Nextwave Finance

It’s All Cash For Christmas!

November 19th, 2007 | by rachel |

For the first time in our 10 year marriage, my husband and I will purchase all of our Christmas gifts this year with cash.  There will not be any huge credit cards bills arriving in January and we will not have regrets about spending too much money (that we didn’t really have to start with) on gifts that our friends and family don’t really need.   An “ALL CASH CHRISTMAS” is a goal that we have been working toward for a couple of years and we are proud of ourselves for achieving it.  Our pride, however, is tempered by the fact that we still have plenty of work to do on our overall financial picture.  But that work is for another day.  Today (and this year) it’s “all cash” for Christmas!  Here’s how we did it…

1.  Budgeting - We have “played” with written budgets for over a year but we have not been seriously committed to them until just the last few months.  Since this summer, we have BOTH been involved in creating a workable budget for our family AND in being accountable to each other for the amounts of money we spend and the things we spend it on.  Our monthly budget includes a specific amount for purchasing gifts.  We set that amount aside IN CASH at the beginning of each month.  Anything left over at the end of the month carries over to the gift budget for the next month.  When it is time for Christmas shopping, there is a little “extra” cash already in place.

2.  Earning additional income - I have been able to earn a part-time income for the past 6 months.  That money is being used to make up the difference between our monthly gift budget and what we will spend during Christmas.  Our oldest child’s birthday is the 1st week of December so we have even more gift expenses to factor into our shopping for this time of year.  The extra income helps ease the financial pressure of the birthday in the middle of all the other holiday spending.  In our case, the income will continue after the holidays but there are plenty of temporary jobs that can help fill cash gaps in any budget.

3.  Buying less - We are making a conscious effort to buy fewer gifts.  After all, by the time our children have received gifts from 2 sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and Santa, they don’t know who gave them what.  Not to mention that they don’t need that many toys!  We are focusing on a few gifts that they will actually use and enjoy long after the holidays are over.  As for the adults on our gift list, we don’t have to cut back much on the number of gifts but we will focus on gifts that are within our budget and that have some use or significance.  We are not buying something just to be buying it!

4.  Grouping gifts - By the time we added up all the teachers, instructors, hair stylists, babysitters, etc. that we needed to acknowledge, there were more of them than there were of our family members.  Let’s face it - none of them need another cute coffee mug to sit somewhere!  Our solution is to make a single honorary donation with all of their names to a worthy cause in our area.  When we group what we would have spent on them individually, it will make a significant contribution and we will acknowledge the gift with a card and appropriate token.  Also, it will be more convenient as far as shopping is concerned because everyone will be getting the same thing.

5.  Shopping closer to the holiday - The retail sales outlook for this holiday season has not been good.  Consequently, retailers are dropping prices earlier than ever to try to get people going on their holiday lists.  Unlike previous years, the majority of our shopping will take place after Thanksgiving.  We will be able to take better advantage of sales and, the closer we get to Christmas, the lower the prices are likely to fall.

Certainly, these 5 ideas won’t work for everyone but they can provide ideas about how to get started on an “all cash” Christmas for yourself.  Start now and you can make Christmas 2008 an “all cash” holiday at your house!