It’s that time of year again, Christmas and the holiday season are upon us. I personally love this time of year, but it can be a strain on the budget. I don’t want to give up on the important family traditions we have just because money is a little tight, so I looked for ways to keep the joy and fun but without going into debt.
I’ve come up with some ideas, hopefully they can help you too!
Tips to have fun without going broke:
Holiday Budget
Boring as it may be, setting a realistic budget is the first step. How can you be sure you don’t overspend if you’re not even completely sure how much you can spend?
So, I start with figuring expenses:
- How much will I spend on extra food, not the food I buy for our regular meals since that’s already in the budget, but how much extra will I spend for parties and family gatherings?
- Also, if you’re going to be traveling, include travel expenses.
- Decorating expenses and gifts.
Once you know how much money you’ll need you can figure out if you can afford that. If you can’t afford it as it stands when you’re finished figuring out expenses, start trimming a little. Go from the least important to the most important.
Hopefully you can cut enough things that you don’t care as much about that you can save the things that are really important to you.
And another thing to keep in mind, when I say cut things it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to cut them out entirely. You may be able to just scale them back a little bit. That way you still get to do that activity but can also still save some money in your budget.
Make Your Own Gifts
This may not be a great option for everyone. I, for one, am not that handy. I could probably make some gifts but I don’t paint, or sew, or knit, etc. so not too sure exactly what type of gifts I could make. But that’s just me. How about you? Are you skilled with creating things? If so, this is a great option to save money on un-original store bought items and give people a truly one-of-a kind gift made with love by you!
Dinner Parties
If your tradition is to host large dinners for family and friends, a good way to save money, and hassle, is to spread the work around. Instead of a sit down dinner, host a pot luck. You can let people decide what they want to bring, or perhaps, you could create a theme with a list of the dishes needed and let everyone pick which one they want to bring.
That way you can have a more cohesive potluck so you don’t end up with 30 different deserts! If a potluck just isn’t your cup of tea, you can still have the sit down dinner and save money by choosing recipes that are amazing, but maybe not quite as expensive. or you could just make it a little smaller.
Or, maybe this is the one thing you don’t want to get rid of or scale down at all in which case you can try to save money elsewhere!
Savvy Shopping
Try to buy your gifts early. Ideally, you can buy next years gifts after this years holiday while they are marked down really low. Also, buying gifts a few at a time, a couple here and a couple there, for a few months leading up to the holiday season can ease your budget a little bit. Online shopping has made it easier than ever to compare prices and ensure the best deal on specific items.
Gift Exchange
Depending on the ages of your family members, a secret Santa gift exchange can be fun. Each member of your family picks a name (this part of the process can become a fun family tradition too) and that is the person they’ll buy a gift for. That way everyone is only buying one gift, and you can set a limit, which is a fantastic way to save money in your budget… and it’s fun too!
DIY Decor
This one is a particularly good idea for families that like to craft or have young children who would enjoy creating their own decorative treasures. Making it a party and inviting others to join in can add another fun element. Create multiple stations each outfitted with craft making materials. You can have a painting station, a sewing station, etc. This can be a great way to create memories, and save some money on Christmas and holiday decorations!
Experiences
If you are giving gifts to older children or adult family memories, you might want to focus on experiences rather than a physical product. Going somewhere together and building memories (that you can later use the photos from to create more holiday decor) can provide lifelong memories that will still be around long after the gift you were going to buy has been thrown in the trash.
Another way to make experiences part of your holiday celebration is to give back to your community. Again, depending on the ages of your family, you might want to do some volunteer work as a family. What a great way to instill good values in your kids while helping others in your community.
You Do You
Don’t ever allow yourself to feel pressured to spend more on Christmas and the holidays than you can afford. Got an expensive gift from a cousin? Great, but that doesn’t mean you need to ruin your budget to get an equally expensive gift for them in return. When you receive a gift, it is a gift, there should be no expectation of a quid pro quo. Do what you can afford and that’s it!
The Bottom Line
Take some stress out of the Christmas and holiday season by finding creative and fun ways to stay on budget without feeling like you’re missing out on anything. A little forethought and some flexibility can make the difference between a joyful, yet budget friendly, holiday season or a stressful holiday season and a first of the year debt hangover that no one wants.