Yeah. I know. It’s only October. And here I am bringing up Christmas.
Smack me.
Seriously though. Now is the time to decide how much consumerism will be going into your Holidays. You know what they say about when you fail to plan….
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There are families who choose to go all out for Christmas, but not buy much the rest of the year.
For some Christmas is all about the gifts. Period. Gifts not just for the immediate family, but for extended family and friends.
With jobs being more and more scarce more than a few families might be taking now to explain that Santa’s offerings will be limited to stockings or a single gift.
I recently read of a family who now working on one income, received a 42″ TV from a family member for their family gift exchange Christmas gift. The stress to compete during December can be fierce. How would you feel reciprocating with something thrifted or handmade?
Do you feel guilt if you don’t provide your family a ‘keep up with the Jones’ type of Christmas experience?’ I used to. Then I realized that excess consumption really didn’t equal lasting satisfaction.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts……ever.
Have you ever thought of giving/ receiving gifts that you use up? Or at least save money by using over and over again? Maybe a giant bottle of laundry soap. A case of the good toilet paper. (Don’t laugh. That stuff is expensive!) Some of these little beauties along with a case of canning jars. After changing over to disposables for Parker, a huge box of Huggies would have me saying “Ho! Ho! Ho!”.
A few weeks ago a couple of my kids came to me hoping to be able to take the family on a local Polar Express train ride experience … at close to $50.00 a head. Gulp. I’d love to offer my kids these kind of experiences. There was a time I would have pulled out a credit card, told myself that Christmas only comes but once a year and placed the reservations. Instead I asked my kids to brain storm ideas that were rich in fun, but low in cost. And you know what? They were great with that idea.
Have you scaled down your Holidays and found you enjoy it just as much? What sort of fun yet frugal activities do you enjoy to celebrate the season? I’d LOVE for you to share your ideas!
I truly believe that the best gift of Christmas doesn’t come in the biggest, most expensive box. I believe the best gift of Christmas includes a parent (or two) who isn’t stressed….who doesn’t need to work overtime…and who teaches the true reason for the season is the best gift of all.
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We’re hoping for not a lot of $$$ spent, for a variety of reasons. Luckily, the in-laws have finally given up on their insistence that we buy them gifts (and really….since when do you get to make someone buy you gifts?)
Now to try to convince them that useful things are the best gifts (a sand castle building toy was a birthday gift for my trach kid this year, for example – really?)…..
We do a lot of baking. We may drive around and look at lights this year, since the cost of gas has dropped here. We had been planning to go to my dad’s house out of state, but will have to see how the baby is doing when it’s closer to time to make that decision.
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After having our 3rd child, I realized I had to do more and more bargain hunting to be able to give our kids a decent Christmas. I’ve been staying on a more strict budget, and I started my Christmas shopping last month. I’m trying to buy at least one gift a week rather than buying them all at once. We’re only buying for our closest family members and I’m doing my best to keep their gifts under $10 each (if not lower). I’ve been keeping watch on multiple bargin hunting/ couponing blogs to find the best deals for gifts and have been getting as many as I can that way. Saving every little cent helps!!
Give Parker a big hug from Joey (me too!)!!!
We’ve opted for no gifts this year. Instead we put the money towards our last family vacation before Firstborn goes on his mission. This could be the last time we get the family together on vacation. Kids say they are fine with it. We’re planning to decorate and work in a few service projects to make the season meaningful.
We have 9 kids for Christmas this year and baby due any day. I’ve already bought stocking stuffers. The #1 thing my kids have asked for this year are fuzzy socks. That is something I can handle!
Every year I make something as Rob and I’s gift to the kids. This year I’ll be sewing bath robes. After buying fabric on sale and clearance, I can make them for about $3 a piece. It’s nuts but I always hit the Black Friday sales because it fits into my budget.
In years past I’ve built things for them. I built a HUGE dollhouse for the girls and 2 skate ramps for the boys. They were a huge hit and cost me pennies compared to online prices.
I’ve got to get going on the bigger items for this year. Hm, where to start?!
My family has adopted a new tradition within the past 6 years or so…instead of my parents buying us loads of gifts, we each get three, based on the gifts of the three Magi. Gold gifts are something special (i.e. one year it was my class ring, another year, cool new luggage). Frankincense gifts are something spiritually filling, like a new Bible or a devotional. Myrrh gifts are something you use for your body, like new clothes, body wash, etc. Then the five siblings do a sibling gift exchange, and each give a gift to my parents. It’s worked out really well, and we all love it, because it makes our gifts so much more meaningful and keeps our focus on the real reason for Christmas!
I told my hubby just today that I didn’t want to do presents. Can’t we just work on getting the basement finished and call that our gift. He disagreed. So, I will be looking toward inexpensive or handmade things so that our money can go toward finishing the basement.
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Paige, I’d think that would be a GREAT family gift too. When our kids were younger Reed actually went out one year and bought more gifts for them because he didn’t think they were getting enough.
However, he now is the first one to say the less the better when it comes to Christmas gifts. Each year since Parker’s been born we’ve purchased less and less. This year we are even taking THAT down a few pegs.
I noticed the looks of surprise when everyone came into our family room and saw how small their present pile was, but afterwards everyone was okay. I hope that’s the same for this year. Nowadays, you never know if you might have a job tomorrow.