gift giving Archives — Beating Broke

What To Do When Your Child Asks for a Present You Can’t Afford

November 13, 2023 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Most parents will experience the uncomfortable moment when their child asks for a gift the parent can’t afford. This item may also be the one your child is most passionate about and feels he must have. In our case, my daughter, who was a huge Lego fan when she was younger, wanted a $300 Lego set. You may hate to say no to your child, but if they’re requesting a present you can’t afford, that’s what you most likely must do.

How to Prevent This Situation

I always like to be proactive, so from the time my children were little, they knew our gift-giving budget for their Christmas presents. Rather than being a damper on their holiday joy, my kids were able to work creatively around the amount. This had two benefits:

First, they didn’t ask for gifts beyond the budget because they knew we couldn’t buy them.

Second, my kids learned to look for deals. For instance, my 13-year-old daughter wants several items from Bath and Body Works, so she already gave me her Christmas list and told me that Bath and Body Works is currently having a sale, so that I can buy her more within the budget.

What to Do When Your Child Asks for a Present You Can’t Afford

If you can’t afford the item, you have several choices so your child can eventually get it.

Ask Grandparents to Chip In

If your child’s grandparents, aunts, and uncles typically buy her a present, you can ask them to all chip in with you to buy the expensive gift she wants.

If the gift is still too expensive or others who buy her gifts don’t want to chip in, you have other options.

Give Him Additional Chores to Do

You can explain that he would value the item more if he saved for it himself. To help him with that, you can give him additional chores around the house so he can make money more quickly than saving his weekly allowance.

Match Your Child’s Savings

As she earns extra money for chores, you can offer to match her savings rate. If she saves $100, you contribute $100. Especially if your child is younger, matching savings is a great way to keep her motivated; otherwise, saving for an item that is several hundred dollars may seem impossible to attain.

Final Thoughts

Some parents feel they should give their children the gifts they ask for, even if they’re expensive and require the parent to get a second job to give their children an unbelievable Christmas. However, my husband and I believe in setting a budget that the kids are aware of so they know not to expect too much. If the item is too expensive for our budget, we’ll help the child by offering extra chores and matching what they save. After all, we adults can’t get everything we want. We are constrained by a budget and must work extra hard to get those things we want that are out of our budget. This is a good lesson for kids to learn, too.

What Christmas Expectations Are You Setting for Your Children?

How I Plan to Have a Low-Cost Christmas

MelissaB

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in New York, where she loves the natural beauty of the area.

www.momsplans.com/

It’s Not Too Early to Make Your Holiday Spending Plan

October 16, 2023 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Did you overspend last holiday season? When January rolled around, did you face credit card debt with no real plan to pay it off? If so, don’t despair—you’re not alone. My husband and I had one holiday season like that, and we quickly learned to make a holiday spending plan that we stuck to.

If you want to rein in your spending, now is the time to make that plan and talk to your loved ones. Although the conversation might be awkward, you’ll feel much better in January 2024 when you’re not facing new debt from the holidays.

How to Make Your Holiday Spending Plan

Christmas is about ten weeks away, so don’t waste time implementing a plan.

Decide How Much You Have to Spend

The first step is deciding how much you have to spend on gifts. If you only have 100 dollars to spend on gifts this year, that’s all you have, and you’ll need to plan how to maximize that money or make more money before Christmas.

Once you have your holiday spending plan, you can find creative ways to stretch those dollars.

Make Some Gifts

If money is tight, plan to make some gifts. If you’d like to give a gift to your mail person and your child’s teacher, but you don’t have cash, consider making something like a yummy dessert or a canning jar filled with the ingredients for bean soup, cookies, or brownies.

Make a Plan for Extended Family

Likewise, if your extended family typically exchanges gifts, now is the time to talk to them about that tradition. Some families decide not to give gifts to the adults, but if you still want a gift exchange, consider drawing names and putting a price limit on the presents.

I come from a large extended family (I have over 30 cousins on my mom’s side), so we would draw names every holiday. Each person was responsible for only one gift, and the price limit was 10 dollars. Talk with your family about a cap on the gifts at an amount everyone in the family is comfortable with.

Have a Talk with Your Immediate Family about Fewer Gifts

Once you determine how to handle gifts for the outsiders in your life and your extended family, it’s time to look at your immediate family. If your kids are older, reducing their gifts may be difficult. Instead, you may need to tell them that you must cut back this year and why.

If the kids are still young, this is the perfect time to start a tradition of only giving a few gifts. Many families give four gifts—something to wear, something to read, something you need, and something you want. I haven’t gone that minimalistic, but over the years, we have gradually reduced the number of presents the kids receive.

If you don’t want to cut down on the number of gifts your kids receive, remember, there’s no shame in buying secondhand gifts. You can often find items in a secondhand store that haven’t been opened yet, but their price is much lower than retail.

Final Thoughts

Each of us would like to give our family members everything they want for the holidays, but that isn’t realistic. Instead, develop a holiday spending plan, then make a Christmas buying plan based on your budget. Although you might give fewer gifts, you’ll be happy to be in the black in January rather than facing credit card bills.

What Christmas Expectations Are You Setting for Your Children?

How I Plan to Have a Low-Cost Christmas

MelissaB

www.momsplans.com/

How I Plan to Have a Low-Cost Christmas

November 29, 2016 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Every year, more Christmas expenses seem to crop up than I have budgeted for. Typically, our budget can handle the extra strain, but this year is different. This year, our central air conditioner unit needed to be replaced, and we’re on a mission to pay off the loan as soon as possible. That means this Christmas I have to be smarter with my spending, and I have to spend less than I usually do.

I have a plan to reduce my Christmas expenses without skimping on my kids’ gifts, but to be successful, I have already started my holiday shopping even though Christmas is months away. Here’s my plan:

Take advantage of coupons. I am on several e-mail lists for different stores. This weekend, Michael’s sent out a coupon for 70% off one regular price item. I will be going to Michael’s and using this coupon to purchase a Christmas gift that I’ll tuck away. Any time from now until Christmas that I see high value coupons, I’ll take advantage of them to buy a Christmas present at a fraction of the cost.

I’m making some gifts. Last year, when fleece was on clearance after Christmas, I bought some to make blankets for each of my kids. I have made one blanket, and I’ll be making two more in the next few weeks. These will be one of their presents. I also plan to make some doll accessories for my daughters with fabric I already have in the closet.

I’m saving credit card rewards. Starting in August, I let my credit card rewards accrue. Right now, I have enough for $50 cash. By the end of next month, I will have enough for $100 cash. By Christmas, I hope to have $150 cash. I’ll save that money and use it in December, especially close to Christmas when retailers discount products that they’d like to sell for the holiday.

Entering giveaways. When I have time, I’m entering giveaways for prizes my kids would like for Christmas. I’m not really banking on this strategy, but if I do win, that helps me round out my Christmas stash. Last year I won a game for one of my children, and a craft set for another.

Using Swagbucks. If you are a member of Swagbucks and you sign up for all of the different programs and offers, you can accumulate Swagbucks quickly. However, I just use Swagbucks for Internet searches and answering the daily poll and getting secret codes, so I earn a bit more slowly. Still, I expect to have enough Swagbucks to redeem for $50 in Amazon gift cards by Christmas.

If you plan to use this strategy, you’ll need to strategize because you can only get one gift card per month. You’ll have to plan ahead and cash out month-by-month so you’ll be able to access your points.

What strategies do you use to save money on holiday gifts? Do you also start buying Christmas presents in the fall to save money?

MelissaB