I have always been fairly careful about holiday spending, and don’t buy for an extended family, just my husband, mom and dad, 2 brothers, a handful of friends, and a niece and nephew. In the past, I have spent roughly $600 on gifts, $200 on tree, cards, decorations, etc. and another $200 or so on our holiday party. So a total of about $1000. That was generally affordable.

This year, I’m trying to live on less plus I’m doing a Buy Nothing New year, and it looks like my expenses are going to add up to about $250 for gifts (mostly handmade and experiences)- nothing on decorations, and about $100 on our holiday party. And I definitely don’t feel like anyone is getting slighted! In fact, some of my gifts are way cool- I’m very excited about the homemade eggnog. Just made a second batch tonight.