The Violet Orchid Edit Christmas Series - Part Three

Okay girl.

We made the list.

Now comes the slightly uncomfortable part.

How much are we actually spending on Christmas?

Not how much we think we're going to spend.

Not the number we tell our husband we're going to spend.

Not, “Oh, I'm keeping Christmas pretty simple this year.”

I mean ALL OF IT.

Because after making my Christmas master list, I realized that saying “I'm budgeting for Christmas” isn't enough.

I needed an actual number.

And apparently my number is somewhere around $2,100–$2,200.

Whew.

There it is.

First: I'm Not Trying to Have a $500 Christmas

I think this is important to say because sometimes budgeting content can make you feel like you're doing something wrong if your Christmas costs more than someone else's.

Our Christmas isn't tiny.

We have a big family.

We give gifts.

We host.

We eat.

And baby, we EAT. 

We're Jamaican.

Christmas dinner is not going to be a rotisserie chicken and a side salad because Diedre decided she wants to retire early.

Absolutely not.

We're going to budget.

We're going to plan.

We're going to use what we already have.

And then we're going to make the curry goat.

Because financial responsibility and oxtail can coexist.

My Immediate Family Christmas Budget: $1,000

For Christmas gifts for my immediate circle, I've budgeted $1,000 total.

That includes gifts for:

Me — because obviously.

Shane.

Daddy.

Annett.

Drew.

Saint.

That's six people.

And instead of waiting until December and trying to figure out what everybody is getting at once, I've already started shopping.

If you've been following this series, you know this whole experiment started because I am trying to stop my very toxic Christmas tradition of panic buying, overspending and telling myself:

"I'll deal with it in January."

January Diedre is TIRED of December Diedre's foolishness.

So this year, we're giving her a break. 

I've been shopping early, watching prices and grabbing gifts when I find something I actually want to give someone at a price I'm comfortable paying.

And I'm keeping track.

Every. Single. Purchase.

Because remember what we talked about in Part Two?

CHECK THE LIST.

Then There's Everybody Else: $1000

Now let's talk about my extended family.

I have my brother, his wife and their two children.

My sister, her husband, their two sons—11 and 21—and their 25-year-old daughter.

Then there's Loris and her 16-year-old son.

That's a LOT of people.

And this is where Christmas can get completely out of control if you're not careful.

Because even if you say:

"I'll just spend $50 per person."

Girl.

Start multiplying.

So rather than shopping without a ceiling and figuring out the damage afterward, I'm giving myself $100 total for extended-family gifts.

That means I have to be thoughtful.

Everybody doesn't need a $100 gift.

Everybody doesn't need five things.

And I don't need to keep adding little extras because one person's pile looks smaller than somebody else's.

We are not measuring love by cubic feet under the Christmas tree this year.

Now Let's Talk About Christmas Dinner

This is where my Jamaican Christmas enters the chat.

Because Christmas dinner?

We're not playing.

Our menu will include:

Jerk chicken.

Curry goat.

Oxtail.

Pot roast.

Rice and peas.

Mac and cheese.

Potato salad.

Green salad.

Ham.

And, of course, Jamaican Christmas black cake.

Tell me that doesn't sound GOOD.

The curry goat meat alone is normally around $70.

Chicken: around $40.

Ham: around $20.

Oxtail: around $70.

And then I have to account for the pot roast, rice, peas, cheese, potatoes, vegetables, seasonings and everything else that magically makes its way into the grocery cart.

Then there's my Christmas cake.

And if you know Jamaican Christmas cake, you know this isn't a little boxed cake mix situation.

Between the fruit, rum, wine and everything that goes into making them, I'm budgeting around $200 just for my Christmas cakes.

So the ingredients I've already accounted for are around $400 before I've even purchased everything else on the menu.

Realistically, I'm giving our Christmas food somewhere around $600–$700.

Could it come in under that?

Absolutely.

Would I rather budget $700 and spend $575 than budget $400 and act personally betrayed by Kroger on December 22nd?

Also absolutely.

Here's What Christmas Is Looking Like So Far

So right now, my working Christmas budget looks like this:

Immediate-family gifts: $1,000

Extended-family gifts: $1000

Christmas dinner + baking: $600–$700

That puts me around:

$2,600–$3,200.

And seeing that number written down is EXACTLY why we're doing this.

Because without a budget, I could very easily spend $2,600 and genuinely believe I had only spent $1,200.

Those little purchases disappear in your mind.

$29 here.

$47 there.

Another Amazon order.

A Target run.

"Oh, I just need one more thing."

And suddenly we're looking at the credit card statement like somebody stole our identity.

No girl.

That was us.

But Here's Where I'm Already Saving Money

There are entire Christmas categories I'm spending $0 on this year.

Wrapping paper?

Already have it.

We're using last year's.

Serving dishes?

Have them.

Plates?

Have them.

Cups?

Have them.

I'm not replacing perfectly good Christmas things because Target released a cuter version in October.

And THAT might actually be one of the biggest changes I'm making this Christmas.

Because overconsumption isn't always the giant purchases.

Sometimes it's buying another $12 roll of wrapping paper when there are four perfectly good rolls sitting upstairs.

It's buying new Christmas plates because this year's pattern is prettier.

It's replacing decorations because TikTok decided Christmas is burgundy this year and apparently the ornaments we've loved for five years are suddenly offensive.

No.

We're shopping the house first.

I'm Learning That a Budget Isn't a Punishment

I used to think budgeting meant restriction.

"I can't have this."

"I can't buy that."

"We can't do this."

But I'm starting to look at it differently.

A budget is me deciding ahead of time what matters to me.

I want to give gifts.

It's in the budget.

I want my babies to have a magical Christmas.

It's in the budget.

I want my curry goat and oxtail.

BABY.

It's in the budget. 

I want to bake Jamaican Christmas cake.

It's in the budget.

What I don't want is to wake up in January with Christmas sitting on a credit card because I spent December pretending money wasn't real.

That's the difference.

And I'm Keeping the Receipts

This might be my favorite part of this little Christmas experiment.

I'm keeping track of what I actually spend.

Not just my budget.

The actual numbers.

Because at the end of this series, we're going to come back and see:

Did I stay within the $1,000 gift budget?

Did Christmas dinner actually cost $700?

How much did shopping early save me?

What did I buy that was worth it?

What did I buy that absolutely was NOT?

Did I panic buy anything in December?

And most importantly...

Did I start January with Christmas debt?

Because I can sit here in August and tell you how organized and financially responsible I'm going to be.

Girl.

Talk to me December 23rd.

We're going to find out together.

Your Turn

Now I want you to do the thing that might make you slightly uncomfortable.

Put a number on Christmas.

Add up the gifts.

Food.

Travel.

Activities.

Decorations.

Clothes.

Hosting.

All of it.

And don't pick the number you think Christmas should cost.

Figure out what your Christmas actually costs.

Maybe it's $500.

Maybe it's $1,500.

Maybe it's $5,000.

The number isn't the point.

Knowing the number before you spend it is.

Because we're not trying to take the magic out of Christmas.

We're trying to make sure the magic doesn't follow us into January with 27% interest.

And now that we know what we're spending...

I think it's time to talk about the people who are probably responsible for a very large portion of that Christmas budget.

The kids.

Because next we're getting into what I'm buying my kids for Christmas...

and what I'm absolutely NOT buying this year.

With love,
Diedre
The Violet Orchid Edit