hmmm... christmas.

When I was writing about how I'm getting boring, one of you commented that you'd like to know what I'm doing about the holidays and presents and all that. I've been thinking about my answer for 24 hours, and well, I'm still not sure. Last Christmas I got by not spending too much (according to Microsoft Money I only spent 145.00 on Christmas last year, there is no way that's true but I'm sure it was under 400).

There are two reasons I was able to do this: 1) I don't have a big family and 2) I told everyone it was going to be a budget Christmas and I made a lot of gifts. Shutterfly and Snapfish both had really great promotions in Oct/Nov that I used to make photo books and calendars for my parents and inlaws. My kids got a couple of small toys, and my dad only wanted slippers. My sister and I didn't exchange, and I don't have any more family members. So, I guess there are times when it's nice to be from a small family.

Now, this year I have the luxury most people do not, I actually write a blog called The Year of Frugal Living and everyone knows it, so they won't be expecting much. But I will need some money, and this is what I came up with:

For me, about 300.00 should suffice. As of today, there are 20 weeks until December 8th, a reasonable time to start shopping. Since 20x15= 300 (obvious math!), if I put away 15.00 every Friday, by December I'll have 300 bucks to spend on Christmas. Honestly, I feel like this is a lot of money for me, but if I have leftover money, I can put it away for other gift giving occasions.

So, that's a plan. Thanks Katy (person who asked)!