***Holiday Planning, 2015***

[BookSaver]

Blessedw2 has decided to start her holiday planning extra early this year to fit in with her budget goals. I'm going to copy her posts to this thread from last year's, so they don't get lost.

I guess this thread can cover any holiday -- Memorial Day, Independence Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day, Eat Chocolate with No Guilt Day (does this exist? if not, it should!) -- for which we need to plan ahead.

[BookSaver]

Postby blessedw2 » Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:56 am
Re: Holiday 2015 planning and saving b4 August

For me: I have to plan ahead before the holidays for savings as last year surprised us in many ways.

Also I am going to start making lists of family member ideas - I need to put my listening ears on.
Planning also requires me to look at what worked for us and what didn't and what expenses will be coming up in November and December.

1. We always go to a play $$$
2. We have always gone to an expensive restaurant... can't happen this year.
3. I tend to do impulse shopping for stockings. I can buy things (usually just give them their needed things.. deodorant, razors, gift cards to undergarment shop etc. I can put money aside for certain things and buy things throughout the year.

Savings account. I will get that tomorrow.

4. I love to make homemade things... plan and work ahead
5. continue on dear Harriets focus and declutter and home repair way before the holidays.
6. I really have to look at expenses.. presents, tips etc. and have a binder in place. saving for tips each month will help manage my spending.

SAVINGS PLAN: FIRST DAY OF PAY DAY. Even if it is only $25.00 that is $25.00 that I wouldn't have put away ahead.
It is already April... I missed 4 months of not saving but that's okay.

Postby blessedw2 » Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:08 am
I started my Christmas savings account: only $100.

target: this month: buy 1 staple for Christmas stocking - my dd's love the venus razors - I always put one package each in each girls stocking and dh gets his own type (they will stay until December 2015) bought the girls one package each venus razors and put away in christmas stocking box.

[Nancy]

Thanks Booksaver for starting this I thought of it but my net service has been so iffy these days.

I have been puttung some aside each week 10% seems like dribs and dabs took all winter to get this rebuilt then Easter & h bday would have wiped it out if it had been here. I trudge along with you.

[Harriet]

Just thinking that I regret missing the opportunity to send cheery Easter cards (or Valentine, even St Patrick's Day) to some folks for whom it's difficult to know what to say. Thinking of my dear aunt who is in a nursing home, another dear aunt in law who is sad to have moved from assisted living to nursing home, my brother-in-law with difficult medical news, etc. These holidays offer an opportunity (excuse? lol) to send ready-made greeting cards that are simply a sharing of the day, not something that has to have the right wording, or will remind the person they are sick, you know?

So many "thinking of you" cards I've seen lately have inside verses that basically say, "you poor thing". Ugh. Have to find some that are actually upbeat. Mother's Day cards of the "special aunt" variety might be good later for my aunts - thinking.

Anyway, next Easter, particularly, I'm going to take a closer look at those Easter cards with ducks or whatever and try to match them up with someone who just needs to hear from me, not hear the perfect words.

[blessedw2]

Thank you so much dearest Book! I do like the Idea of planning any holiday. Thank you again.

so nice to see you d book, d Nancy and d Harriet.

I had a "oh that's where that went" moment this morning. Dh and i have started dejunking and decluttering his garage and found the gifts for the dogs in a box with a bunch of misc. Our family gives gifts from our dogs to other dogs in dh's family - they have done that since I became part of the family and it always gives us a smile. (I know it sounds strange but it is a fun adventure for when the kids were little),; I found a couple packages of balls in there own packaging. I put the tiny ones in the Christmas box in my closet so that I can give them next Christmas.

I also made a decision regarding the Christmas village set. I no longer will be putting up the big big set. I love it but my goodness it is not worth it. If I had a party maybe. Dd's do not want me to get rid of it so I will put them in a plastic sealed box and place them in the crawl space for now until dd's no longer have a want for them all.

so far:
bought dd's venus razors

[blessedw2]

First Holiday - a family reunion I have to plan financially and physically for: End of May

Things I have to get together

Buy water bottles - 4 cases, Now and store in my closet.
Make muffins or breads for the freezer now so that it doesn't seem like a rush
We are having a family meeting this week (as a whole) to see what expenses will be like
dd younger is trying to rent a small dingy sailboat for the weekend.
buy snacks now and store in my closet
paper plates etc...
Plan salads

Start packing up sleeping things for our family
clean the coolers and mark with our name.
clean our outside chairs to bring with
dd younger practice her guitar for the event (there are a lot of musicians in the family)

[blessedw2]

Our town is celebrating 150 years so I want to have the house decorated outside for the celebration.

[blessedw2]

I got the list for the family reunion - so I got a foldable box for my closet to start putting items I need away. I have a month and 1/2 so I have a little time to start collecting.

[Harriet]

Christmas Card wreath has been up for 4 months, so time to put it away in favor of the floral oil painting I did when I was 19. This is the longest I've ever left it up. But I just kept getting compliments and visitors cared more about it than anything else in the house, lol. Dcousin's son last week said, "There's Mom's card!" and also enjoyed seeing the family photo card of his old classmate, who is my cousin's daughter on the other side of my family.

Sometimes we just need a little Christmas.

Wreath2014small.png

First made sure I had a photo. Then took each card down from top left to bottom right and wrote a list of them - descriptions with names of senders beside them. Made a copy of that. The original goes into the Christmas Card mailing list box. The copy is folded into the stack of cards, which are wrapped with a band of paper taped around them with "2014" in red, and the photo. Those are put with the past years' stacks.

[Harmony]

That's beautiful, Harriet. How long did it take you to make that? Hmmm, I don't think we got that many cards this year. We sent that many out though...

blessed, I am thinking about my Christmas village. Mine is inexpensive dollar store houses and a couple that were more and some accessories and was so beautiful up in the alcove at the top of the wall...which means up a ladder and down and up and down... I haven't put it up in 3 years and trying to talk myself out of keeping it. Each year I think......and do I have the courage to give away..... don't think any family wants it....

I like this thread.
This year I sent Easter cards (I usually don't) but we didn't go see any family so I sent cards to 2 DD's and took 1 to my lady friend in nursing home. I have 3 cards/assortment and I just write on the back where I sent so I don't duplicate in other year.