Decking the Halls

The official spending has begun. Up till now, Christmas on a budget was just something that sounded like a good idea. I had read the books and the articles, made lists and budgets and promises to myself and my husband, but I had not spent any money. Now I have to try and make it work.

The spending this week has been on decorating. I must confess that I hadn't prepared an exact budget before I started spending - big mistake. We started with the tree. The kids and I always want a Rockefeller Center sized tree. The bigger the better. We once actually were so tree greedy that we had to cut part of the top of the tree off in order to make it fit in our living room when we got it home. But we had all agreed this year that we didn't want any fighting or pouting over the tree. The important thing was that we have a tree, and that we have a good time going to pick one out. Our intentions were good, but we didn't bother to set a price limit, or even look back and see what we had spent on the tree in years past. And when we got to the farm and saw that first perfect mountain of a Christmas tree, all good intentions went the way they usually go. This tree was amazing, stupendous. The kids and I were practically dancing around it like the Whos down in Whoville. Fortunately, we had brought the Grinch along, in the form of my husband who quickly reminded us of our agreement to go small. We found an anorexic looking tree that was a little more reasonably priced and took that one home. I knew that the whole point was to have a tree, not to have the most amazing tree ever, but in my heart I was disappointed with it and afraid that the kids would be too. But once we got it home and decorated it morphed just like Charlie Brown's tree and looks pretty good. Total cost $68. I also bought a small fresh wreath for a centerpiece for $15 and a swag of evergreen branches for $8. Normally, I buy a $25 wreath for the door, but this year I am just going to decorate the swag and hang it. Total bill at the Christmas tree farm : $91.

A few days later I went to a florist's wholesale warehouse and bought ornaments and decorations totaling another $87. This turned out to be a mistake. The place was filled with interior decorators scooping up basket loads of stuff to take back to their client's swankiendas. I felt like I was in on a secret, that I was getting the coolest stuff for ridiculous prices. I was very strict with myself, nothing I bought was over $15 and I actually found a quiet corner in the midst of my frenzy and pulled everything out of my basket, made a list of where I would use it and how much the total came to, and then put back several items. The thing is, I could have decorated my house without buying any of it. I have boxes and boxes of decorations from Christmases past. Taking these things home and arranging them did make me very happy for a while, but now I'm suffering from remorse.

And, last of all, I went to a gardening store and bought fresh garland for the mantle, a poinsettia, a rosemary topiary shaped like a Christmas tree, and a contraption for watering the tree without having to get down on my hands and knees. Total cost : $34.

So, in the end, I spent $212 on decorating, had a lot of fun, a little guilt, and my house smells like Christmas is supposed to smell.