Welcome back to my blog series, Planning a Matheson Family Christmas. My first post was just the other day, and I did a vlog, which was fun. Downside, I didn’t have the traditional family apple picking pic…see above.
Today, I’m talking about our latest projects, the budget and master list. Starting with budget, of course food and gifts will spring to mind when piecing this together. Other things we consider are, mailing expenses, clothing for Christmas and New Years eve, decorations (we’ll probably need some lights, garland and wreaths), stuff like this. The budget is pretty straight forward, you figure out what you can afford and spread it out accordingly. Some people also budget first and figure out the finances later. I’m not a huge fan of this method, because it typically gets really big and people rack up their credit card bills. I am not a believer of overspending, I feel like it takes away from the holidays, and throws another stressor in the mix. The budget it straight forward if you have a concept of how to do up a budget.
The Master List is more fun and can include the whole family. This year was Jake’s first year contributing. All we do is brainstorm things we like to do over Christmas, or things that make us think of Christmas. The reasoning behind it is we see what the priorities are for our family. I honestly expected the first thing out of Jake’s mouth to be presents, but he was set on decorating (Mommy’s small heart grew three sizes that day). I do this at the very beginning, so I can budget, yes money, but also time. Even pre covid I didn’t like crowds and rushing, so budgeting my time is important, especially because I work in retail. What’s more, I don’t look at the list and expect to do EVERYTHING. I use this as a tool to prioritize events, activities, and little touches (those being candy canes, hot chocolate, egg nog, etc).
As previously mentioned in my vlog, I’m not going to end with “Here is your assignment”. Instead, here is what we’re doing to get ready. Hope you found the post helpful, and I’ll catch you next time.
Mama Bear Out!
-Nancy
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