GTKY: Holidays

lifeonthehill · February 2015

After a conversation with my mom this morning about our lack of plans for today she called me cheap like she always does. She thinks we are crazy for not celebrating.

So here is my GTKY question! Do you celebrate any holidays between you and your SO? How much do you budget for the celebration between the two of you?

als1982 · February 2015

We must be cheap too because we don't celebrate any holidays between the two of us with the exception of our anniversaries (both dating and wedding). We don't really do birthdays either.

ETA: Anniversary budget is about $100 for a nice dinner to celebrate our wedding, and $50 for our dating (we always go to the site of our first date for that - T-Rex Cafe, a cute family restaurant with giant animatronic dinosaurs).

lifeonthehill · February 2015

H and I used to get practical gifts but when couldn't afford to put groceries in the house and ate plain pasts most nights we stopped. When we got our money in order we decided dinner alone or with friends(for his birthday) is plenty. We only celebrate 5 days together

Christmas- $30 each on a gift for each other. Obviously we do gifts for other people so our Christmas budget ends up being quite large.

Each Birthday- Drinks and Dinner $50

St. Patrick's Day- Our Dating Anniversary. Drinks and Dinner $50.

Wedding Anniversary- We cooked at home and watched a movie. $20 including his cheap wine.

HoneyBee973 · February 2015

Guess we are cheap also. We went out to lunch today. For our birthdays and anniversary we go out to dinner, but we don't exchange gifts, or plan trips/vacations around it.

lifeonthehill · February 2015

als1982 said:

We must be cheap too because we don't celebrate any holidays between the two of us with the exception of our anniversaries (both dating and wedding). We don't really do birthdays either. ETA: Anniversary budget is about $100 for a nice dinner to celebrate our wedding, and $50 for our dating (we always go to the site of our first date for that - T-Rex Cafe, a cute family restaurant with giant animatronic dinosaurs).

Alright that sounds amazing. I really want to go. Haha.

als1982 · February 2015

alyssa32713 said:

als1982 said:

We must be cheap too because we don't celebrate any holidays between the two of us with the exception of our anniversaries (both dating and wedding). We don't really do birthdays either.

ETA: Anniversary budget is about $100 for a nice dinner to celebrate our wedding, and $50 for our dating (we always go to the site of our first date for that - T-Rex Cafe, a cute family restaurant with giant animatronic dinosaurs).

Alright that sounds amazing. I really want to go. Haha.

Hehe. We even got some of our e-pics taken there. They turned out awesome.

Xstatic3333 · February 2015

We are doing zip today because of our car trouble. On a typical V-day, H gives me flowers and we make a meal with nicer ingredients (shrimp scampi, fancy Whole Foods olives, etc.)

On our anniversary, we budget a little over $100 for a nice dinner out. We love food!

For birthdays, we'll also do a nice dinner plus a $50ish gift. Our biggest gifts for each other come at Christmas ($100-range). I don't think it's necessary to go nuts but we personally like the excuse to splurge.

noffgurl · February 2015

We still do Valentine's, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, no set budget. I guess that part is pretty easy now with seperate accounts. We buy each stuff randomly between holidays too with each other's Amazon wish list and what not.

lifeonthehill · February 2015

noffgurl said:

We still do Valentine's, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, no set budget. I guess that part is pretty easy now with seperate accounts. We buy each stuff randomly between holidays too with each other's Amazon wish list and what not.

This is an AMAZING idea! Even for hoidays. It is super simple Christmas list!

noffgurl · February 2015

alyssa32713 said:

noffgurl said:

We still do Valentine's, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, no set budget. I guess that part is pretty easy now with seperate accounts. We buy each stuff randomly between holidays too with each other's Amazon wish list and what not.

This is an AMAZING idea! Even for hoidays. It is super simple Christmas list!

It makes it so much easier to know we are getting exactly what each other wants and we surprise each other. Don't get me wrong, we know each other very well but ya this is a godsend.

vlagrl29 · February 2015

we celebrate birthdays, anniversary, mothers/fathers day, and valentines day. We budgeted $20 each for VDay, $50 for birthdays and anniversary, $100 for xmas, and less than $50 for mothers/fathers day. We get our greeting cards from the dollar store with the exemption of anniversary cards.

ETA - we also do dinners out with birthdays, anniversary, new years, and vday

simplyelise · February 2015

Our celebration for VDay is that we bought beer/cider and H is making us chicken alfredo with angel hair. No gifts and everything came out of our normal grocery budget.

For Birthdays, we tend to opt more for experience gifts and keep it under $50 and then we also make a special, homemade dinner and dessert for the birthday person. We've only had one anniversary and I honestly can't remember what we did, so probably just made a special meal together. Christmas we kept it under $30 and if I didn't have an Amazon Wish List, H would be LOST.

brij2006 · February 2015

We're lame and cheap, and don't do anything. Our anniversary is really the only time we do something special. One year we cooked something fancy at home, and the other year we went out to a nice dinner.

Christmas, birthdays, and V-day we don't do anything. We went out for pizza and a movie with friends last night, but that was because it's the last time we could before baby. Not because of Valentines day.

Wulfgar · February 2015

We tend to get each other things that we need for birthdays and Christmas.

For this Valentine's day, I just bought some chocolate and flowers for my whole family. I hate buying cards but MW did get me cards from her and our children.

For Christmas, we have a budget and drawings with most of our families.

For our anniversary, we have lost track which one to celebrate. We got married once by the Justice of the Peace and once in our Church on a Saturday. Being together means more to us than expensive vacations etc.

It also helps that neither MW or I like jewerly so that helps. We also just got done reading a book about minimalism and we are going through our possessions and getting rid of things that we don't need anymore.

Erikan73 · February 2015

Hubby got me roses from a local grocery store which was a better price (and he got more) then having them delivered to me at work. I went to his favorite chocolate store & got him a few of his favorite things. There is no budget because we spend for our individual accounts for that. Have to admit that what I really loved about last night was buidling a fire in the fireplace & watching a movie and spending a quiet night together. His best friend was already warned not to call. Birthdays, we do gifts but usually go out to dinner. We've signed up for the email lists for many of our favorite resturants so we get lots of BOGO deals for our birthdays. Christmas, budget varies from year to year. Anniversary, that's just a nice dinner out (which last year we used a groupon for to help bring the price down).

hoffse · February 2015

Honestly, we have no set traditions for this sort of thing. We just do it based on how tight/loose things are at any given time.

Last year we went out to a nice dinner for our anniversary. We will probably do the same this year. Someday I'd like to do the DC cherry blossom festival over our anniversary - they always fall at the same time.

Birthdays this year were not a surprise. For H we got tickets to Book of Mormon in London. We had planned to see one show, but BoM was way more expensive than the other ones we were looking at, and it was his choice. So we decided to call it his bday gift. My bday gift was something I bought for myself off of ebay and gave to H to give to me.

Christmas this year was a surprise, but we set a $100 budget for each of us.

We do celebrate mother/father's day and our parents birthdays too. We usually do around $25 for each of those.

And we each celebrate our secretaries' birthdays as well as administrative assistant day. It's ridiculous, but if we don't then bad things happen around the office....

Valentine's day this year was tickets to the symphony - which H would have bought regardless, but it happened to fall on Valentine's day - and a nice dinner in (came out of our grocery budget). It's actually the first time we've ever celebrated Valentine's day, and we probably would have skipped this year if the symphony concert he wanted to hear had been on a different weekend.

lifeonthehill · February 2015

Wulfgar said:

We tend to get each other things that we need for birthdays and Christmas.

For this Valentine's day, I just bought some chocolate and flowers for my whole family. I hate buying cards but MW did get me cards from her and our children.

For Christmas, we have a budget and drawings with most of our families.

For our anniversary, we have lost track which one to celebrate. We got married once by the Justice of the Peace and once in our Church on a Saturday. Being together means more to us than expensive vacations etc.

It also helps that neither MW or I like jewerly so that helps. We also just got done reading a book about minimalism and we are going through our possessions and getting rid of things that we don't need anymore.

Which one? I am itching to get my hands on a book like that.

als1982 · February 2015

als1982 said:

als1982 said:

We must be cheap too because we don't celebrate any holidays between the two of us with the exception of our anniversaries (both dating and wedding). We don't really do birthdays either. ETA: Anniversary budget is about $100 for a nice dinner to celebrate our wedding, and $50 for our dating (we always go to the site of our first date for that - T-Rex Cafe, a cute family restaurant with giant animatronic dinosaurs).

Alright that sounds amazing. I really want to go. Haha.
Hehe. We even got some of our e-pics taken there. They turned out awesome.

I can't resist sharing one of my faves.

als1982 · February 2015

alyssa32713 said:

Wulfgar said:

We tend to get each other things that we need for birthdays and Christmas.

For this Valentine's day, I just bought some chocolate and flowers for my whole family. I hate buying cards but MW did get me cards from her and our children.

For Christmas, we have a budget and drawings with most of our families.

For our anniversary, we have lost track which one to celebrate. We got married once by the Justice of the Peace and once in our Church on a Saturday. Being together means more to us than expensive vacations etc.

It also helps that neither MW or I like jewerly so that helps. We also just got done reading a book about minimalism and we are going through our possessions and getting rid of things that we don't need anymore.

Which one? I am itching to get my hands on a book like that.

I'm a big fan of this blog: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/

My mom is an elementary school secretary (in a very low-income district) and is every year bombarded by flowers to deliver classroom to classroom on Valentine's Day - for both teachers, but also the kids (again - elementary aged). Growing-up my dad always commented on how it was all for show (by sending them to a public place, be it work or school), and he HATED it. He died before the rise of Facebook, but I can't even begin to imagine what he'd say about all the public bragging and showing-off happening on social media.

Wulfgar · February 2015

The book that we just got done reading is "Everything That Remains" by Joshua Fields Millburn (main author) and Ryan Nicodemus (commentator in footnotes at back of book). I agree with MW that the beginning of the book is better than the end. I really don't like the main author, reminds me of a driven narcissist, but I do like the message. I haven't checked out their websites but here they are: TheMinimalists.com and JoshuaFieldsMillburn.com This is the second book that was written by the author on the subject.

mana8503 · February 2015

We don't have any set traditions or amounts, we usually set them before the holiday.

This year I really wanted to get out of the house and do something for vday. H took me to the gun range and I shot my first hand gun. I am hooked! Then we went to pf Chang for dinner, got dessert to go and ate it after E was asleep. It was perfect. Cost $150. We also went s week ahead - will definitely keep that tradition!

Our birthdays are in March, and we try to go away for the weekend. We might push this to the spring when my parents are comfortable watching E over night. Maybe do a B&B in Annapolis for the night. Only an hour away if anything happens.

We still try to go to the diner we had our first date in Aug.

Nice dinner for our wedding anniversary, with our pre dinner picture on our deck tradition.

Christmas - H buys from my amazon list. I only move over enough for our set amount because he buys everything. But this year he surprised me by saving bits of his spending money each month and got my diamond stud earrings and a Sapphire necklace (E's birth stone). I was so surprised. I buy him a few things he needs: shirts, jacket, etc. Then let him pick out something. This year he asked for a cooler that plugs into his truck and a heater. Now when he's gone, he can heat up dinner vs buying. So far so good!

formerlyGDaisy09 · February 2015

We generally plan not to spend money on things for occasions or holidays, sometimes H can't help himself and will get me a pair of earrings or something (I think the gals at the jewelry store have his number).

We almost always plan a nice meal at home. I get a nice cut of meat and plan more elaborate sides. Christmas we did lamb chops, Easter last year we did a roast, H's birthday we got lobster, Mine we did steak, or anniversary we did clams... Valentines day this year we got take-out sushi. We'd much rather spend money on a nice meal together and a good bottle of wine than on trinkets.

jessica490 · February 2015

We've cut back on a lot on holidays....we do small gifts on birthdays, Valentine's day and sometimes christmas. We usually go all out on wedding anniversaries which include a vacation or dinner at our wedding location and other fun activities

cbee817 · February 2015

DH is a stinker- we agreed on no gifts at all for Valentine's Day. Of course he got me $100 to my salon/spa so I can get a pedicure/manicure instead... usually he listens, but didn't this time. For birthday/Christmas, we try not to get too crazy... DH likes power tools so those can be pricey (got a $200 chop saw for X-mas this year). We like to get things for each other that the other person wouldn't buy on their own.. makes it more special.

dragonstarjk · February 2015

I'm with Hoffse, we don't really have a set budget/expectation for holidays. We've done all sorts of different things for Valentine's Day before. Some years we set the table and cook a fancy dinner at home, some years we have gone out to dinner. One year, H had a business conference in Palm Springs so I tagged along and we spent V. Day there at a fancy dinner and got to meet senators and such, it was super cool. This year, we bought tickets to a fundraiser in a town a couple of hours away called Taste of Trails--a 3mile snowshoe hike w/ food stations. It was something we had never done before and it was a blast!

We don't do gifts for our anniversary as we plan our annual vacation around our anniversary each year; so that's how we celebrate our anniversary. For birthdays, again it has varied wildly. This year for H's birthday I got one of his old family photos re-framed. Several years we have been on vacation on my birthday (it's only 3 days before our anniversary) so we might try to plan a fancier dinner that night while on vacation.

There have been plenty of lean years where we don't really spend a lot or do anything. We just enjoy having that wide range of different experiences and memories.

maple2 · February 2015

Pre-kids we'd usually celebrate Valentine's Day with a fancy meal at home and some other fun activity (random art project, strip poker, etc.). Post-kids we usually just celebrate with chocolate covered strawberries and make a point of talking about what we all love about each other.

We do exchange gifts on Christmas and our birthdays, but they tend to be either practical items or experiences. The Christmas budget can range from $30-150 depending on what we need and/or what we think of. Birthdays are usually <$50. We also each pick a family activity to celebrate our birthdays. I usually drag everyone on a hike and DH chooses to go to a local place with mini-golf and go-carts.

For anniversaries, we don't usually exchange gifts, but we do try to do something without the kids. We are hoping to take a relatively major trip (at least 1 week away) every 5 or so years. The other years we will just go out to dinner or go on a hike or something.

short+sassy · February 2015

When we are both working, we do buy each other gifts for Christmas and birthdays, around the $50 each range. We also go out to dinner for birthdays and our anniversary. He buys me flowers for V-day, I buy him candy/chocolate, and then we have a tradition where we will visit Whole Foods or a store like that and choose our V-day dinner from their prepared meals area.

However, since my DH has been unemployed for the last 18 months. The presents have been stepped down. We still got each other birthday presents, but skipped Christmas entirely.

This V-day, I did put together something a little more special. We celebrated one week late to avoid the crowds, especially since the weekend before Mardi Gras fell on V-day this year. I got a Groupon in December for an "Aphrodisiac" tour of the French Quarter. I couldn't resist buying it for V-day! We also went out to dinner at a fancy 4-star restaurant, but I was able to pick it up as a mystery shop, so I'll be refunded back the entire cost of the meal next month.

We are also notorious for picking each other up little presents throughout the year if something catches our eye that the other person would like. I really love this! It's so much more special to get a surprise $5 barrette that my DH thought would look good in my hair, than a bigger gift at an "expected" time like a birthday.

csuave · February 2015

I don't like presents so I encourage doing very little. H isn't necessarily in agreement but knowing that I don't like anything (I'm a minimalist) he usually goes along with it.

We don't really do anything for Christmas. This past Christmas H used that to argue for throwing a Christmas party. He said since we weren't buying gifts we should be able to make room in the budget for a party, so that is what we did.

Valentines we exchange cards and don't really do gifts. We go to Qdoba for the BOGO special. This year we both had ideas for small gifts for each other so we went with it. Probably $15-30 range.

If I ask for something specific for my birthday H will get it. One year I asked for a $20 jewelry box off of Craigslist. We went to pick it up together and he paid for it. When there isn't anything specific I want he usually buys dinner or tickets to a shower or concert. $50-100 range with dinner usually involving a birthday coupon. I usually get H something in the same $ range and it is often dinner or tickets.

Anniversary it just depends what we feel like doing. We haven't been out to a nice restaurant for a long time so we are going to a fancy place for our dating anniversary and ordering off of their winter discount 3 course menu. With the discount menu even if we get drinks it should come in under $100. We could just as easily not do anything special. We only have one wedding anniversary under our belt. We got our free anniversary cake from our wedding cake bakery and took it OOS to eat with my parents. No presents or dinners out involved, just cards. When we were deciding where to go for our HM we made the plan to go to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversay, so we have that to look forward to (and save for!).

GTKY: Holidays

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