Holiday spending plan: Where are frugalistas using their budgets?
by Nov 29th 2008 10:00AM
Now that I've self-identified with the "frugalista," it's already time to buckle down and start budgeting for the rest of the holiday season. Frugalistas are known for spending little on typical consumer goods (think expensive decorations, electronics and clothing) but maybe a little more on good food (that they cook themselves, natch) and what I like to call "vital luxuries"; maybe a couple of hand-made wooden toys for their children, or a top-of-the-line food processor (the easier to make great dinners at home instead of going out).So: what is in the frugalista's budget this year? Here's how my Christmas spending plan breaks down:
- Christmas tree: Purchased from a local charity I believe in, $40
- Food: Extra organic cream, some direct-trade shade-grown chocolate, and a heritage turkey from a local farm, plus a couple of splurges on cheeses and cured meats from my favorite farmer's market vendors, an extra pound of coffee for my dad, about $200
- Toys: One or two hand-made wooden toys for each of my three little boys, $120
- Crafty: Four skeins of yarn to complete knitted Christmas gifts, $60
- Stockings: A trip to REI to get socks and new bike lights for my boys' stockings, $50
- Husband: New fenders for his bike, $30