Moody Style: Chambray and Leopard

I can’t believe how quickly the year is going and that tomorrow is December 1^st.  I officially have to figure out what I’m getting people for Christmas and get my lists and budget together. Over the past few years, I’ve been pretty successful with setting a budget and really sticking to it. Here’s how I do it. I create a list of all of the people that I plan to buy presents for and I set a dollar amount as my overall budget.  Once the budget is set, then I look at my list of names and decide how much money I want to spend for each person.  I just make sure that the dollar amount set for each person adds up to my overall total budget.   The next step is brainstorming gift ideas within  the budget range that I set for each person.  And track the spending with an actual dollar spent column to make sure that if you go over or under then I can adjust the budget on someone else’s gift.  I also factor in a few extra gifts for random unplanned gift exchanges.  Once I decide to start shopping, then I head to the bank to take out cash for the overall total budget. I use only cash for my purchases to make it a little easier to track everything that I’ve spent. Do you guys set a budget for your gifts? Do you stay within your budget?  What are some tips that you use when budgeting for the holidays?

 {Shirt: Old Navy Classic Chambray Shirt;

Skirt: Old Navy High-Rise Twill Pencil Skirt;

Earrings: J.Crew Crystal Fiesta Earrings;

Necklace: J. Crew Crystal Fiesta Necklace;

Watch: Coach Boyfriend Bracelet Watch;

Bracelet: J. Crew Factory Square Stone Bracelet; Bracelet: Coach Bangles;

Shoes: Nine West Boots (similar here)}