Fun and Frugal Christmas: Tips to Enjoy Christmas on a Budget
We’ve had our fair share of frugal Christmases over the years. As a young couple, my husband and I worked minimum-wage jobs. I was also a young mom which stretched my budget even further. Now, as a family of 8, we have embraced the idea of a frugal Christmas to save money and teach our children that the holidays are not all about receiving gifts.
The holiday season is about being together as a family, sharing with those we love what we’re grateful for, and sharing with others. As much as I love gift-giving, we have to stick to a budget and consider our financial responsibilities.
For the last 8 years, we have worked hard to ensure we don’t use credit cards or accrue debt in the name of holiday spending, and it has relieved so much financial stress for our family.
Just because you are on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t have a joyous holiday season. Today, I’ll share how to have a fun and frugal Christmas while sticking to your budget!
How to have a fun and frugal Christmas
No tree? No problem!
Let’s face it, real or fake, Christmas trees are pricey! If getting a tree isn’t feasible, check secondhand stores. Around the holidays, places like Goodwill carry seasonal items like Christmas trees and décor that are in decent shape.
Decorate a plant you already have.
If this isn’t an option, decorate a plant you already have. It’s not the most festive option, but will save you money.
While I love having a beautiful tree, for 6 years of our marriage, we used a tree we bought from Walmart for $35. By year 2, it was mangled from our fat cat trying to climb it and sit at the top of it. She was so chubby she started to bend the metal arms of the branches. My husband had fixed it so often that the metal stopped cooperating, and all the branches would droop to the floor!
Get crafty
I’m not putting our ornaments up this year. As much as I love decorating our tree, we have 2 young children who will just pull the ornaments off the tree repeatedly. Instead of laying down my peace over the ornaments being removed, I’m skipping putting the ornaments up.
Another great option is to make a felt tree. That way, it’s no big deal when the kids pull decorations off of it. All you have to do is cut a piece of green felt into the shape of a tree and pin it to the wall. Then, make felt ornaments from different felt colors and decorate your tree. Not only will the younger children have fun ‘decorating’ the felt tree as much as they want, but you’ll also save some money that you can use to stretch your frugal Christmas further.
Make gifts instead of purchasing them
I have 8 siblings, and I would love to buy them each a special gift, but it’s not feasible on our budget. Instead, I bake banana bread for each of them and give them a Christmas card.
If you like gift-giving but need to embrace a frugal Christmas, here are some gift ideas you can make instead of purchasing:
- Baked goods
- Simmer pots
- Homemade cards
- Baking mix
- Ornaments
- Crocheted gift
- Snack mix
- Hot cocoa spoons
- Sugar scrub
- Bookmark
The possibilities here are endless, so get creative! Making gifts over purchasing them is a fantastic way to show others you care while saving money.
Create a budget in advance
Whatever your reasoning for creating a frugal Christmas, you must create a budget! That way you know what you can spend for the holidays. Don’t let this intimidate you! Having a budget is a good thing. Knowing what you can spend removes stress or guilt when shopping for gifts or holiday necessities.
To create a budget, divide your goal by 12, and that’s what you need to save every month. For example, if your savings goal for Christmas is $2,000, divide by 12, and your monthly savings goal is about $170.
When we became debt-free a few years ago, budgeting for Christmas and not using credit cards to pay for gifts was part of the process. If we didn’t have the money for it, we didn’t buy it. After we adjusted to our spending budget and stopped relying on credit cards, it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders. Knowing I wouldn’t receive a bill after Christmas relieved so much stress.
Try a gift exchange
Our children are younger and don’t have many options to make money, but they still want to give their siblings a gift. To help them, we draw names from a hat, and they can buy one gift for that sibling with a spending limit of $20. They all get to participate, and we can stick to our goal of a frugal Christmas.
Try the 4 gift rule
As much as I love watching our children open presents, we need to be good stewards of our money. Having a frugal Christmas helps us achieve that goal. Instead of buying gifts just to have presents under the tree, we follow the 4-gift rule.
Here’s how it works:
Want– one gift that they want
Need– something they need
Wear– something to wear
Read– something to read
Using this as a guide when purchasing gifts has helped us stick to our budget and still provide meaningful gifts for each of our children.
Meal plan
We always eat creamy chicken noodle soup and French bread on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, we have cinnamon roll casserole and egg casserole. Because we only grocery shop every 2 weeks, I know I have to add the ingredients for those dishes to my shopping list beforehand. While not expensive, those 2 meals have more ingredients than I tend to use per recipe, so planning ahead of time to stay on budget is necessary.
If you know there are special meals you like to make around the holidays, or you plan to host a holiday meal, remember to budget for it and plan so you’re not left worrying about paying for it when it’s time to shop.
By meal planning in advance, you’ll also save yourself extra shopping trips. This will prevent you from spending unnecessary money on impulse purchases.
Final thoughts
Creating a fun and frugal Christmas doesn’t mean you can’t give meaningful gifts and make memories. You just have to get creative with your spending and stick to your budget. The holiday season will be just as memorable on a budget if you have the right mindset and work hard to make the season magical! Remember, there’s no need to go into debt to make the holiday season memorable.
Thanks so much for being here today. Let me know in the comments if this post was helpful to you. Click here to pin it to your holiday board on Pinterest!
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