Christmas Budget Final Totals

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.