how much did we spend $$ on Christmas?

I love the holidays and tend to be one of those people that go completely overboard. Over the top with decorating and excessive gift giving. That being said, I still have a Christmas budget that I stick to because at the end of the day, I want to enjoy the holidays and not have to stress about money. 

We normally save up for Christmas well in advance, but found ourselves cash-flowing the entire thing this year instead. I always base our budget on the year before, but somehow it keeps increasing. Ha! Here's what we spent on Christmas 2019...

Gifting $1425
Ironically we gift fewer people now than ever, but we tend to spend more on higher quality gifts. 

Family
We only gift immediate family to include my mother, father, and sister. On Husband's side-this includes his mother, father, brother, and grandfather. Family gifts make up the bulk of the gifting portion of our budget. 

Gifts to Each Other
We stopped giving each other gifts long ago, instead we normally book a holiday trip. Years past have included trips to Morocco, Iceland, and Mexico. We didn't go directly on a holiday this year, but bought a new camera for ourselves for some upcoming travels in 2020. This was taken out of our travel budget though and doesn't directly affect our Christmas budget. 

Other Gifting
I gave an extra generous tip to my hairdresser and massage therapist, Husband did the same with his barber. I also gave my bosses and my assistant a small gift. Husband did the same for some of the staff at his office. Finally, I participated in a few secret santas and white elephants. 


Decor $205 
I own more Christmas decor than I have space to decorate, so no new decorations this year-not even from the boxing day sales. But there are a few non-negotiables every year, including our custom Christmas card and a ridiculously massive fresh tree. 

Here's how this year's decor budget worked out:
-10ft Fresh Frasier Fir Christmas Tree = $95
-Custom Christmas Cards = $106
-Wrapping Paper/Tape/Gift Tags = $4

Holiday Travel $265
Both sets of parents live in different cities than us, though we have all managed to move to the same state now. Luckily both my parents and Husband's parents have guest rooms to accommodate us when we visit. And we even bring our pup along. So our main cost was gas. This category also includes a few food stops along those long drives and restaurants/entertainment during our visit.

Extra Spending $197 
During the holidays, a few or our normal budget items are increased. For example, I increased December's grocery budget by $75 to accommodate the fancy ham dinner we did, extra alcohol, and baking supplies. We also increased our monthly entertainment budget to include the cost of the holidays. This year, I wound up at several holiday parties-that didn't cost me extra. Also, we did a day trip to see Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg that cost us an extra $122.  

Total Christmas Budget $2092 
Ok so our total Christmas spending this year comes in right around $2k! This may sound menial to some and outrageous to others, but for us, it was just right and well under the $2500 that we originally budgeted.