Caroline Duddridge, a widower, mom-of-five, and grandmother-of-six, has taken a unique approach to funding her family’s Christmas dinner. She believes that it’s fair for each family member to contribute financially to the holiday celebration, considering the rising prices of food and electricity. While some may not agree with her setup, she sees it as a practical solution.
The Division for Christmas Expenses
To ensure fairness, Caroline charges her children and grandchildren different amounts based on their age and family status. Women are charged less as they often work part-time compared to other family members. Her youngest grandkids, who are only three years old, pay around $3, while the older ones, ages 12 and 9, pay $6. Meanwhile, their adult parents contribute about $20 for men and $13 for women. Since the grandkids don’t have jobs, their parents cover their expenses.
Caroline expects everyone to make their payments before December 1, and she follows up with those who haven’t settled the amount. Those who refuse to pay are unfortunately uninvited from the dinner. As she puts it, “Expecting one person to pay for the entire meal and take care of the preparations, cleaning up, and the use of electricity is too much. The amount I charge for dinner includes electricity.”
Grandma’s Reason Behind Charging Her Family
Caroline initially set up a money jar for holiday expenses, where family members could drop money throughout the year. However, this setup led to arguments among her children, as it was difficult to keep track of who was contributing each week. “Some weeks everyone paid, and other weeks some of the kids forgot or didn’t have change,” she explained. “It ended up with some of my adult kids paying more and others not paying as much.”
As a widower living off a monthly widow pension of around $1,200, Caroline has to budget carefully to make ends meet. Christmas is especially challenging, considering her entire family gathers for dinner and celebration. To supplement her income, she returned to work at over 60 years old as a teacher’s assistant. She attends staff meetings and monitors the playground during breaks, drawing from her prior experience as a teacher.
Even with the contributions from her family, Caroline still budgets wisely. She spends hours planning trips to the supermarket for the best deals and strategically purchases her ingredients. She strives to teach her kids and grandkids the importance of hard work and the value of money through her current practice.
The Family’s Reactions
Caroline acknowledges that not everyone in her family is thrilled with her rules, but they still take responsibility and eventually contribute the required amount. “I know some will moan,” she admits, “but I will eventually receive cash from them for the meal.” In addition to the financial contributions, the family also discusses the dinner menu together, which includes wine, pudding, cheese, crackers, and more.
Caroline’s children are welcome to add their choice of beverages to the meal. Some bring beer to enjoy with the family, while the younger ones have soda. Caroline firmly believes that if Christmas only happened twice a decade, more people would truly appreciate its value.
What do you think of Caroline’s setup for family Christmas dinners? Do you think it’s fair to her and everyone else? Would you consider doing the same in her place?
