Fess up to your Un-mustachian Christmas Purchases!

[onehair]

I got my hair done for $30 plus purchasing the kit to be used making a grand total of $43.  Bought my son an Armor All car care bucket plus gave him $80 in cash.  The recipe I was making called for 12 Cornish hens so the bulk of my money went to getting 6 twin packs at Walmart (hanging head low).

[kite]

Christmas tree:  $20.   Bought on the 23rd at 8PM.  Had we waited 12 hours, they were giving them away for free. 

[OmahaSteph]

Didn't do too badly. Bought both kiddos used (but nice) bikes on Craigslist. Less than $200 on other toys (but useful, like a survival whistle for my Cub Scout, a stem bag for the bike) and books.

Biggest anti-mustachian purchases were two iPad minis for the kids, BUT got a deal on them for switching cell phones from Verizon to AT&T, which will actually lower my current bill. (A face slap instead of a face punch?) Other drains were photo holiday cards (not doing that again) and a photo calendar of the grands for my parents.   

Got the bf gear for bicycle commuting.

[RFAAOATB]

was intending to spend about $300 on a dresser and $200 on a TV for the bedroom.  Won the TV at a Christmas party and ended up spending $650 on a dresser.  Trying to find the right spot on the quality/price curve for furniture is a skill I have not mastered.

[MrFrugalChicago]

$300 coffee pot... cuz my old coffee pot exploded all over on Christmas and I got super mad. It is 5 years old and has had a rough life, so it was ready to go.

[apricity]

So embarrassed but probably good for me to come clean:

3x what we normally have spent the past few years. We both got higher-paying jobs this year and the Xmas-inflation was mighty. 

Let's hope it's a one-off...

[Feefers]

I broke the exchange chain with my sister and SO. Spent about $150 on parents and grandparents. Apple watch for myself for $350...It came with a $100 Target gift card.

[therethere]

I went from agreeing to no Christmas presents with DH to spending around $450-$500 between us... One bored day at work and sales. I always think I have everything I need until Christmas sales come up. Ugh. Maybe I'll do better next year as this year we spent entirely too much money in our "stuff" category.

I keep telling myself it is money well spent as we typically hibernate in the winter. 2 pairs of snowshoes, waterproof hiking boots (DH needed anyway), gloves liners DH, some safety equip, and a nice bottle of bourbon to have to celebrate the summits (let's be honest nothing is really being summitted but the tradition may carry on to the summer).

They are already proving to be worthwhile. We went snowshoeing twice already. So we didn't spend the day drinking at breweries like we likely would have anyway. We were both exhausted on the way home that we didn't even go out for a drink afterwards as we had originally planned. $15 in gas and $8 on breakfast seems like a much more fulfilling way to spend weekend $$. I'm also excited that its giving us a jump on hiking season as we will be in way better shape at the beginning of the summer than in most years.

[RFAAOATB]

Congrats on the TV win! For the furniture, have you looked into buying secondhand? You could probably even find something for free if you set up an alert on craigslist.

Craigslist had slim pickings.  The low population density of this area makes it more luck than skill if something acceptable comes up.  Considering we agreed to make this a Christmas present to each other, doing it sooner rather than later was a priority.

The price/quality curve goes from 0-150/Cragislist, 100-250 Wal-Mart do it yourself, 300-1200 furniture store.  Was about to buy the 350 dresser in the furniture store and noticed enough flaws in it to move up to the 550 dresser.  Taxes and delivery fee brought it to 650.  I'm going to pay off the credit card tomorrow and try to forget how expensive it was.

[CabinetGuy]

Ugg boots for the SO.  Our rescue pup chewed up her pair a while back.  Around 100.00 bucks, but they'll last her for years (puppy is past the chewing shoes phase.)

And we got to stay in a friends cabin in Maggie Valley all last week for 100.00!  Just paid the cleaning fee. 

All in all, did pretty well.

[hernandz]

A "Playbulb" for my dad and a second one for my cousin.

It's a lightbulb that is also a Bluetooth speaker that connects to an mobile app.  I should have gone all the way to get the one with the changing colors LEDs, but the app didn't come with a free Barry White album, which it totally needs to complete the gigolo joke. 

[use2betrix]

My fiancé/wife and I spent about $650 on new snow gear/helmets/goggles, etc for our ski/snowboard trip we just finished (2 day ski trips are also non mustachian) we are getting married this week, so it was our little "wedding trip" together.

My in-laws gave me a gopro for Xmas. They got me the base one, but I decided I'd rather have the 4K version so I exchanged it for that and paid the difference. Also non-mustachian.

So yeah, there is all that lol.

It's ok. I've been pretty good on spending outside the wedding for quite a while, so it'll be ok.

[Jeremy E.]

For myself
$500 bed (queen size tuft and needle with $100 Amex discount)
$68 bed frame
$20 bed in a bag(queen size blanket and sheets)

For others
$120 for 4 nieces/nephews/cousins that are all between 2-4 (2 lincoln log sets and 2 lego sets)
$275 is budgeted for trip to Silverwood (place with rollercoasters and rides) for 4 nieces/nephews/cousins that are 5-13
$135 for 5 fleece picture blankets(they have family picture on them) from wal mart, $25 each for 2 parents and 3 grandparents
$20 for white elephant gift (adults do white elephant to reduce amount of gifts needed, except parents and grandparents, they refuse to not buy gifts for everyone)

Total
$588 for me
$550 for others

Am I selfish for spending more on myself than others?

[MonkeyJenga]

Congrats on the TV win! For the furniture, have you looked into buying secondhand? You could probably even find something for free if you set up an alert on craigslist.

Craigslist had slim pickings.  The low population density of this area makes it more luck than skill if something acceptable comes up.  Considering we agreed to make this a Christmas present to each other, doing it sooner rather than later was a priority.

The price/quality curve goes from 0-150/Cragislist, 100-250 Wal-Mart do it yourself, 300-1200 furniture store.  Was about to buy the 350 dresser in the furniture store and noticed enough flaws in it to move up to the 550 dresser.  Taxes and delivery fee brought it to 650.  I'm going to pay off the credit card tomorrow and try to forget how expensive it was.

Ah, yeah, that makes it harder. I live in NYC, so I'm spoiled rotten with monthly deluges of free furniture. Also, my reaction to having to pay real money to store my things is to get rid of my things. Most people don't follow this process. It's as if they like their things or something... :)

[OlyFish]

$85 worth of wild caught Alaskan King Salmon.

Our Christmas Dinner tradition is to eat things that we love but that are typically too expensive for every day (prime rib, crab legs, king salmon).

I got a airless paint sprayer for Christmas. I love my practical husband.

[bzzzt]

Xbox One = $220 ($300 retail, for me)

Milwaukee M12 Bandsaw = $<50 (promo item on kit, selling main kit. $200 retail, for me)

Canon DSLR kits = $450 ($1700 out-of-pocket, sold one kit, waiting on $700 worth of rebates, Wife's Christmas gift)

I splurged, but still made sure I got great deals.

[Stairway to Stache]

Fitbit Charge HR for me and the wife, ~120

Nordic Trac treadmill ~ 1500 - A big splurge for us, but we are both committed to getting in shape, and I am committed to running a marathon this year

[onehair]

I spent $20 on thigh high socks for my mom too.  She asked for that plus a soap opera book I got on Ebay for $4.  I did earn credits for the aforementioned purchases but my mom can be hard to shop for.  Usually Ebay has what she likes most of the time.

[onlykelsey]

I gave my husband $500 to blow on a course that he can't afford to take.  Hopefully it'll be a good investment long term, but it won't help him in the next couple years, so it seems like a "waste" in that sense.

[celticmyst08]

Spent $400 on Seahawks tickets. FACEPUNCH ME. Nah but seriously we've been talking about going to a game ever since we moved here, so I saved up my allowance and surprised my husband with tickets as his Christmas present. It was so much fun and while we probably won't ever go to another one, I'm glad we did it once.

[HipGnosis]

I have a really embarrassing one. I bought my son a $400 hoverboard. I have no excuses.

Your excuse is that the $200 ones burst into flames!!

[samburger]

Spent about $700 to bring my in-laws here from out of town, put them up in a hotel, and feed them. Paying to bring them here wasn't un-mustachian, but the hotel and restaurant meals were definitely a splurge.

The alternative was hosting them in our 400 sq ft apartment, though. Money well spent.

[southern granny]

I have a really embarrassing one. I bought my son a $400 hoverboard. I have no excuses.

Got my kids one of these as well.  They LOVE it.  Good thing was I got it for free on Amazon using CC points.

Aren't you worried about it burning your house down?

Our friends bought one for their grandchildren.  The oldest one spent Christmas day at the emergency room for a foot injury.  Luckily it is not broken, just a bad sprain... but he is on crutches now.  They are trying to decide now whether to keep it or send it back.  The younger child loves it and seems to have it mastered.

[rantk81]

Uugh, I bought more... ordered a 3" 4 pound memory foam topper for my queen size bed... another $150....

[use2betrix]

Fitbit Charge HR for me and the wife, ~120

Nordic Trac treadmill ~ 1500 - A big splurge for us, but we are both committed to getting in shape, and I am committed to running a marathon this year

My parents got the Fitbit Charge HR for my fiancé and I as well! They are cool! Have a few gripes on some accuracy things but as long as they are at least consistent with themselves they will be a great baseline.

[tonyevans]

I spent $80 on a 12 pound ham for Xmas day dinner (from a totally awesome local butcher shop).

So.

Good.

I regret nothing. Nothing.

You guys talking about all this ham is making me hungry. I've been raising our own pork for the last few years and each christmas we have a ham from one of those hogs. My wife scores it and then packs it with brown sugar before baking it. Nothing special prep wise, but oh man is it good. The bark is amazing.

I wonder if there's any in the fridge....

[bryan995]

Mostly behaved this year except one small purchase.
-
We ended up buying two new iPhone 6s Plus ...

Paid retail to keep our plan with ATT the same.
Currently pay $160 / mo for 5 lines with 30gb shared (parents + brother, I get a small discount through my employer)

Apple took us for a cool $1700.

[Northwestie]

New light, alpine touring skis to get out in the Cascades - $1800.  Celebrating house payoff and no debt -- plus that big year-end bonus.

[Bardo]

This is kind of silly, but I got some retro Christmas decorations.  I haven't had any Christmas things in many years, but this year I was caught up in the holiday so I sprang for an antique ceramic tree and electric candolier like we had as kinds.  Do they spark joy?  Oh yes!

[swick]

It's not necessarily for Christmas, but I did buy the 3 core rulebooks for D&D 5th edition for myself a bit ago.  I paid for them with CC cash back, but I wouldn't regret it even if I didn't.  I'm also going to order a webcam soon so I can do video calls with my friends when we play (they're out of state).  The real unmustachian part is that they're sitting on my coffee table and distracting the crap out of me when I should be getting work done.

have you Heard about Roll 20? It's a free digital platform for playing pen and paper games virtually with your friends, it's a really neat set-up if you don't live close to your gaming buddies. https://roll20.net/

[clarkfan1979]

The wife and I bought each other fit bits with the heart rate monitor. I think they retail for $150 and she got a 20% discount. We go for walks every morning and are going to try to  build off of that in 2016 with additional hikes on the weekends.

I think we typically spend around $1200 on presents total for everyone. I think we were able to reduce it a little this year. I will take a look in a couple weeks after the holidays.

[Tabaxus]

I have no idea what got spent on others, because spouse does all of the Xmas shopping, but it was almost certainly an unmustachian amount.  Christmas gift purchasing is the one thing that I don't keep an eye on.  Not worth the stress.

I do know that I bought one of those Anova sous vide water prevision cooker things for spouse's gift.  No regrets.  The $4 steaks we cooked with them came out better than much better steaks I've had cooked any other way, does great with chicken breast too, so I think this will be our go-to cooking method (until I am finally somewhere with a grill again, which may happen... never... much to my regret).

[mathlete]

GF and I bought nothing for ourselves or each on Christmas proper. Plenty spent on gifts for others but mostly on child relatives or through charity. No regrets there.

I did have about $200 of post-Christmas spending though. I bought a Nintendo 3DS. I've wanted one for months though, so I'm cool with it. Not an impulse buy or anything.

All in all, 2015 was a spendy year for me. New TV, new couch, new laptop, new game system, new phone. The good news is that these purchases didn't impact my savings goals, and that they should make my year over year 2016 directional spending look really good!

[horsepoor]

I have no idea what got spent on others, because spouse does all of the Xmas shopping, but it was almost certainly an unmustachian amount.  Christmas gift purchasing is the one thing that I don't keep an eye on.  Not worth the stress.

I do know that I bought one of those Anova sous vide water prevision cooker things for spouse's gift.  No regrets.  The $4 steaks we cooked with them came out better than much better steaks I've had cooked any other way, does great with chicken breast too, so I think this will be our go-to cooking method (until I am finally somewhere with a grill again, which may happen... never... much to my regret).

That is pretty cool.  I didn't know about these circulating devices. Shoot, shouldn't be reading this thread!

[Fishindude]

Does a $350 Yeti cooler count?

[runningthroughFIRE]

It's not necessarily for Christmas, but I did buy the 3 core rulebooks for D&D 5th edition for myself a bit ago.  I paid for them with CC cash back, but I wouldn't regret it even if I didn't.  I'm also going to order a webcam soon so I can do video calls with my friends when we play (they're out of state).  The real unmustachian part is that they're sitting on my coffee table and distracting the crap out of me when I should be getting work done.

have you Heard about Roll 20? It's a free digital platform for playing pen and paper games virtually with your friends, it's a really neat set-up if you don't live close to your gaming buddies. https://roll20.net/

Yep! I love roll20.  I've used it as a suppliment for past campaigns in college when everyone was home for the holidays, but I'll be using it as the main platform for this one.  There's a lot of features I haven't tried out yet, but I'm toying with the idea of importing my own maps.

[Kitsunegari]

This year we got ourselves a Kitchenaid stand mixer! We wanted one for a couple of years, but this year we have the excuse that 1) our bread machine died 2) new LO at home, we'll ned our hands free :-)

[SwordGuy]

My wife and I exchanged the tattooed carcasses of dead trees.

[Gunny]

Nissan Titan.  I know...I know.  Nose bleeding from face punch.  But in all fairness, we came in under budget for Christmas.  The truck was a long time planned purchase that just came to fruition this month. 

[TomTX]

I have a really embarrassing one. I bought my son a $400 hoverboard. I have no excuses.

Got my kids one of these as well.  They LOVE it.  Good thing was I got it for free on Amazon using CC points.

Bought wife a designer bag and wallet when she already has those things!

I got grand theft auto 5...

meh.

Also got this for my kids....also for free using points.  They hate having to share game time with me as I find this game fascinating.  Inappropriate but fascinating.

Points can readily be turned into cash. The items were not "free".

[naughty240]

Spent $90 on a kindle unlimited subscription. Should have opted for library and torrents. Oh well

[Ocinfo]

iPhone 7, an Apple Watch, and a new wide angle lense for the DSLR. Replaced a 4+ year old iPhone 5 and hope to keep the new phone at least 3 years (plus apple stock dividends paid for it anyhow...).

[Lanthiriel]

I haven't bought it yet, but my husband gave me the green light to buy myself qiviut yarn (from musk ox) for Christmas. It's about $90 for 50g, but it's way cheaper here in Alaska than anywhere else. If he's making me move, I'm getting my qiviut!

[Adventine]

Two things:
- A giant platter of specialty European deli meat and cheese for the family Christmas dinner (Noche Buena)
- Movie tickets to see one of the best-reviewed local films playing on Christmas Day. Turns out it was Seklusyon, a religious horror movie filled with my Number One Worst Unreasonable Fear Ever: life-size Catholic statues which suddenly come to life to scare the shit out of innocent mortals.

Both were special requests grom the family. I indulged them, since I didn't get them any other presents this year. But damn, that movie...

[11ducks]

A team Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirt? (In my defense, they were sold out of Ravenclaw ones)

This Christmas I splurged on a ravenclaw singlet! Not even ashamed dammit! I love them both

[mustachepungoeshere]

$170 for one night in a hotel for after our upcoming holiday with friends. It's peak season and Friday night =$$$. No regrets. The last 6 months have been rough (cancer treatment) and it's a one off splurge in between chemo and radiation therapy.

I know that using this expression around here is like poking a bear, but you deserve it. Enjoy.

[Fomerly known as something]

Didn't really blow any money.  I procrastinated in making some rather large charity donations to offset the sale of my former home/4 year unplanned rental in February.  I might have kept the rental but it was in a different city and a bad rental situation.  (NYC co-op with a crazy board I wanted out of my life).  Donations totaled about 2-3 months of spending minus housing costs.

[StacheyStache]

I didn't buy anything for myself, didn't really need anything and I already get way too many presents as is.  Got SO work shoes and a video game, parents a restaurant and netflix gift card, box of chocolates for friends (at 50% off!) and a Starbucks gift card for my paralegal.  Spent around 250 dollars for all presents...

...but for SO's birthday back in the summer I lost my mind got him a PS4 plus a couple of games.  IN MY DEFENSE we live together and it was totally for me too (does that make it better or worse?). 

[KBecks]

Lol,  I spent about $1k on the kids including some overpriced Nerf guns and a gaming console.  I bought myself a freezer for $500.  That doesn't sound so bad, does it?  My husband bought himself an ipad and some very expensive headphones that I think are both ugly and ridiculous.

[horsepoor]

I didn't buy any gifts, but DH bought me a gorgeous handmade chopping block from Etsy.  Nice and heavy so it doesn't move, end grain so it's better for my knives, and plenty of real estate for chopping.  Hoping it's the last cutting board I ever need.  It would probably turn some folks here green if I posted the price.