Christmas is supposed to be a joyful time of year. Friends! Family! Food! Presents! What's not to like?
Except that for the past couple of years, as soon as Halloween passes, I find myself unexpectedly overcome by a desire for the holidays to just go away.
Practically as soon as the last Trick Or Treater rounds the corner and disappears from sight, we're bombarded with the holiday season.
I got three toy catalogs in the mail yesterday. The circular for Safeway mentions Thanksgiving in five different places. And my neighbor put his Christmas tree up the day after Halloween!
No wonder the Humbug in me is roaring. It's stress, plain and simple. Too much to do, too much running around, not enough time to enjoy the season. Every year, Christmas seems to get bigger and bigger and I'm left exhausted at the end of it all.
This year, keeping things small is extra important because the economy is in terrible shape and everyone is trying to cut back.
Here are some of the things you can do to enjoy the holiday season without burning up your credit card.
**Pick names and set a spending limit--This year on my side of the family, we each picked a name and set a limit on how much money to spend. We'll still buy for the kids, but having two adults to shop for instead of four is a huge weight off my shoulders.
**Skip the gifts altogether--We stopped exchanging gifts with my husband's dad's side of the family a few years ago. Instead, we just get together on Christmas Day to eat and enjoy each other's company. It's much easier than stressing about what to buy for someone who is hard to shop for.
**Instead of "stuff" give "experiences"--This year especially, there isn't really anything that I really have to have. We have enough stuff, and so do the kids. If you're shopping for someone who already has everything, consider giving them tickets to a sporting event, movie tickets, or a membership to a museum. We're also fans of restaurant gift cards. We all like to eat and gift cards take up practically zero space.
**Give a recycled gift--I'm not talking about dumpster diving! Instead, consider this guest post at Crunchy Domestic Goddess about giving gifts with thought behind them. A thoughtful gift doesn't have to be an expensive one! I especially love her idea of growing mint in a planter (from Freecycle) for a family member. When my husband divided my iris plants early this fall, we had more than we could plant in our small city yard. The extras are wrapped up in a brown paper bag, awaiting a new home. I'm thinking that a new pair of gardening gloves, our lovingly preserved iris bulbs and instructions on how to plant them would make a lovely gift for someone who loves flowers and gardening.
**Give a handmade gift--Can you knit? Make socks! If you like to cook, give homemade mixes for soups or cookies.
Here are more ideas:
**Tony Rose at DSAInsights says: "I typically accrue money over the course of the year to fund Christmas. I have it auto deducted. Also eat out less."
**Erin Hartin agrees with my spending limit tip: "Buy for the kids only. Draw names for the adults in the family - Spend at least $50-100 since you're only buying one big gift."
**Jane at The Maccubbins has tips for making your money go a little further: "Scott and I agree on a set amount to spend on the immediate family (each other and the kids). After that, we take the rest of our budget and figure out the per person rate and only go over on one person if we skimp on someone else. Truly a "balanced budget" idea. This year- money is tight. I work in the finance industry and I don't have to explain what's going on there! So we're doing gifts in a jar and some hand painted decorations. I also do a lot of shopping online on Thanksgiving. All of the Black Friday sales are there but the stock is new (so I don't have to worry about something being gone) and I don't have to wake up early. I've gotten some amazing deals at Hallmark.com and Disney.com. The thing about Disney.com is that prices change DAILY so you need to check it out for a few days to pick your 'target price' and then go for it."
**Jen at Lords Of The Manor is starting a new family tradition this year: "Instead of shopping for my parents and inlaws and trying to find something unique for people who already have everything, we are giving them a repurposeable gift box every year filled with assorted things. This year the boxes are clear, toolbox sized plastic totes that have small items in them. I'm wrapping the inside of the box with a sheet of paper, so the Christmas design will show through to the outside, but the items inside won't be individually wrapped."
Does Christmas leave you feeling overwhelmed and stressed out? How do you plan on watching your spending this year? Do you have a tip? Leave a comment!
Except that for the past couple of years, as soon as Halloween passes, I find myself unexpectedly overcome by a desire for the holidays to just go away.
Practically as soon as the last Trick Or Treater rounds the corner and disappears from sight, we're bombarded with the holiday season.
I got three toy catalogs in the mail yesterday. The circular for Safeway mentions Thanksgiving in five different places. And my neighbor put his Christmas tree up the day after Halloween!
No wonder the Humbug in me is roaring. It's stress, plain and simple. Too much to do, too much running around, not enough time to enjoy the season. Every year, Christmas seems to get bigger and bigger and I'm left exhausted at the end of it all.
This year, keeping things small is extra important because the economy is in terrible shape and everyone is trying to cut back.
Here are some of the things you can do to enjoy the holiday season without burning up your credit card.
**Pick names and set a spending limit--This year on my side of the family, we each picked a name and set a limit on how much money to spend. We'll still buy for the kids, but having two adults to shop for instead of four is a huge weight off my shoulders.
**Skip the gifts altogether--We stopped exchanging gifts with my husband's dad's side of the family a few years ago. Instead, we just get together on Christmas Day to eat and enjoy each other's company. It's much easier than stressing about what to buy for someone who is hard to shop for.
**Instead of "stuff" give "experiences"--This year especially, there isn't really anything that I really have to have. We have enough stuff, and so do the kids. If you're shopping for someone who already has everything, consider giving them tickets to a sporting event, movie tickets, or a membership to a museum. We're also fans of restaurant gift cards. We all like to eat and gift cards take up practically zero space.
**Give a recycled gift--I'm not talking about dumpster diving! Instead, consider this guest post at Crunchy Domestic Goddess about giving gifts with thought behind them. A thoughtful gift doesn't have to be an expensive one! I especially love her idea of growing mint in a planter (from Freecycle) for a family member. When my husband divided my iris plants early this fall, we had more than we could plant in our small city yard. The extras are wrapped up in a brown paper bag, awaiting a new home. I'm thinking that a new pair of gardening gloves, our lovingly preserved iris bulbs and instructions on how to plant them would make a lovely gift for someone who loves flowers and gardening.
**Give a handmade gift--Can you knit? Make socks! If you like to cook, give homemade mixes for soups or cookies.
Here are more ideas:
**Tony Rose at DSAInsights says: "I typically accrue money over the course of the year to fund Christmas. I have it auto deducted. Also eat out less."
**Erin Hartin agrees with my spending limit tip: "Buy for the kids only. Draw names for the adults in the family - Spend at least $50-100 since you're only buying one big gift."
**Jane at The Maccubbins has tips for making your money go a little further: "Scott and I agree on a set amount to spend on the immediate family (each other and the kids). After that, we take the rest of our budget and figure out the per person rate and only go over on one person if we skimp on someone else. Truly a "balanced budget" idea. This year- money is tight. I work in the finance industry and I don't have to explain what's going on there! So we're doing gifts in a jar and some hand painted decorations. I also do a lot of shopping online on Thanksgiving. All of the Black Friday sales are there but the stock is new (so I don't have to worry about something being gone) and I don't have to wake up early. I've gotten some amazing deals at Hallmark.com and Disney.com. The thing about Disney.com is that prices change DAILY so you need to check it out for a few days to pick your 'target price' and then go for it."
**Jen at Lords Of The Manor is starting a new family tradition this year: "Instead of shopping for my parents and inlaws and trying to find something unique for people who already have everything, we are giving them a repurposeable gift box every year filled with assorted things. This year the boxes are clear, toolbox sized plastic totes that have small items in them. I'm wrapping the inside of the box with a sheet of paper, so the Christmas design will show through to the outside, but the items inside won't be individually wrapped."
Does Christmas leave you feeling overwhelmed and stressed out? How do you plan on watching your spending this year? Do you have a tip? Leave a comment!
Posts
6 comments:
Those are some great ideas.
For a low cost indoor gardening
adventure. Check out the TickleMe Plant. It's that real plant that MOVE when you Tickle It! This is not a joke. The leaves close and even the branches MOVE when Tickled.
I found it at http://www.ticklemeplant.com
Head up...if you use the coupon code blog at check out they are taking $2.00 off
My Sweetie and I have agreed--and this time, we mean it--that we will only stuff stockings for each other. If it won't fit in the sock, we ain't getting it.
Of course, for the Toad, it'll be GCs mostly, 'cuz at 19, what else does he need? LOL The Howler will get the usual, which wasn't too extreme anyway.
For families, it's GCs in $10 or $15 amounts (mine) and gifts in the $10 to $15 range (his).
Of course, it helps that we're just not that into extreme/overblown holidays in the first place.
Great tips! I try to make sure I have a list of everyone I want to give a gift to and set a price limit for each person before I even set out shopping. I list ideas for each person and shop the sales for everything. I've also made gifts in the past, although the last few years this has been tough because my time has been so limited.
my husband and i stopped exchanging gifts once we became engaged. he told me that the "rock" was my gift for years to come. my side of the family is actually buddhist so we just get together and eat and drink and act merry :) with the economy the way it is, we have agreed with my husband's side of the family that we are only purchasing gifts for the kids, and even then experiences are better than toys.
These are great tips!
I've finished assembling our Christmas boxes. They contain:
new pictures of the kids
a sweet treat
Copy of "The Santa Letters" by Stacy Gooch Anderson
A sock monkey ornament
Homemade soap
We also do the quest for experiences instead of things. Instead of buying more toys for the kids, we are going to Disneyland this year (combining with a work trip for DH to save $) and the $ MIL sends will go toward memberships to our favorite science places and childrens museums.
For all of the grandparents this year (there are four sets since both of our families are divorced) I made digital photo books for them. With each family I went in with one of my siblings or siblings in laws. That way all the grandkids are in one book. It is super cheap. For new customers they have a buy one get one free deal, so I made one with over 30 pages, and then got a second one free. Splitting it with two in laws, it tured out to be $20 per person (60 dollars total for both books) and they have a special present that I know they don't already have and won't just throw out. I made them with MyPublisher.com (VERY USER FRIENDLY) but also know they do them on Winkflash.com, snapfish.com and I am sure many other places.
Post a Comment