November is very slow at work and so November is usually my "fall cleaning" month. & with the change in weather and everything.
We have been doing some purging. A charity came by and took a bag of shoes and outgrown childrens' clothing. It had been a while and I had a bag sitting out ready for a while. So I am glad to have that gone. Dh ran an old printer and computer to Best Buy for recycling. I was able to pass on some old church choir music I found to the kids' piano teacher. (She seemed excited! I didn't know what else to do with it, so I am glad she wanted it).
Fiscally, I closed my Chase checking account. I can close dh's in a couple of weeks. I haven't looked at any bank bonuses lately because we had *3* tying up our money. But when these Chase accounts are closed I will keep my eyes open.
-------------------------------------------------
We host Thansgiving every year since we live in the lower cost region and have the biggest house in the family. Of course, we have lots of room, and certainly the biggest kitchen, but neither of us is interested in cooking for 20 people. So we have always done it more potluck style. Which means I look forward to it and don't plan to do much to prep for the big day.
I did absolutely nothing to prep yesterday. Today we may clean up a bit. We already cleared out all the paper clutter in the kitchen area and cleared the formal dining table a couple of weeks ago. (Moved the kids' computer for the season, will move it back to the otherwise unused table after Turkey day). Anything we don't get through today the kids and dh can handle during the week. I don't think we have much to do. Dh already picked up the Turkey and most the groceries. He will probably run back Tuesday for a few items we need to buy more last minute. He is cooking a few side dishes. I whip up a couple of very fast things the morning of.
We all have a small part, so it makes the whole meal more enjoyable and relaxing for everyone.
-------------------------------------------------
Christmas
As to Christmas, I mostly don't partake. Spending is in the $200 range and I think we are mostly done.
**Dh spent about $40 for the kids, throughout the year. (Probably mostly games)
**We spent $10 on my mom
**Dh bought a $30 concert ticket for my dad
**Of course, most of the $200 is probably the kids' spending. I see they spent $75 on gifts for each other and for dh and I.
**I sent an extra $20 to the gardener
Dh is earning an insane amount of Scholastic gift cards this season (more than usual) for the kids' teachers. I was thinking maybe we should give some to the piano teacher this year.
{This is also a substantial part of the kids' Christmas - they go pick up hundreds of dollars of free books every mid-December}.
Employer and In-Laws always pay for their own gifts, basically. (They will both give us more cash than we would spend on them). For employer, I will just write a check in January. For in-laws, dh will sort that out with his sister later.
I am thinking of getting a Kindle for dh's birthday - free with credit card rewards. It won't be a surprise because if I am spending "$200" I want to make sure it is the exact right one. His old Kindle is just fine, but the kids are using it more and he has salivating over the new one a bit (though he thinks the price is kind of crazy, but is fine with Chase or whoever paying for it!)
Interesting side note: DH's current kindle was the first credit card reward we got from this current (4 year long?) credit card extravaganza. We opened an American Express gold card and charged whatever, and they sent us a brand new Kindle. That is probably the only non-cash or non-gift-card credit card reward we have ever gotten.
Holiday Doings
November 23rd, 2014 at 03:58 pm
November 24th, 2014 at 04:27 am 1416803220
November 24th, 2014 at 02:30 pm 1416839454