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Question of the Day – Spending
By JLP | September 8, 2006
Since today is my wife’s birthday, I figured I would ask a birthday-related question:
We have had budgets in the past but we never really stuck to them until this year. This year we have a budget for our birthdays. It’s not much but we have so many goals that we are trying to accomplish this year. I stuck to the birthday budget this year. It will be interesting to see if my wife does the same next month when it is my birthday.
Topics: Budgeting, Question of the Day | 7 Comments »
September 8th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Whenever I’ve tried to budget for gift giving I either fall way below the number and I feel like I’m being cheap or the budgeted amount is only a miniscule fraction of what I actually spent.
I think when it comes to budgeting for things like this for those we love it’s hard.
September 8th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
No budget here. I do notice I spend a lot more on him. I think he usually spends about $25-50 on me, and I spend more like $75-100 on him. His family in general gives very small gifts, which I like. For his birthday, tho, I often get self-serving gifts, like books by authors we both love, or things for our kitchen that we’ll both use (altho he cooks more). So I think I use his birthday as an excuse to buy stuff I’d want to buy anyway. (shrug).
September 8th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Not really. I figure even if I spend more than I originally thought on my fiance, I probably broke even by spending less on someone else since I buy gifts all year, hoping to get good prices on clearance things, sales, etc.
September 8th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
We use our birthdays to buy big items we would like to have, but aren’t technically “needs”. This year, I got a flat-panel computer monitor to replace the enormous tube thing I used to have that filled up my home office. My wife got a vacation to Lake Tahoe – her birthday is timed to be very convenient for midsummer vacations
I guess it isn’t terribly romantic, but it works for us.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
*Not married* I’m a total hypocrite in this area. I don’t want my boyfriend to spend loads of money for my birthday but I can NEVER resist oogling a great [and occasionally expensive] gift for him months in advance and saving my nickels until I can afford it. We’re pretty basic otherwise, though.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
I’m not married so I’d have to say…how about NO!!
September 9th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
I generally spend around $100 for birthdays and Christmas gifts for my wife. But that is just a guideline, not a limit.