Mrs. CBB and I had a recent conversation about how Sneaky Santa leaves us with the bill each year.
He visits, pretends to drop off gifts, drinks our milk and cookies and leaves. How rude? Ha, Ha.
Not only do we have a Christmas list from our son, but he also makes one for Santa.
When he was very young, we would buy him a few presents from the Dollar store such as books, crayons, colouring books, trucks etc.
He didn’t know any better, but now our son has graduated into the technology era, and things can get very pricey.
Today I want to make Sneaky Santa pay the bill for Christmas instead of us.
Increase The Christmas Budget As Kids Age
You can only afford it as the holidays are expensive, especially hosting.
Our son is only seven and so far still believes Santa will magically come down the electric fireplace.
As our son examines the fireplace, he still can’t figure it out and then yells out Sneaky Santa.
It sounds like he’s determined to find Santa by staying up all night and watching the fireplace.
We had a belly laugh at that comment and then realized we’re paying the bill for two Christmas lists.
- Sneaky Santa’s Christmas List
- Mom and Dad’s Christmas List
It’s not like we didn’t already know; however, it was something we skipped saving for.
We didn’t factor in how our son was ageing, and the expenses of Christmas gifts would grow.
Now you can see how easy it is to forget what you need to save for, but this is a learning experience.
Balancing a budget and saving for future expenses takes time, mistakes and trying again.
It’s OK, you’ll get there, and we’ll get there because it’s easier to save than swipe a credit card.
Mall Shopping At Christmas
A year ago, I wrote a post about not going into debt for Christmas, and I’m not sure if anyone cares.
Well, maybe more than I think, but Christmas can blindside people with all the flashy mall bling.
Christmas is like living in the moment with flashy lights, with the city painted in decor for the holidays.
The mall is packed all day until closing with people’s last-minute Christmas shopping.
Earlier this week, we ventured into the mall to get our son’s annual Christmas ornament engraved.
It took around 35 minutes, so we had time to look around and make a trip to the Dollar store.
We needed to pick up a few items, and out we went and never went into any other store.
The idea is to walk into the mall blindly until you get what you need and get out.
We will go to Marshall’s for keto Skinny Syrups on the odd occasion, but that’s our limit.
Most of our Christmas shopping is done online from Amazon Canada, Sportchek, and Best Buy.
We’ve also bought gifts in the middle of the year when they are on sale, which helps.
Send Santa Your Christmas Wish List
Our son sent a letter to Canada Post, forwarded to Santa and his elves about a month ago.
Our son printed his Christmas list on a piece of paper, added stickers and smiles.
Once we read the list, we were shocked to see how much he wanted from Santa.
Here’s the kicker. He hasn’t given us a Christmas list to buy him gifts.
He gives us a different list of toys and video games back to the drawing board.
Sneaky Santa In The UK
Man, he’s living the life because there were only gifts from Father Christmas when I was a child.
In a way, you get what you get and if you don’t like it, give it to someone else.
Of course, we liked anything Father Christmas left us under the tree and were ecstatic.
My mum and dad did not rush to buy us gifts from a second list.
Kids Can Be Expensive If You Let Them Be
Although we were saving for Christmas expenses, it finally hit us that this kid was getting too much.
Our house had lots of toys he wanted for a day and never played for long.
That’s how Sneaky Santa works, and to be honest, we came up with a plan with our son.
To keep the costs of Christmas gifts reduced that we would only ask Santa for 1 or 2 donations,
The same would happen when he writes his list for his mum and dad.
We would pick one item each from those lists, plus fill a stocking hung by the fireplace.
Sneaky Santa and Mom and Dad have spent far too much money on our only son for years.
Emotions At Christmas Time
There are many emotions when shopping for Christmas gifts for a child because you want to get them everything on their list.
Unfortunately, 2020 and 2021 have not been friendly to many Canadians struggling financially.
A child is lucky to get one present under the tree instead of our past with hundreds of gifts.
You read that right!
The Christmas tree at my in-law’s house was filled almost to the ceiling and took hours to open.
Thank goodness our son never saw that, or there would be many questions.
Back then, none of us had any kids, so it was game on for gift-giving with a limit.
The True Meaning Of Christmas
We want to teach our son that the meaning of Christmas is the day Jesus was born, followed by a celebration.
Just as the three Wisemen brought Mary, gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
We’ve also committed to buying a gift for a child to help other parents in need.
Our son’s school also has a Christmas gift drive where families can donate $20.
The money would go towards helping a family in demand for the Christmas holidays.
Another popular option was not to buy your child’s teacher a gift `but to donate money or a gift for a child.
Limit The Amount Of Christmas Gifts
So for Christmas moving forward, our son will get two gifts from Santa and one from mom and dad.
Overstimulating a child with Autism is not what we want to do on Christmas morning.
We’ve purchased an Xbox, and Sneaky Santa (us) will be getting him socks, a hoodie and a video game
. We keep things simple with my fluffy pancakes and bacon or breakfast casserole.
Oh, and coffee, can’t forget that on Christmas morning.
Then come out with the cookies and other treats, plus our Kit Kat log Cabin that we will make.
I bought the Kit Kat Log Cabin because he loves Kit Kat, and we’ll eat it.
For some reason, when we make a gingerbread house, nobody wants to eat it.
We might well decorate cardboard boxes shaped like a gingerbread house and save money.
Overall, we found a glitch in our Christmas budget and will ensure that we adjust it for next year.
Discussion: How do you save money for Christmas? Do you feel guilty if you don’t get all the gifts on your child’s list?
Could you leave me your comments below?
Mr.CBB
Why Calculate Your Net Worth?
Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track meeting or beating your personal financial goals.
Net Worth Increases And Decreases
The chart above reflects our net worth increases and decreases throughout 2021.
As you can see, it has been a steady incline until April where it dipped because of the markets.
A financial dip that we had in September was corrected during May to August.
With the 2021 increase in housing prices, our net Worth would increase by approximately $1 million if we sold our house.
Should You Add Your Home Into Net Worth?
We bought our home for $265,000 in 2009 and have done one increase to $345,000 for our net worth.
I stopped there because I questioned whether it made sense to add it to our net worth.
Housing is relevant unless you are downsizing into cheaper accommodations.
Moving into an apartment, condo, or a cheaper home in a smaller city would accurately increase our net worth.
For example, our neighbour sold her home and bought a new one along Lambton Shores for $200,000.
Had she sold the house for near one million dollars, she would have had a nice bit of money in her pocket.
Often we look at the big picture and then remove the house, so we see more of an accurate number.
Net Worth Is What You Own Minus What You Owe
Do you know how to calculate your Net Worth?
Net Worth adds up your assets (what you own) and then removes your liabilities (what you owe), giving you a net worth number.
We like to calculate our net worth every month to know if we are still on track.
Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly, but it’s up to you and how informed you want to stay.
Net Worth is only an estimate, and not everyone uses the same type of figures to tally it up.
Determining Net Worth
Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities
Why not go ahead and calculate your own using our Free Money saving Tool Net worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)
Financial Goals
When budgeting, anything is possible; we prove that we still have a long way to go in our journey.
These are our numbers and goals, not a means of comparing your plans to others’ target goals.
We don’t care how much money others earn or if they have a high net worth or lower than ours as it’s not a competition.
I hope our experiences will help guide you along your financial path, working towards debt freedom.
Not Everyone Follows The Same Path
Some of you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back.
Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill or injured on the job, but you can’t let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.
You may have been gifted trust funds, paid-for homes, educations, or other perks that give you a financial kick-start, and that’s OK too.
Net Worth Losses And Gains
Hi CBB Friends,
As we roll into the Christmas and New Years’ festivities, we start to see money from our savings depleted.
Although we save for Christmas, there’s always a reason why we go over the budget.
Last year, I believe, we created the Christmas savings budget because we spent too much in 2019.
As always, it takes time to adjust to some financial changes, but I think we will be OK for December.
We are hosting Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s we spend alone just the three of us.
Even then, our seven-year-old is sleeping by 9 pm so that it will be a quiet pop the cork kind of night.
On a fantastic note, we did buy the new Xbox from Shoppers Drug Mart using our PC Optimum Points.
It’s taken us forever to try and use them, and we know he will be thrilled to receive that gift.
What do you think about spending 6 million PC Optimum points on groceries for a year?
Let me know in the comments below.
Earn It, Save It, Invest It, Build It
Remember what I said, “It’s not about how much money you make; it’s how you save it.”
People accumulate wealth because they know how to save or invest their money.
The most negligible improvements should mean significant strides in working towards reaching your goals.
Sometimes we have to fail to learn, and we’ve all been there.
Money can be evil for some people, especially those who negatively affect their financial situation.
Be optimistic, and little by little with determination, you too should see improvements.
Canadian Budget Binder Net Worth Updates 2021
Click the links below to read our net worth updates for 2021.
- January Net Worth 2021
- February Net Worth 2021
- March Net Worth 2021
- April Net Worth 2021
- May – Oops I forgot to post this one.
- June Net Worth 2021
- July Net Worth 2021
- August Net Worth 2021
- September Net Worth 2021
- October Net Worth 2021
That’s all for this month’s net worth update, but please check back in January 2022 to see how we made out in December 2021 with our financial portfolio.
Merry Christmas, CBB Friends,
~Mr.CBB
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