My other question is this, have you addressed or discussed separate spousal accounts? We do that, and we have a joint account to pay for household stuff. We each get an allowance to spend as we please. Just curious about what you and your readers might think of this.

On the Christmas question, I don’t exchange presents with my siblings anymore, on birthdays either. I told my husband this year that the only mother’s day gifts I wanted were the ones my kids made, so he wouldn’t feel like he had to buy me something on their behalf. My motive is selfish too though: I didn’t want to buy him a father’s day gift! I just get tired of all the commercialism involved, and he’s a hard person to shop for. On my husband’s side at Christmas, we draw names for the adults and put a dollar limit. Usually it’s $50, but this last time one of the family members didn’t have the finances, so we lowered it to $40. The kids get something from everyone. How much to spend on them? We limit it to $25/kid. However, if you get things on sale now, you can get some toys inexpensively, but the value is still good. With Christmas dinner, we do a potluck, so no one has the burden of cooking and paying for everything. Hope that helps.

I have just asked my wife about our budget for HRP. Married working couples or working singles are expected to give gifts to all, mostly in terms of cash…small amounts though.

This is the first year we are doing a budget for this, should be interesting. Still the suggestions given for X’mas presents can be applied.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!

Photos/scrapbook pages/baked goods/a freezer meal all go over good in my family. This past year was particularly tough due to the cost of repairs on my house… My adult kids were delighted with huge plates of cookies and cookie bars, family favs, with the recipes for the traditional ones. Plus I started parting with some of my antique books that the kids had been interested in.

My mom, who lives 3000 miles away, gets a series of continuing scrapbook pages of her great-grandkids, who all live here near me. She says having the photos and journaling is worth more to her than any other gift would be, as she says this way she can share in their lives. I scrapbook very economically – no fancy frills. Because the dates are spread out fairly evenly throughout the year, she receives an ‘update’ for Christmas, her birthday, Mother’s Day, and her anniversary…. she doesn’t want anything else from me and eagerly awaits her next ‘issue’ which she places in 3 ring binders at her house. Each ‘issue’ covers about 3 months in the lives of my kids, grandkids, and myself.

@SJ: You know, I don’t care much for the formatting either, now that I look at it. I think next week I’ll try something different. Thanks for commenting and making me take a second look.

I just found your blog and I am enjoying catching up on all your posts. I was wondering if you might have a suggestion for a website that tracks CD rates. My Mother is a widow who is watching her pennies very carefully now that Dad is gone. She has money that needs to be rolled over and I know that there is a better way than watching the paper.

I also wanted to comment on the Christmas holiday post. We have encouraged everyone to stop buying for the adults. We still try to buy for the kids but we are working to make the season less about excess and more about being with family. The one thing that we do do for Grandparents is to donate money to charities that help people become self sufficient. Last year we donated for a “flock of hope.” Our children enjoy telling everyone what we got and explaining the concept.

Thanks! I look forward to next Sunday!

@blogging resources – CourtneyTuttle.com is also another great resource. His archives are amazing.

Another quick idea for the upcoming Christmas holidays – buy a family gift instead of individual gifts. I have done this many times and people really enjoy it. I live in Seattle and for years, I bought family members annual passes to the zoo, science museum, or the water park. When my son was small, an annual zoo pass was about $35. I would also recommend board games or some sort of basket theme for the family, such as movie night or a craft basket. A nice $50 gift for a family of 5 is less expensive than individual gifts – and the family gets to spend time together as well.