Christmas Spending…Now What?

December is over and you’re probably in a state of shock over what you spent last month on Christmas!  Every December we look back and can’t believe we actually spent all that money.  But we love it and rarely regret it!  You get so busy shopping and spending that you really notice your budget at the end of the month when it comes time to pay the bill!

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Hopefully you read my post on how to budget for Christmas and kept good track of all your expenses.  If this is a difficult task for us, I’m assuming it is difficult for others.  Even if you don’t stay exactly on budget in December, setting one still keeps you in line.  We did much better this year.  We planned our budget and I kept track of my spending each day when I came home (well almost each day). 

So Christmas is over and you’ve spent a lot of money…Now What? 
Step 1: What we do is sit down with our budget and Christmas notes (where I keep all the expenses for each individual) and add up all our amounts to see how we did.  The “Christmas notes” is simply a notebook piece of paper with our list of people and what we plan to spend on them, what we got them, and how much we ended up spending.  It also has expenses like baked goods or group projects with how much  it came out to per individual.  It’s literally some paper and notes. 

For example, I made coasters this Christmas for my siblings (3 couples), my parents, and Ryan’s parents.  So I added up all the expenses for materials to make them and divided it by how many coasters I made.  It ended up being $0.73 per coaster.  I’ll post how I made them soon, along with some other DIY gifts. 

Step 2: Once we do this, we also look at our budget book (where we list our finances and amount spent) and our online statement and make sure to document EACH and EVERY expense on the statement.  We actually do this at the end of each month, but are also doing this, ideally, as often as possible each week.  December is one of those hard ones since there are so many different transactions. 

Remember, “a budget is knowing where you money is going instead of wondering where it went.”  Words from Dave Ramsey of course.  If you’re simply paying your bills at the end of the month and not documenting everything you spend, you’re not really budgeting.  You’re just paying bills. 

Step 3: Look back and vow to do better next year (like most of us) or pat yourself on the back at what a wonderful job you did staying under budget.  If it makes you feel better, we’ve never patted ourselves on the back.

Step 4: Get excited and start fresh!  Many of you have asked me exactly how we do the budget, what it looks like, and how to start.  I thought the beginning of 2013 would be a perfect time to explain how to start your budget!  So stay tuned.