Yea.
I'm pretty sure it was on the news and on page one of many newspapers.
The economic summit occurs once a year at our house when we attempt to arrive at a Christmas budget. (You can click on the picture to see Mr. Jenny and I more clearly)
Sigh.
I know. Christmas isn't about shopping and buying, but still...
Here's what happens every single year at my house.
Sadly, mind you...I don't have a 'real job' or this summit would not even be necessary. By that, I mean, I don't get a paycheck. Heaven knows I do all the work around the house all the time, but since I have no access to disposable income of my own, here's what occurs the first or second week of every November.
Me: So...Christmas is like 6 weeks away.
Mr. Jenny: (not paying any attention whatsoever)Hmmm?
Me: SOOO!....CHRISTMAS IS LIKE 6 WEEKS AWAY!
Mr. Jenny: Hmmm??? That's nice...
Me: SOOOOOOO!!!! CHRISTMAS IS IN THREE DAYS!
Mr. Jenny: Hmmm? What? WHAT DID YOU SAY?
Me: Can you pay attention, please, this is important? We need to discuss my Christmas budget.
Mr. Jenny: Now? Why now? Isn't Christmas like 8 months away or something?
Me: No. Pay attention. HELLLOOOOO!!!! I just told you Christmas is 6 weeks away.
Mr. Jenny: So how much money do you need?
Me: (Internal evil laugh - and, hey, it always pays to start high!) $47,312.65. But let's just round it up to $48,000. K?
Mr. Jenny: Yea, good try. How about a hundred bucks?
Me: Yea, good try. How about $20,000?
Mr. Jenny: Yea, umm... good try. How about eliminating the comma and trying again?
Me: OK. How about ten thousand without a comma?
Mr. Jenny: Yea, you're killing me here....that is soooo funny...NOT!!!!
Me: OK, how much can I have?
Mr. Jenny: How much do you need? Ummm.... let me rephrase that...you know, it's tough economic times out there...can you economize this year?
Me: Sure thing. How about $3,000?
Mr. Jenny: No.
Me: Ummm.... $2,000?
Mr. Jenny: No.
Me: Ummm... $1,500?
Mr. Jenny: Ummm.... no.
Me: Well, just forget it then. I have a zillion people to buy for. Yea, maybe I'll just give everybody a postage stamp. Yea. So why don't you just give me $20 bucks and we'll call it a day?
Mr. Jenny: (sounding hopeful) Yea? Great! That's wonderful...Oh. You're just being a smart aleck.
Me: Well, yea, ya think?
See how exhausting this economic summit is? I am totally drained by the end of it. I end up without a comma in my budget and Mr. Jenny walks around looking shell-shocked for three or four days.
Yea.
We're all about the holiday cheer here during the annual Christmas economic summit.
And hey...don't be expecting a Christmas present from me this year. Unless you have better luck at an economic summit with Mr. Jenny.
Just sayin'!
Sigh...
Posts
29 comments:
Well, at least you hold an 'economic summit'! We just punt and somehow it always works,lol!!
Happy happy holidays right?!!
You better buy your postage stamps soon...I hear there is going to be another rate increase! I don't think Mr. Jenny is going to spring for that...
Dear Jenny :
I expect Mr. Jenny to sing the
economic blues like that ?
lol just teasin .
Yours truly
Jackie
Oh can I ever relate.....at least you get some response...I get, we will talk about it later....
Loved this post!!!
Have a great one!!!
Our economic summit this year consisted of howls of laughter. Unless we take a clue from our fearless leaders in Washington and go with deficit spending, there are going to be a whole lot of hand made gift this year :) Love the picture, did you enjoy meeting all of those world leaders? Hugs, Kat
Oh Jenny....... sounds so familiar! You put up a good fight though!
We haven't even scheduled our economic summit yet :)
My husband and I are both accountants but I am the more miserly one, so budget discussions don't happen :-)
I think everyone is still cutting way back on their spending. Frankly it makes Christmas shopping a little more personal (at least in my case) Good luck with your shopping! I am sure Mr. Jenny will come through!
i just 'take care' of christmas all year long and what i need to get about now i just get. i deal with eating pasta alot for a few months.
I have a feeling you will win in your summit.
I declared NO gift giving for adults a few years ago...only for the kids. It really makes the holiday less stressful.
Good luck!!!
I think you should be at the next summit with the Big Boys - you'd give them a run for their money!....and we'd all get our money's worth,
Would you like for me to speak with Mr Jenny, Jenny? But then, I know you're only kidding...you probably have the keys to the Gold at Fort Knox!
For some reason this year I really want it to be a special Christmas gift wise and when I asked my youngest what he would like his comment to me was " you know Mom we aren't little kids anymore and it isn't all about the gifts anyway".....huh....what????? You mean he was listening all those years????? But I want to buy gifts! LOL LOL
Do you know how many stamps $20 buys? I know you have way more friends than that!
Thanks for the daily chuckle! Love the pic.
So miss Jenny,
CALL ME! Am I doing those gifts or not?????
Hugs,
Meri
Having a budget....that makes sense. Sometimes my husband and I forget (kinda sorta intentionally) to do that and then we spend more than we should.
yeah ... I totally get it ... just dont follow the big boys lead and do the whole "deficit spending and if we run out we will print some more" thing ... it never works in real life!
I'm not a huge fan of this time of year! Too expensive and too stressful!
We really only buy for the grandkids, and The Boy, who is the last kid at home.
We have a modest target amount for each of our six grandchildren. By 'modest', I mean cheap.
The Boy is limited to five gifts (I started that when he was small - not enough room on Santa's sleigh to ask for tons o' stuff). And I, as Santa's emissary, get to set a monetary limit.
When we're feeling flush (like if at least one of us has an actual job), we buy a nominal gift card for each married couple, and let them fight it out.
Christmas isn't really about the gifts, anyway - it's about the time you get to spend with each other, good food, pretty lights, and the knowledge that we've almost hit the end of another blessed year.
On the other hand, I just try to sorta sneak the spending painlessly past my husband's perception. (The alliteration doubles as camouflage.)
I think your summit idea is a better one! (And certainly more economical...)
=)
OMG!! This is way too familiar to me! When Rod and I first got married, we didn't discuss a Christmas budget. Listen up all you newly/about to get married folks--A Christmas budget is just as important as your housenote! Do it now, so it won't come back to bite you HARD!!
My idea of Christmas used to be starting EARLY and storing my finds in an empty bottom dresser drawer-special things for special children. By the time Christmas came around, I was just about half-way through. I think Rod was afraid to say much in the early years, and except for the fuming when the bills came in January, he didn't ACTUALLY complain. Eventually, though, he got tougher! I was not very happy about it, and the girls wondered why I didn't go all out decorating the house--every nook and cranny! But I kept quiet.
It turned into such a battle that I finally said, "I'm done! You're in charge of buying gifts from now on!"
He was stunned. But I stuck to my guns. I had to tell the girls, though, and when they found out, they both said, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT??" I said I didn't want to discuss it further, and I think they understood, sadly.
Not being able to torture me with the gift buying, Rod came up with another angle--shipping! He didn't want to pay shipping, and since the boys and Jennifer lived in other states, and since they all had spouses (except Keil) and children, shipping became the BIG issue.
I got SICK of hearing about it, and the season was stressing me out to the point of tears. One year, the day after Thanksgiving, Rod asked if he should get the tree and ornaments out. I told him I didn't really give a rat's ass, that I had no interest whatsoever in Christmas and that if he wanted the tree up, he was going to have to do it himself. He looked at me in disbelief, and asked what happened. I told him HE happened, and that it was his skinflint attitude that had destroyed my love of Christmas. He looked rather sheepish. He did put up the tree, however, but on the premise that less is more, and so it looked rather sparce. People noticed, too. "What happened to your tree?" they asked. "Ask Rod!" was all that I would say.
Well, its that time of year again, and I am hosting Christmas dinner at our house, since Allison is doing Thanksgiving. It will be delicious, too!
As far as the gifts and the shipping and decorations? Well, that's Rod's department. I'm just the cook.
OMG!! This is way too familiar to me! When Rod and I first got married, we didn't discuss a Christmas budget. Listen up all you newly/about to get married folks--A Christmas budget is just as important as your housenote! Do it now, so it won't come back to bite you HARD!!
My idea of Christmas used to be starting EARLY and storing my finds in an empty bottom dresser drawer-special things for special children. By the time Christmas came around, I was just about half-way through. I think Rod was afraid to say much in the early years, and except for the fuming when the bills came in January, he didn't ACTUALLY complain. Eventually, though, he got tougher! I was not very happy about it, and the girls wondered why I didn't go all out decorating the house--every nook and cranny! But I kept quiet.
It turned into such a battle that I finally said, "I'm done! You're in charge of buying gifts from now on!"
He was stunned. But I stuck to my guns. I had to tell the girls, though, and when they found out, they both said, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT??" I said I didn't want to discuss it further, and I think they understood, sadly.
Not being able to torture me with the gift buying, Rod came up with another angle--shipping! He didn't want to pay shipping, and since the boys and Jennifer lived in other states, and since they all had spouses (except Keil) and children, shipping became the BIG issue.
I got SICK of hearing about it, and the season was stressing me out to the point of tears. One year, the day after Thanksgiving, Rod asked if he should get the tree and ornaments out. I told him I didn't really give a rat's ass, that I had no interest whatsoever in Christmas and that if he wanted the tree up, he was going to have to do it himself. He looked at me in disbelief, and asked what happened. I told him HE happened, and that it was his skinflint attitude that had destroyed my love of Christmas. He looked rather sheepish. He did put up the tree, however, but on the premise that less is more, and so it looked rather sparce. People noticed, too. "What happened to your tree?" they asked. "Ask Rod!" was all that I would say.
Well, its that time of year again, and I am hosting Christmas dinner at our house, since Allison is doing Thanksgiving. It will be delicious, too!
As far as the gifts and the shipping and decorations? Well, that's Rod's department. I'm just the cook.
LOL!!!
This is the strategy you ought to employ: You put everything on the credit card.
Then, when the bill comes, you hand it over to Mr. Jenny and tell him to take care of it.
Problem solved! You're welcome!
Due to the excitement of this season, my husband (who likes to be referred to as Galactic Destroyer (and I am not joking about that)) decided to up the ante. We are going all out with our gift giving. We are out to make the neighbors jealous. underwear and socks is the highly coveted prize that will be found under the tree and in the stockings. And if our kids are especially good, the underwear and socks might even be new and not used!
Now aren't you jealous? Maybe Mr. Jenny should take a page out of our patented "How to Blow Your Christmas Budget Without Angering Your Spouse" book. Or not. Just saying. :)
P.S. You make me laugh.
Very funny, Jenny! Around here, we employ the following approach to Christmas shopping: we spend as little money as possible without looking too cheap - and every year, depending on our finances - whether we had to buy a new car or pay for braces or something - this changes. My husband is 'Mr. Christmas' so I don't have to fight too hard, mind you, in my family (meaning my sisters and brothers) we all pick names and one family buys for only one other family. I also want to prevent a financial depression come January, so I don't go too crazy...but it is a balance!
Love the photos of you two at The Summit :)
We don't really have a discussion. My husband just isn't into the finances...so, I do some shopping and then we do some shopping and then I start whining about how I'm spending too much and we really should go back to having a Christmas Club for next year.
you need to throw in some earmarks...like the bigshots in Washington...we draw names amongst the adults...this year the gift will be homemade-regifted-or a thrift store/garage sale item...and of course the kiddos get stuff from everyone..
Too much fun. Not a favorite converstaion of mine.
Good Luck.
Melinda
This is hilarious! er uh I mean horrendous!! :o Good thing I handle all the finances here. Hubby doesn't have a clue. That's just the way I like him....clueless! And he has peace of mind not worrying about the small stuff. Hee hee works for me!~Ames
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