I
am really pleased with how our Christmas turned out this year and even more so
with the final tally.
First
of all, I am so proud of my girls. They
had each set a budget of $5 a piece to purchase gifts for each other and $10
for gifts for me. It was neat to see the
thoughtfulness they put into their gifts for each other. It was important to each of them to get
something nice that they would really enjoy and use.
This
is what I ended up doing:
For
the girls I made them each pajamas and an extra night gown for my oldest as she
had passed down most of her nightwear to her younger sister. The cost of these pajamas was literally $0
because a friend of mine gave me the fabric and my mother had given me the
thread, trim and snaps I used.
Night shirt |
Pajama bottoms & T-shirt with butterfly applique |
Pajama top & bottoms for my youngest |
I
also made each of my girls a hand knit hat.
The cost on these was less than $1 because I used leftover yarn and yarn
that I had purchased from the thrift store.
·
2
sets of leggings from Fred Meyer’s clearance rack $3.99 each
·
A
T-shirt I turned into a pajama top for my oldest was $2.25
·
“Used-like
new” DVD set of Season 7 of The Closer for my parents $17.98 from Amazon
·
2
new book sets for the girls from Amazon $41.30 (my biggest purchase)
·
Stocking
stuffers came in at less than $8
·
Clarinet
accessories from Amazon for oldest daughter, less than $5
·
Yakisoba
noodles for youngest daughter (she loves them), less than $3
·
Twilight
DVD, another DVD set and a Phase 10 game from Santa $0, used a Target gift
card. Santa is thrifty too!
·
Coupons
for time with Mom - $0 (Priceless!)
After
all was said and sales tax was included my final total spent out of pocket came
in at $83.02! The items I purchased from
Amazon with my credit card were paid off right away when the bill came due. After family and friend’s gifts there was
more than enough under the tree and the girls seemed very happy with everything
they got.
Additionally,
as you already know, I purchased a Christmas tree for $19.99. I spent $10 at the dollar store on some décor
to decorate our chicken coop, a pair of reindeer antlers for a Christmas
concert and some candy canes for a fun craft project. I also picked up a few craft supplies at Jo
Ann’s for less than $6. Most of those
items will actually be used next year. I
already have a head start! I did not
include these items as part of the $100 Challenge.
I
am super excited about next year too, because I plan to do the same challenge
again and see if I can get even more for my dollars spent. So much fun ahead! I can hardly wait to get started.
Footnote: I took $3.18 of my leftover budget to
purchase 2 rolls of clearance gift wrap for 50¢ each and two packages of tissue
paper at $1 each bringing the total spent to $86.20.
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