Dec 28th, 2007
What Price Christmas, 2007 Totals
A few posts ago I questioned if waiting on my holiday shopping cost me more or less than it otherwise would have. Today, I have the final totals.
The vast majority of my purchases this year were gift cards. Nearly all of those were bought at the local Foodland or Safeway, not (just) because of convenience, but also because Discover Card has been running a 5% Cashback Bonus special on purchases at supermarkets. $250 of my holiday purchases fall into this 5% reward category, totaling those at $237.50.
I also bought a few more gift cards totaling $220 that did not fall into this 5% category; they instead are in the 1% reward category, meaning the total there is $217.80. There were a few other gifts that were not gift cards–one at $38.69 with a 1% reward and $52.98, $25 of which was paid with a gift certificate and the remaining $27.98 with a 3% reward, making a total of $65.44 out of pocket.
In the end, I spent $302.94 on my holiday shopping–except the actual bills (nor the rewards) have shown up yet. Most of that will be paid for in mid-February, some in early February. Over a year’s time, that’s $25.25 per month to put away, less than a dollar a day.
To let my friends and family know I appreciate them with gifts, I think less than a dollar a day is well worth it.
