How setting—and sticking—to a gifting budget became one writer's favorite holiday tradition.
. But those feats also hide the fact that there was a time in my life that I was overdrafting my account to buy sneakers and eating Costco samples for dinner because I didn’t have money for groceries. I was awho constantly talked myself into “little treats” to make myself feel better. I was trapped in an endless expensive cycle.
Although I was accustomed to spending three-times more every year, I sat down with that budget, and made three lists. The first was the names of people I wanted tofor. The second covered any activities, parties, or dinners that would require spending. The final list was the “maybe pile”— events that I hadn’t yet committed to, and people I possibly could buy gifts for.
Surprisingly, the hardest part of navigating my holiday budget for the first time wasn’t buying gifts for others — it was notCue list two. I looked at the list of activities and events, estimated how much I would realistically need to spend, andfor outfits I already owned. To scratch that “new item” itch, I proposed an ugly sweater swap for Friendsmas.
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