Frugal Christmas?

[dmc-2008]

Hi, just wanted to ask what others are doing to be really frugal this year. I saved enough grocery money by shopping 99 cent store and ads at regular stores that I was able to buy a lot of ingredients to make a really nice zucchini bread with walnuts and cranberries.

It turned out really good and is a gift worth giving . Honestly I think I will do this yearly if I can even when I am done with bk.

Are you baking or ?

My kid is getting reg kid stuff but paired way down! Way. And that is good for her too!

[tobee43]

we just buy grocery and gas cards and give the same to the each child. then, we spend a bit more on the grand kids but it's usually for shoes, clothes etc. needs as opposed to wants. we stopped "family" giving, it was just way too out of hand. i have 3 brothers and sisters so it would be terrible to do them and all their kids and even more. stopped that a while ago. everyone understands even those that still are doing 'well". the other suggestion has to been to draw one person. but, actually we even stopped that.

we just do immediate family, less each other.

[ValleYum]

I never feel like it is Christmas until I see this YouTube. Three minutes of CUTENESS! FREE!!!

[angel2002]

The only thing my husband and I do is that we limit our spending to our two kids only and that's it. My oldest will be turning 12 in about a month and his "budget" has steadily grown over the past 2 years since he is slowly losing interest in the plastic toys. Thankfully my youngest who just turned 6 still wants things like Play Doh and Nerf guns so we shouldn't be in panic mode with him for at least another 4 years. I hope.

The good news is that we are within weeks of discharge. So this year was the first Christmas in a long time that we were able to really do it the way we wanted to. We spent probably a little more than we should of. Truth be told though we've asked our kids to sacrifice quite a lot in the past 5 years. Two years leading up to filing and this entire 3 years in bk has really taken it's toll on holidays, vacations and family outings. This year I wanted to go just a notch below crazy and give them a really good Christmas as a way to say thank you for being so patient with us for so long. Of course this won't become normal but that's why this year is special.

[tobee43]

I never feel like it is Christmas until I see this YouTube. Three minutes of CUTENESS! FREE!!!

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!! how cute!!!!!!

[PANSYFACE]

Thank you!!! This was hilarious!!!

[dmc-2008]

That was so freaking fun!!! Thank you! :-)

[Blossoms]

I have 5 brothers and sisters, and 13 nieces and nephews/great nephew, on my side of the family alone. My husband has 15 brothers and sisters (yes, 15, all from the same mom and dad!), and well over 100 nieces, nephews, and great nieces/nephews. It would be impossible for us to buy for everyone in the family.

My side of the family has a gift exchange for the under 18 year old kids. Each sibling/in law buys for one kid, $25 limit. So my husband and I buy for each kid we get in the exchange, plus our two kids, and my mom. My dad and both of my husband's parents are deceased. I usually make (I like to sew, knit, and crochet) something small for my youngest sister, since we have always been very close, and she likes my handmade stuff. Plus she doesn't have any kids for me to buy for.

My husband and I don't usually exchange gifts for each other. Buying for 4 kids plus my mom adds up, and then we have my birthday the day after Christmas, and both of our kids birthdays just a month later, in January. Their birthdays are 9 days apart. So this time of the year is always tough for us financially. Plus this is the second Christmas in a row that I have been out of work (laid off from two different jobs). At least this year I am getting unemployment pay - last year my unemployment had run out a week before Thanksgiving.

But I definitely understand the pressures to spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts. My siblings who have kids are much better off financially than my husband and I, and it is hard to not be able to do the same things for my kids that they can, like my oldest brother taking his family to Florida for two weeks every Christmas, to get away from the cold and snow up here in Ohio. The last vacation we were able to take our kids on was a 2 day trip to Michigan to visit friends, several years ago, and we've been wanting to take our kids to see the ocean for years, but haven't been able to afford to do so yet. They're almost 16 and almost 11 now, and I'm afraid that by the time we're able to afford to take them on a real vacation, they'll be grown and out of the house!

[dmc-2008]

Blossoms, i hear ya! My kid will graduate high the year we discharge. I also have 8 brothers and sisters with a huge extended family that all live in another state. I just sent up 5 loaves to my sisters and mom only. It is what it is.

My kid is pretty good and learning about $$ all the time. She is thinking about a car! We were watching a reality shoe and the girl was buying shoes for 3500 and my kid realized that is almost the cost of a good used car! She is getting it!

I do wish for vacation and the like but this isnt forever! We will never becrich though on my salary!

[AngelinaCat]

At this point, it is time to announce to the Family that you are not exchanging gifts this year, except to your immediate family. And "Immediate Family" means you, your spouse and children. And that it is only going to be ONE gift per person.

In this economy, everyone is having to scale back, and it is time to start teaching the children that if they want their x-boxes and all, they MUST learn to save.

Meanwhile, everyone can give a handmade gift, be it cookies, cake--NOT fruitcake--and get back to the traditional meaning of Christmas.

Just my two cents.

[AngelinaCat]

Just to add: Since we filed in December 2007, and we knew there would be no extra money anywhere at all from that point going forward, 'Hub and I developed a habit of: when we buy something during the year that we both want, we do so. But at Christmas, we put a card under the little table-top tree we have, that explains the item purchased during the year.

I will give 'Hub a couple of these, and he to me likewise. We open the cards up and give thanks to each other and Our Lord for providing the means to do so.

There usually will be a couple of other gifts to each other, that we can afford. He is always out of socks and shaving cream, and I am always out of shampoo.

Also, during the year I will usually find a DVD movie that I know 'Hub likes, and that finds its way into our gift bag as well.

For the Record, 'Hub and I have no children together, other than a God-daughter. 'Hub has two adult girls and grandchildren by a prior marriage. These are all adults, and other than a few greeting cards and what we can do now and again, none of them look to us as the "gift milk cow". Those notions got discouraged more than 25 years ago.

[filingin08]

I shop all year for Christmas. A few bucks here and there Jan through Dec means I can do Christmas bigger than if I waited until the weeks leading up to it.

Last year I made each kid a hand crafted item. This year I did the same and found that I really loved doing it! I'm already thinking of next year's projects!

I'm also upcycling as much as I can in the crafting items, for example, the project I did for my youngest was an apron and chef's hat - for this, I used an old dress and added some seam binding. I put a thing of sprinkles in the pocket of the apron (she LOVES to decorate cupcakes). Total cost was less than $5. It did take some time though as I'm still figuring out the sewing machine, etc.

[jange]

I knit and crochet and sew, so I make a lot of my gifts. Not that good yarn or fabric are cheap, but I am able to make some very nice gifts.

[dmc-2008]

I have tried to do the shopping all year and i always forget about the presents. One year i found a pretty dress i bought and forgot about for my daughter. Omg her face when we found it and it was too small because she had grown.

[spidge]

We buy limited gifts for the kids only. In the past we drew names for the adults, but have stopped that now. Since we are in a difficult place the family made it more bearable for us. They did not want us to feel bad about not giving as other could. Everyone brings a side dish for the meal part so the expense is shared by all and enjoyed just the same.

That's too funny about finding an old gift as we did the same thing.