Photo by Andres Rueda

Whew!  Now that Christmas is over, so is Christmas spending.  Unlike most personal finance bloggers, we don’t stick to a strict budget.  We try to estimate our gift expenses based on the prior year, and factor it up by the amount of people we have to buy for.  Our relatives and close friends receive the lion’s share of our gifts, and then there’s coworkers, the mailman, the garbage men, etc.

Do you take Diners Club?

Obviously, we don’t tip the garbage men with a credit card.  But almost anywhere else that we’re able to, we use the plastic.  I know, this is borderline heresy.  What about my pro forma budget spreadsheet, and my careful projections of future expenses?  Well, I’ve found that when the holidays roll around, emotion takes over, and all logic goes out the window.  So, I’ve stopped trying to fight it.  And that’s where the plastic comes in.

Extra points

Like many of you, I use a rewards credit card.  I pay for groceries, gas, and even my cellphone bill with my rewards card.  I’m very diligent about paying off the balance each month, so that I don’t incur any interest charges.  The extra activity allows me to earn more rewards points, which I can trade in for merchandise or gift cards.  It’s a win-win for me, because I don’t carry a balance.

Heresy!

I’m sure Dave Ramsey would throw up if he read this.  I’ve been in debt in the past, and have abused credit cards, so this might seem like giving the keys to the methadone clinic to a drug addict.  But I’m more disciplined now, and don’t see credit cards as instruments of evil.  So, as long as I pay off my balance in January, if I go a little over my Christmas gift budget estimate, I’m not going to obsess about it and ruin my holiday.  Consider it my slush fund.

How about you guys?  Anybody else out there that throws the budget out the window at Christmastime?  I know that I can’t be alone.  The crowded stores are a dead giveaway.

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