How to Do Christmas on a Budget
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Looking to save on Christmas expenses this year? You can totally cut back, save money, and still enjoy a great holiday. Here are some easy ways to do Christmas on a budget.
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It’s one thing to budget for Christmas but it’s another thing entirely to actually do Christmas on a budget. There’s a lot more finessing to do in real life to get the numbers to crunch just right.
Like a good Christmas toffee, don’t ya think?
With the cost of everything eternally ticking higher without pay matching it, it can be enough to just shut oneself up with a bowl of gruel and forget the whole thing. Thankfully, you don’t need to go all bah-humbug.
There are plenty of ways to do Christmas on a budget and enjoy it.
Have a Christmas budget.
So, in order to enjoy a frugal Christmas, it’s good to give it an actual dollar amount. Saying you’ll spend as little as possible is different than saying you’ll spend no more than X amount of dollars.
Being specific about how much your budget Christmas can cost will help guide your choices.
If you decide now how you will approach the holiday season, you won’t be swayed by all the hullabaloo that happens as Christmas approaches. Decide on a holiday budget, how many parties you will host, how many gifts you will give, and so on.
Doing it with a sane mind will help you save money later when everyone’s going crazy.
Furthermore, find a way to truly limit your spending. In years past I might have said pay with only cash dollars and coins. I still hold to that reasoning. When the cash is gone, you are done Christmas shopping.
That said, I know that paying cash isn’t always feasible, but I do recommend making sure you actually have the cash to pay for it. Don’t charge your Christmas spending. January You will hate you.
Consider buying gift cards in the amount of your Christmas budget for YOU to use while shopping. You can buy them from a number of retailers sometimes at a discount this time of year. When the card is empty, you’re done shopping!
Plan well.
Have you ever found yourself a day late and spending way more than your holiday budget? Lack of planning at the holidays can put you over budget quick.
Take some time now to plan and really hone in on your priorities this holiday season. Before you wrap a single gift, think about what’s most important. This will help you do Christmas on a budget according to your values.
Shop your house first.
What do you already have in terms of Christmas decor, festive foods, and even gifts? Take an inventory before you shop so that you don’t buy what you don’t need.
Build your plans around what you already possess. This will hep you do Christmas on a budget.
Can you find it free?
If there’s a book your kids want to read or a movie they want to watch during the days leading up to Christmas, can you borrow it from the library or from a friend?
Sure, building your collection of Christmas Read Alouds, movies, and music is fun, but if the money isn’t there, let this be the year you skip buying more. There’ll be other opportunities in the future.
Make presents.
For years making homemade gifts was my main mode of operation. I enjoyed the creative exercise crafting handmade gifts, and we saved money.
If you’re going to make gifts, set a deadline for yourself. You do not want to be crafting in the wee hours of Christmas morning.
Simple gifts that don’t cost a lot include:
–> Check out my HUGE database of gift ideas you can make, including easy and inexpensive ideas for everyone on your list: kids, teens, college students, ladies and men.
Bake someone happy.
I love to bake cookies at Christmas time. Eat cookies. Give cookies as gifts. And eat some more cookies!
And believe it or not, if you package them properly, you can bake them a month in advance and store them in the freezer. Using your freezer also allows you to present a variety of cookies without spending a lot of time in one day.
Here’s how I make up a dozen different cookies without a ton of work.
Buy the affordable food boxes at Dollar Tree and package up the goodies as if they came from a fancy bakery.
Browse thrift stores.
Savvy shoppers are often able to find veritable treasure at thrift stores and consignment shops. If you’re new at it, find a friend who can show you the ropes.
If the person on your gift list loves thrifting, then gift them a shopping spree (within the budget, of course). That way, you’ll enjoy time together and they’ll get to share their hobby with you.
Thrifters love to show newbs the ropes!
Shop online via Rakuten
Since I order a fair amount online, I’ve found that using Rakuten works well all year-round to get a little cash back from online purchases.
In the past I’ve done my Black Friday shopping through Rakuten and gotten great deals, free shipping, and cash back from my purchases. Since I signed up in 2009, I’ve received over $2000 cash back.
Currently, new members can get $50 back if they make $50 worth of purchases in their first 90 days. Check it out with my referral link.
Request free samples.
As you see offers for free samples of cereal, granola bars, snack bags, coffee, etc, request these and then save them for Christmas. They make wonderful budget-friendly stocking stuffers or additions to DIY gift baskets and they won’t cost you anything but self-control not to dig in right away.
Create a basket high on a shelf in your pantry to collect them and don’t tell the kids. Also, be sure to check expiration dates so you’re not gifting stale snacks.
Shop the sales.
If you see a great sale or clearance deal and are 95% sure it will make a good gift for a specific person, then snatch it up and store it in your gift closet. The key is making sure that you have a specific person in mind.
A lot of the things in my gift closet are great gifts, but I don’t have anyone to give them to! Be sure you’re right, then buy ahead. (I think Davy Crockett once said that.)
Plan for experiences.
Sometimes gift exchanges become stuff exchanges. Maybe this year instead of a pile of gifts around the Christmas tree, you might go on adventures instead.
Plan more experiences than presents this year! One way to do that is to create DIY gift coupons that can be redeemed for game nights, back rubs, walks in the park, whatever you and your loved ones like to do together.
I heard about one family that does adventures each month, gifted at Christmas, but celebrated all year round.
Make do with less.
This is probably the most obvious as well as the most difficult way to save money at the holidays. But, there are lots of things that you might think are necessary at Christmas time, that really aren’t.
Talk with your family and find out what is really important to them. Make those things priorities and if the rest doesn’t fit Christmas on a budget, then do without it this year.
Christmas cards used to be a “must-have” for me. But, long ago I stopped sending them and haven’t looked back. The world went on without a holiday greeting from us in the mailbox.
Another year I bought a fake tree. To date, we’ve saved $450 in reusing the same tree!
Start planning early for next year.
You’re in the throes of this Christmas, what do I mean plan for the next one? As you go about your Christmas planning and shopping this year, give thought to the lessons you learn along the way.
Sometimes I get a great idea that I can’t pull off right away. If that happens to you, write it down so you can make that great idea happen next year.
As you spend and cut back doing Christmas on a budget this year, consider how you can start a sinking fund for next Christmas season so budgeting will be easier.
Keep perspective.
The Christmas holidays are a wonderful time. They hearken to the child in each of us. We often dream of wonderful get-togethers, fabulous feasts, and memorable Christmas gifts.
However, even the best laid plans don’t go according to plan. And finances and jobs don’t always deliver as they should. We can have wonderful get-togethers, fabulous feasts, and memorable gifts – even without a lot of money.
And that is something to think about, no matter the status of your bank account.
I’d love to know what helps YOU do Christmas on a budget.
More Frugal Christmas Ideas
What do you think?
I’d be honored if you chimed in the comments section. What do you think?
This post was originally published on July 29, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
The 2 things we do. A Christmas Club style savings account. We budget how much we spend for each one we gift, and how much we spend for the dinner & activities. Then divide by 12 to deposit that amount per month automatically from the paychecks to a separate account we don’t touch. The money comes available on December 1. You can also use your swag bucks, and homemade gifts as well as make it clear to all you have a budget for Christmas. My parents limited the number of toys to 2-3 each plus the useful items like clothing to stretch our school clothing, pajamas & nightgowns, one year we each got a new parka. We each got a book, always. Our stockings were filled with little things, an orange, chewing gum, socks or stockings, a little candy, soaps, and tooth brushes. A set of crayons or pencils, yoyo’s, chalk, play dough, slinky’s, playing cards. All group of small inexpensive items. We made lists to Santa and later to our parents each Fall, they were read and an attempt to get one or two items + a couple other things made. We were raised to have realistic expectations of what we would receive. That is a practice I’ve continued. It’s simply not in the cards to give a child everything they think they want. The more you do that, the more they want. It sets up eventual issues with disillusionment, when you reach a thing they want, that you cannot give, yet I see people do this time and again. Plus there is the ugliness between parents fighting for toys in short supply. They don’t understand that it’s a setup on the part of toy companies. They decide over a year in advance what will be featured for any given season. More than enough time to create a generous supply of an item, but the artificial shortage is created to create competition and drive the prices up! Getting that much negative energy together to ensure their child gets that toy, ruins the spirit of the Holiday Season. By making gifts or buying with swag bucks, or giving gift cards in stockings, you can save towards a holiday activity for everybody. Plus enjoy the many free activities of the season. Building a set of family customs during the holiday season, isn’t wrong, if you do it slowly and a filling festive Christmas feast doesn’t mean spending hundreds and cooking not stop for a month. Balance is everything, just enough of everything to create a wholesome festive whole.
Such great ideas! 🙂 We love to put our Swagbucks to good use for gifts!!
And here’s a recap of ideas for homemade gifts: http://going-green-mama.blogspot.com/search/label/homemade%20holidays
For the last few years, we’ve limited our gift-giving, and no one seems to mind. We also give spring/summer clothes (purchased at end of season sales or resale shops) as part of our gift to the kids.
Also, track your purchases and those of others, if they share. If I know that one grandmother has bought one thing, I let others know so that we don’t have to mess with returns, disappointment, etc.
If you want to send out Christmas cards order them early. Last year I ordered my photo greeting cards in October during a great sale from Shutterfly.com. I got free shipping and saved a bundle. This may mean you have to resort to sending a photo taken this summer, but who doesn’t love a little sun in December? My cards were addressed and ready to go before Thanksgiving…I just waited to send them out.
Funny – I posted about Christmas prep for Frugal Friday just last week. I guess we’re all trying to escape the heat by thinking about Christmas! Here are my ideas:
http://frugallyblonde.blogspot.com/2010/07/preparing-for-christmas-in-july.html
I can produce that I grow in our garden and we eat off of it all winter. I am hosting a Canning Week Blog Party the week of August 23-27 with lots of tips, recipes and how-to on canning. I think a lot of women are probably a little skeptical or have just never done it and hopefully once they see how easy it is they will want to give it a try. Hope you can stop by sometime that week as well!!!
These are really good ideas. I will start stocking up on Christmas supplies now!
Just a tip…for the past several years we have gotten many of the black friday deals online on Thanksgiving. Stores like best buy and amazon have great deals.