Monday, November 29, 2010

Frugal holidays

As you know, for the past year John and I have been working hard to pay off debt and save more money. Christmas time is no exception. John comes from a large family. He is the last of 6 children. All of his brothers and sisters are married and all of them have children. The list of people to buy for is insanely long. I think the thing that bothers me most is that John isn't very close to any of his siblings. We spend all this money on people he doesn't even talk to. It is frustrating.

The last time we went back to Kentucky for Christmas, we gave everyone a gift card. Talk about EXPENSIVE! This year I decided that we were going to have a frugal Christmas. All of his brothers and sisters will be receiving crocheted top hand towels (crocheted by me, of course). Some of John's nieces have already started families, so those nieces will also be receiving hand towels. All of the kids/teenagers will get a regular present (ordered from Amazon with my Swagbucks money).

My side of the family is a little trickier. I am much closer with my family than John is to his, so in general I tend to put a lot more effort into my gifts. I know that this is unfair, so this year I am sticking to the towel hand gift for all of my aunts and uncles too. However, I do plan on buying something nice for my mother, grandmother, and my favoritest cousin (who is more like a sister). I am hoping that I'll have enough Swagbucks money left over to buy their gifts too.

So that is my attempt at a frugal Christmas this year. My kids aren't getting anything from me, which sounds mean, but really they won't even notice. John and I have already agreed to forgo buying each other gifts this year. The trip to KY definitely still has the potential to be expensive (putting the dog in the boarding kennel, buying gas for our LOOOOONG road trip, the inevitable dinning out, etc), but I feel like I am minimizing the costs as much as possible.

6 comments:

Running with Scissors said...

Hi there, my name is Christy too! I stumbled across your blog today and I can really relate to it. Like you, I have two kids, a two boys, 5 and 8 weeks. Feel free to check out my blog as well...

Jenny said...

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I have seen your hand towels and I know they will appreciate them! Hand made with love is always better!
I just finally cashed in my swag bucks and have earned $30 in amazon gift cards. Did they email you a code or send you a gift card?

Clare said...

pics of the towels please!! i am knitting a lot of gifts this year too, i hope people like them?!

amanda said...

i am so so behind!! so sorry friend...

a) i hate frugal holidays. i always have good intentions and then at the last minute the "season" gets the best of me and i splurge. and then january comes along and i am guilty. you are better than me!

b) so sorry about the teeth movement. no fun. period.

c) hope turkey day was fun and thanks for the yummy link!!

d) the birthday party looks like it was a huge hit!!

e) happy happy birthday to your favorite buddy!! time really does fly doesn't it friend??

f) and last but def not least...the cake is awesome!! honey for real - you have mad skillz!!

ok leaving you alone now :)

Just Jiff said...

If you don't unwrap gifts at your house, then I doubt they'll notice or care. Do you have a response ready just in case Porgie asks? :)

For Christmas, we make/bake things and give that away. Usually cookies, fudge, salsa, candles, etc. Something easy. oh, last year it was Christmas Crackers and the year before it was chocolate covered pretzels. :)

Marni's Organized Mess said...

I don't think we will be able to do what we were hoping now. :( Ugh. Will went over our money last night and said we can barely afford $1k in rent. That will get us NOTHING here. Seriously. We can't leave because we'd have to sell his business. It's all he knows.

Oh dear. I am taking over your comments with my woes. I do believe my life is about to suck MAJOR though. At least you have a home and know security right now. Not that you aren't grateful, I am not saying that. But I do want to remind you, no Christmas is better than other things! <3 Hugs.

This economy SUCKS!!