Progress on Christmas and New Year Holiday Meal Fund

Back in June, I discussed putting aside money each week to cover the holidays, both gifts and meals. I have a separate fund for each. 

I chose $2 per week for the meal fund. That's a doable amount. I take the money out of our regular grocery cash and put it into an envelope. So I am still spending the same amount overall, but I have dedicated a portion of it just to holiday foods. 

My envelope plan not only ensures we will have enough cash on hand for holiday meals, but it also gives me permission to buy some foods I wouldn't normally.

I funded my envelope the other day for the entire month of October. I counted the bills, and I now have $44 set aside. Between now and Christmas Day, I'll have added an additional $16, giving me a grand total of $60 to cover foods like smoked salmon, bacon, a pineapple, a ham and ingredients for homemade Chinese food to be used on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve and Day.

You know how careful I am with grocery spending, right? If I didn't have this meal fund of set aside dollars, I would be hesitant to buy the smoked salmon or fresh pineapple. The fund will give me an amount that I am absolutely free to spend. It's a green light up to $60. 

I already wrote about this in early June. But I wanted to update you all on how it's going. So often I begin something that proceeds over weeks or months, and then you never hear how it's going. 

I'm happy to say it's going well. My family hasn't noticed the absence of that $2 per week in groceries. What have I cut or changed? We've eaten more of our garden produce every week, and we've had an extra bean meal per week. That's it. My family doesn't even know I have this envelope. They just know that food shows up in the fridge and pantry and on the table. I'll tell them in December when we discuss the menus for Christmas and New Years.

Permission to spend has become an important psychological tool I've used to manage our household budgets. While some folks struggle with spending too much. For many of us frugal types, our problem tends to be trying not to spend anything at all. But there are times and occasions where we feel it's appropriate to spend a little more than usual. A budget that means "you can spend this amount" works for our frugal brains.

How about you? After years of being frugal, do you ever struggle to spend your hard-earned money?

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