Post holiday spending
January 1, 2010
I’m weak. I swore that I’d stay within budget this year, and wouldn’t buy any supplemental gifts. Usually I’m great on that score — I don’t allow myself to feel guilty about “underbuying” if I’ve been surprised with a gift.
But this year’s a bit different than the usual. This is our first Christmas without Mr. S, and his son’s heart is sore. I had to do something, anything, to help. How about …. a cosmic entity of Doom? For those unfamiliar with the Cthulhu mythos, I’d say this little guy is a handcrafted knit godlet of Doom, Cthulhu’s cuter, younger cousin. Thanks to Mrs. Micah!
And then we went to the “Premium” Outlets I tend to avoid because outlets really aren’t that much of a deal. Then I saw a vest like this one at Gymboree:
Baby clothes are irresistably cute. It was marked down substantially, though (60%), to all of $8.25 after tax.
I almost spent $30 on these shoes so my nephew and I could match, but settled for taking pictures:
And because one cannot show up with gifts for the wife and the child, but nothing for the husband, Harry & David got my business for their aromatic chocolate covered espresso beans.
I think I’ll be happy that I only went ten dollars over budget instead of being upset that I went over at all — the gifts weren’t overly pricey and they are pretty perfect for the giftees. If I do say so myself.
🙂
How did everyone do this year? Over, under, on budget?
Those gifts are all so cute! Mrs. Micah did a great job on that little octopus thing. 🙂
LOL! The matching shoes are so darn cute.
And Mrs. Micah did GREAT on that godlet of Doom 🙂
Well, if I ever get around to redoing the post that got deleted in a log-in snafu, you’ll see that I went $10 over budget for my $60 Creative Christmas Challenge for the family of 10. Otherwise, I was on target.
Every boy needs a godlet! And I’d say $10 is an acceptable overage.
I stayed in budget, but then most of Tim’s stuff had been bought ages ago. So the biggest deal was just not buying more. Which was incredibly difficult at times. I suppose that means that, technically, I went over by $5.23 because we found a Darth Maul hoodie by Ecko that was half its normal price, plus we had gift cards that covered all but $5.23.
We stuck to $10 or less per person for 5 family members. Once we get the gifts mailed off (yes, we’re that disorganized) we’ll be over by maybe $7.
The main overage came from Tim. I asked him to stay at $150. He said he went “a little” over, which could mean anything with him, I’m afraid. So I took a peek at the price of one present and concluded he went about $50 over. Not great, but I do love my two (big) gifts absolutely and truly. So I’m okay with it.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE baby clothes that look like real people clothes. Those teeny New Balances are ADORABLE!
I stayed within my budget, which was less than last year. Unfortunately, I hadn’t quite saved up the amount I budgeted. Sigh.
@Mrs.Money: Didn’t she, though? He loved it.
@FB: I wasted about 1/2 ton of willpower on not getting those for him. Thankfully, I didn’t know his shoe size.
And he’s growing like a WEED.
@moneymatekate: I think your $10 over was far more valuable than mine. Hope to see that post someday!
@Abigail: I guess that means he’s improving at this staying within/close to budget thing, yes?
@me in millions: There’s a weird thrill to shopping for miniature clothing. It’s just … so small!
@Grace: Sigh indeed. Better luck all around for this year! (Yep, I’m already starting to think about it.)