Gettin' craftalicious again
When we decided to spend Christmas in Florida, a switch flipped in my head. I decided to try to slow down this Christmas season and take it back to the basics. Meaning, more about the joy of doing and being than the joy of spending money and going to parties and drinking. Both methods have their time and place, don't get me wrong. :)
Every year around November I make a list of all the people that I want to give gifts to, an idea of what I'd like to give them, and then a dollar amount. This is the basic list:
Matt, Brynna, Eve, Parents (3 sets) - $50/each = $300. Plus I make photo calendars and books, which add up to another $150, so now we're at $450 for family.
Realistically, Matt and I always end up spending more on each other, because it's fun to give gifts that you wouldn't normally splurge on during the year. In some years when things have been more solid financially, we've spent as much as twice that amount on the family set.
Then we have our other "family", the ones we choose. I've got the Ashley clan, and The Institute Group which had 6 other people initially (Shakes included), plus their awesome +1's, now plus some childrens. Even if we only spent $15 each on that group, we'd still be over $100! Actually the grand total for those groups is around 16 people. Add $300. You people and your baby-making!
Then there are the friends who have come into our lives and made us smile, made our days a little brighter, our loads a little easier. Now seems like an appropriate time to acknowledge them as well. Add another $100.
And of course, given all my many many many MANY blessings, it is only right to help out those less fortunate during this Christmas season. Add $200.
Grand total - $1050 on gifts. As much as I love you people, once I realized how much I would probably end up spending with little "here and there" gifts, I realized that it was time to think smarter and cheaper. Working full time and raising some wee ones has made me realize just how precious and valuable my free time is. So I decided to give a little bit of that instead and make it a crafty Christmas. All the young'uns in my life will get the same awesome gift, and all the adults in my life will get the same awesome gift, and on top of that I will have a lot of fun making them. Some quick math has put my total $$ amount closer to $600 (with shipping, which I assume will be $100). Still not peanuts, but definitely better.
Also, this year I have decided that I will be sending our annual Christmas letter out via email. We'll see if this becomes the tradition or not...
Along the lines of this more thoughtful approach to life, I am trying little by little to make my house a fun and functional home. The litter of wrapping paper in my living room has convinced me to take on a wrapping paper storage project during my time off before Christmas. It will be mostly based on this DIY project, but with a little customization. Stay tuned!
Every year around November I make a list of all the people that I want to give gifts to, an idea of what I'd like to give them, and then a dollar amount. This is the basic list:
Matt, Brynna, Eve, Parents (3 sets) - $50/each = $300. Plus I make photo calendars and books, which add up to another $150, so now we're at $450 for family.
Realistically, Matt and I always end up spending more on each other, because it's fun to give gifts that you wouldn't normally splurge on during the year. In some years when things have been more solid financially, we've spent as much as twice that amount on the family set.
Then we have our other "family", the ones we choose. I've got the Ashley clan, and The Institute Group which had 6 other people initially (Shakes included), plus their awesome +1's, now plus some childrens. Even if we only spent $15 each on that group, we'd still be over $100! Actually the grand total for those groups is around 16 people. Add $300. You people and your baby-making!
Then there are the friends who have come into our lives and made us smile, made our days a little brighter, our loads a little easier. Now seems like an appropriate time to acknowledge them as well. Add another $100.
And of course, given all my many many many MANY blessings, it is only right to help out those less fortunate during this Christmas season. Add $200.
Grand total - $1050 on gifts. As much as I love you people, once I realized how much I would probably end up spending with little "here and there" gifts, I realized that it was time to think smarter and cheaper. Working full time and raising some wee ones has made me realize just how precious and valuable my free time is. So I decided to give a little bit of that instead and make it a crafty Christmas. All the young'uns in my life will get the same awesome gift, and all the adults in my life will get the same awesome gift, and on top of that I will have a lot of fun making them. Some quick math has put my total $$ amount closer to $600 (with shipping, which I assume will be $100). Still not peanuts, but definitely better.
Also, this year I have decided that I will be sending our annual Christmas letter out via email. We'll see if this becomes the tradition or not...
Along the lines of this more thoughtful approach to life, I am trying little by little to make my house a fun and functional home. The litter of wrapping paper in my living room has convinced me to take on a wrapping paper storage project during my time off before Christmas. It will be mostly based on this DIY project, but with a little customization. Stay tuned!
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