in a vacation property is an avenue to generate income as a family. Whenever you are not using the property, you can lease or rent it to other people on vacation. They pay the accommodation fees and use the facility for their needs. You become an Airbnb host and multiply your family’s income. The more guests you have on your vacation property, the higher the income. Ensure you market and advertise your place properly to attract more guests.

A Reliable Retirement Plan

Besides the fun that comes with vacation properties, you get a reliable retirement plan as the owner. Investing in business ensures your family’s financial future, proper healthcare, and a platform to handle emergencies. Like other investment opportunities, you get a sustainable financial shot from which your future generation will benefit. As time passes, converting the property into a retirement home is also an option. You only need to handle the repair and maintenance needs and convert the place to suit your needs. Air leaks, roof damage, and plumbing issues are among the repair needs you must handle. According to the United States Department of Energy, allowing air leaks around your windows and doors can add 10% onto your energy bill. Seek professional guidance and services to create a suitable retirement home.

Builds Equity and Wealth

At first, you will only have a vacation property for your guests and family’s needs, but you build equity and wealth in the long run. The more you buy and invest in a vacation property, the easier it is to build wealth. You join a network of investors and get a platform that helps you know the value of real estate holdings. The vacation property you invest in becomes a legacy that you and your loved ones will benefit from and cherish. The income you generate also allows you to consider other investment opportunities in the market besides vacation properties. When you build equity and wealth, other investors and potential shareholders find you attractive.

Tax Advantages

By investing in a vacation property, you essentially buy a small business. While, at some point, you and your loved ones will stay and operate in it, it is still a business. You reap from your investment because you run it as a business. Tax deductions are among the benefits that come with vacation property investment. Apart from the structure that makes the vacation property, you enjoy a tax advantage on other things, including the vehicles you operate. You enjoy a suitable tax advantage for every mile you travel using vehicles for your business. Collectively in America, vehicles travel trillions of miles every month. This tax advantage, therefore, is beneficial to your business.

The decision to invest in a vacation property as a family comes with several benefits. Learning ways to make your business a success and enjoying the related benefits is crucial. Reading more and seeking guidance, as explained above, is therefore helpful.

6 Frugal Activities for Kids During Winter Break

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Frugal Activities for Kids During Winter Break

Kids around the country are enjoying winter break. While the early days of winter break are likely busy with holiday activities and preparations, the last week can be quiet and a bit boring. If you want to find frugal activities for kids during winter break, look no further than our list. These activities can help your kids relax, have fun, and spend time building memories with family.

Frugal Activities for Kids During Winter Break

Have a Movie Marathon

If your kids don’t get a lot of screen time during the school year, take one day this break and have a movie marathon. Pick two or three movies the family wants to watch, and then camp out on the couch with yummy snacks and the blinds closed. Have a great time watching and then discussing the movies.

Have a Chopped Challenge

Have your kids watched the cooking show, Chopped? If so, why not have a kids’ Chopped challenge at your house. Give the kids three or four items with which to create a meal. Then, you decide which of the kids wins the competition. (As a bonus with this activity, you have one less meal you have to cook this week!) If your kitchen is small, you may want to have one child cook one night with the ingredients and another child cook the next night.

Decorate Cookies

Who says Christmas cookies have to stop when Christmas is over? Have a fun afternoon making and decorating cookies. Make it extra fun by turning traditional cookie cutters into other objects. For instance, instead of making a gingerbread man with that cookie cutter shape, turn it into something else like a unicorn.

Go Sledding

Some of the best fun I’ve had with my kids is sledding with them. Bundle the family up, head out to the nearest large hill in the neighborhood, and go sledding. Stay out for an hour or two, and then come home and enjoy a nice mug of hot chocolate while you warm up.

Build a Snow Fort

Likewise, don’t send the kids out alone to play in the snow. Instead, go out with them and build a snow fort. You can even take a break for a snowball fight. The kids will love you spending time with them and being a kid again with them.

Play a Board Game

Frugal Activities for Kids

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

During the busy school week, you may not have time to play games with your kids. During winter break, set aside some time to play board games with your kids. Some of our favorites include 10 Days in the USA, Battleship, Yahtzee, and The 5-Second Rule.

Final Thoughts

While taking a family vacation during break is nice, don’t feel bad if you don’t have the money to do so. Your kids will appreciate you spending time with them and enjoying any of these frugal activities for kids during winter break.

Read More

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Charity Birthday Party Ideas Your Kids Will Love

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Charity Birthday Party Ideas

Although birthdays are meant to be a celebration, sometimes we can’t help but feel we’re spending more money on a party than we need to. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars on new toys that your child will outgrow, put that money to good use by hosting a do-good birthday party for your kid. Lots of parenting websites have great ideas for charity birthday party ideas, and we’ve compiled a list of our favorites. And if you’re worried about your children hating your suggestions, kids are natural givers and would likely be more than willing to help out people in need.

Bring an Animal Shelter to Your Home

There are plenty of pet adoption centers and animal societies that would be willing to bring their animals to private events like a birthday party.

Charity Birthday Party Ideas

Photo by Jairo on Unsplash

Or, you could see if you could host your party at the local animal shelter.  That’s what the Shaw Family in Portland, Oregon did.  They had their party guests bring treats, toys, and other donations for the cats and dogs, and you can do the same. Guests can also be given the option to adopt one of the pets!

Have a Couple Piggy Banks in the Party Area

At an early age, we teach kids the value of money with allowances and earning extra cash with chores or babysitting. To show them how a little goes a long way, have a couple piggy banks in the party area where guests can make their donations.  You can label each of the piggy banks with a different charity, which gives guests the option to choose which organizations they would like to support.

Organize a Clothing Drive

Take cue from the Multari twins in Hamilton, Ontario, and have your child’s friends and neighbors bring in previously loved and any unused clothes. The girls ask for pajamas every year, sometimes receiving as many as 93 pairs of pajamas to donate.  The girls’ pajama drive has been so successful, they have even started their own nonprofit.  Depending on your charity, you might have to limit the kinds of garments you accept.

Donations to Your Local Homeless Shelter

Another idea is to call your local homeless shelter and ask what items they need.  Then, you can create a wish list, and party goers can choose from the wish list.

Another idea is to see what food the shelter may need.  You and your party guests could create sack lunches for the homeless, making sandwiches, bagging chips and desserts, and adding a fruit.

Final Thoughts

American children are often spoiled when it comes to material items, especially when they receive many gifts from well-intended birthday party guests.  Instead of showering your children in gifts, choose one of these charity parties to help spread the wealth, so to speak.  The more you and your children practice giving, the more you’ll enjoy helping others.  Your guests can feel good about their role in helping others, too.

Read More

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6 Tips for Teaching Your Kids About Holiday Budgeting

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Overspending at Christmas is easy to do and most parents are guilty of it most holidays. There are many parents out there who wonder what type of example and what type of stuff this is teaching children everywhere.

Whether you’re getting a short term loan, using your savings, or putting presents on your credit cards, you still need a holiday budget that you set and don’t exceed. Creating that budget and Christmas shopping can still be fun, and it can be a teaching moment for your children as well. In this blog, you’ll find a few tips for teaching your little ones about holiday budgeting.

Create a Gift List

This year, the gift list should be a list of people that your kids want to buy gifts for. Everyone they want to buy for should be included on that list. Of course, they’ll do their list for Santa as well, but this list is so you can teach them to budget during their holiday shopping. Once they’ve created their lists, it’s time to start teaching them how to budget to get something for everyone.

Assign Costs to the Gifts

Now, ask your kids how much they want to spend on each person on their list. Don’t give them any limits on their spending at this point, let them assign the costs they want to assign to each person.

Add up their Spending 

Once your kids have decided how much they want to spend on each gift, total up the spending and let them know the total. They’ll probably be quite surprised at the total you’ve come up with. Now that you’ve let them play around with a list, move onto the list you know they want to create.

Create a Wants Versus Needs List

Kids have a habit of wanting something so badly that they don’t worry about the cost. Instead of just having them put it on their wish list, have them create a list of three to five things they want and three to five things they need. Having them separate the lists is a great way to show them the pros and cons of just asking for whatever commercial comes up during the holiday season. Not only will both lists make great shopping lists for you, but they’ll also teach your little ones the importance of value as well.

Give Them a Budget

Once you’ve created a list of people and gifts they want to shop for, give them a budget that they must stay within. While there are rules and etiquette for gift-giving among adults, it doesn’t quite work that way with kids. Give your child a set amount of money before you leave the house and let them know that’s all they’ll have to buy their gifts with. This teaches them to check prices and plan ahead for what they want to get everyone on their list.

Pay With Cash

In a world where most things are paid for with a credit or debit card, it’s easy to spend and not realize how much you’re spending. Many times, teaching children to pay with and count cash is also forgotten. Let your kids be a part of the purchasing process and give them cash to pay with. This will not only help with their math and counting skills, but it’ll also help them learn to budget their money as well.

These are just a few of the best tips out there for helping your kids learn to budget for gifts during the holiday season. Don’t forget to teach them the real reason for the season, because that’s what Christmas is all about.

What To Do When You Are Overspending at Christmas

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Overspending at Christmas

I have a confession.

I overspent my Christmas budget.

(And I’m not done shopping.)

Overspending At Christmas

I did everything right. I made a list of who I was shopping for and created an overall budget. All was going well until I deviated from my plan.

Typically I plan a vacation for Christmas. I prefer to gift experiences to my family over wrapped presents. Last year, we went to Disney World. The year before, we went to Great Wolf Lodge.

However, this year, my daughter wanted a saddle, and my son had been asking for some 1000+ piece Lego sets. These were items I’d buy for my kids outside of Christmas, so I thought let’s go ahead and have Santa buy them. We’ll stay home this year and spend our budget on Christmas presents.

I also expected this would create a more relaxed Christmas. I wouldn’t have to coordinate the logistics of travel, and I wasn’t planning to buy much for Christmas. After all, the presents I was going to buy weren’t extra for the sake of Christmas.

I was wrong.

It’s not more relaxed and I’m buying more presents than what was on my list.

Creating A Budget Buffer

Something I always do is that I plan to go over budget ahead of time. I do this by creating a budget buffer – usually 5 to 10% of my overall budget. Because overspending at Christmas is not an unrealistic scenario.

Since we’re home this year, I’ve been more inclined to accept invitations to Christmas parties. Also, because we are home, we’re going to my in-laws Christmas morning. This added additional people to shop for that were not on my original list.

But good plans are fluid, so I adjusted the budget per person to accommodate the extras.

Another thing that surprised me is my kids wanted to buy presents for other people. I appreciate this, and it was a simple budget obstacle to overcome.

They pitched ideas on what they would do in exchange for extra money. I was able to secure some “maid” service for the next few weeks in exchange for some small gifts. The amounts were small enough that it didn’t set me over budget because I had built in a buffer for unexpected purchases.

Plan For Budget Obstacles

What I didn’t expect was nostalgia to travel over Christmas. Impulsively, I booked a 3-day trip to Legoland. I paid the full price for the hotel room and park tickets. I was able to use miles for two of our plane tickets and paid for the other two. This was the primary reason that led to my overspending at Christmas.

So what am I going to do now that I’m WAY over budget?

Good plans should be fluid and be able to accommodate roadblocks.

I have to sacrifice in other areas of my budget. I reduced the amount my husband is allowed to spend on me and I pulled from our travel savings account to cover the hotel and tickets.

To pay for the plane tickets, I pulled from January’s budget by cutting expenses. Food was cut back, clothing was eliminated, and I cut the flash cash budget in half.

What I Learned

Through this process, I have been reminded of how grateful I am that:

1) I have set my budget up to accommodate impulse decisions – knowing this is standard behavior for me,
2) I have diversified my income so that I know I can generate some back-up income when I needed, and
3) I am committed to remaining debt-free. A few years ago, I would’ve slapped the trip on a credit card and not thought twice about taking two years to pay for it.

 

Have you gone over budget this Christmas? How do you handle impulse purchases? Is your budget set up to accommodate your personality? Let us know in the comments.

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