It’s November, and people are thinking about buying Christmas presents, shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, and all the other little expenses that go along with two months of holidays.
There’s a temptation to bury your head in the sand, pull out the credit card for expenses, and deal with the aftermath in January. I know. I’ve been there. But do you really want to do that? Are you really going to be better able to pay for Christmas come January than you are right now? Probably not. So don’t set yourself up for budgeting failure.
This month I’m going to be focusing on controlling spending during the holiday season. To get you started, here are a few guidelines to live by.
Make a Holiday Wish List
Determine what you absolutely need to buy this holiday season. This is going to vary from person to person, based on your lifestyle and priorities. Things on your list might include:
- Food for hosting dinners or holiday parties
- Gifts (How many per person? Know the answer to this before you shop)
- Christmas Tree
- Christmas Cards
- Stamps
- Christmas Outfits
- Photos
The list could include all of these items, or just a few. And the list could contain many more items. The important thing is that you make a list of your expectations.
Compare Your Ideals to Reality
Next compare all the things on your list to the reality of the money you have available. If you have plenty of money to cover your holiday expenses, without sacrificing life’s necessities or running up the credit card debt, you’re finished.
But if your holiday wish list exceeds your ability to pay for it, you’re going to have to adjust your thinking.
Cut Your Holiday Budget
You have some tough decisions to make, if you don’t want to rack up holiday debt. Begin thinking of ways you can save money on the holidays.
- Shop for bargains on gifts…or make your own
- If you have an informal family, consider potlucking big holiday dinners. My family does this every year, and it takes a lot of stress off the host.
- Trim your Christmas card list. Or do what I did one year and send Easter cards instead. Moving the expense of sending cards to a different month gives you time to save for stamps.
- Do you have a friend who could take a great family picture, instead of using a studio? You can often find bargains on printing your photos online.
- I don’t know about other areas of the country, but in Oregon you can get a permit to cut your own Christmas tree for $5. Pack some soup in a thermos, head up to the snow, and make a family day of getting a cheap Christmas tree.
These are just a few ideas for cutting your holiday budget. I’ll be focusing on more ideas as the month goes on.
Don’t Cut the Holiday Fun
Make a second list. This list should contain fun things you can do that cost little (or no) extra money. Your frugal holiday list might include:
- Christmas caroling
- Watching holiday specials on TV (make sure to pop some popcorn)
- Baking cookies or making candy
- Looking at Christmas lights
- Writing in a Thanksgiving Journal
- Attending free community or church events
- Reading holiday books with your kids
Make sure you ask your kids for input, too. My kids always have fun, creative suggestions for holiday activities.
Consider Giving Back
A great way to take the focus off your own lack of money is to focus on people who are even less fortunate. And there are always people who are less well off.
This time of year there are many ways go give.
- Salvation Army buckets
- Operation Christmas Child
- Holiday Trees (the ones in the store, where you pick a child’s name off the tree and buy gifts for that child)
- Toys for Tots
- Baking cookies for shut ins
- Visiting nursing homes and taking the time to talk with residents who have no relatives nearby.
If you look for ways to give, the possibilities are endless. And giving will not only bring joy to the receiver, but also to you, the giver.
Are you mindful of your holiday budget? Or are you going to worry about it later?
Photo by mangpages.
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When on a tight budget I have found that the best way to give is with time not only money. For many organizations, if you contribute to them with your time by helping them out as a volunteer, it can go a long way. I have yet to know a charitable organization that is not always hurting for volunteers.
Excellent post. It is easy to get carried away with shopping and spending during the holidays. Thanks for reminding us it’s more important to concentrate on family, friends, and helping others.
If you prepare for this all year long, there is no need to be worrying about your budget now.
Gifts are bought and wrapped already – I buy year long and stick them in a box up in the closet.
Berries were harvested – jams and jellies made for Christmas gifts.
Food is in the freezer or in the cupboards. The veggies and potatoes will be from the garden, as will the pumpkin for the pie.
Deer roast for the entre- and clam dip (from local clams) and smoked salmon (home canned) for the appetizers.
Cookie and bread making supplies were bought as they came on sale and stocked up for the occasion (except brown sugar which is on sale this week at Freddies)
Because I’m older and have a tiny house (even tho I live in Oregon where the trees are $5,) I have a small artificial tree in the attic that suffices for me. Some trimmed cedar boughs and pine boughs will bring the good smell in.
My Christmas wreath will be homemade from the cedar, holly, and seasonal greens around my home – I save the round form from year to year for this purpose.
Christmas at my house is rather stressfree because the cost is no burden when it is spread out over the year this way – and because I have so many frugal or free options for food, gifts, and decorations.
This is what I aim for every year. I usually get behind on time though. This year moreso than others. The money is there, but I haven’t done ANYTHING to prepare for Christmas & Thanksgiving yet.
I also like to prepare ahead as much as possible. For Thanksgiving we host an open house the day after Thanksgiving. This gives family and friends time to spend with other friends and still visit us in a relaxed atmosphere. I have already planned our menus for Thanksgiving and Christmas, with time-lines for preparation to be completed this week. Christmas is a quieter time for our household for a number of reasons, but it is still festive. Again, an excellent post.
Great ideas! I know that this year I want to focus more on giving back. It’s so easy to get swept up in the “holiday stress” and forget what’s really important!
My most looked forward to activity is making decorated sugar cookies with the grandkids…. what a mess, but what a lot of fun :)
It’s a favorite time for me and for them also – I just make sure that they each have a ‘decoration station’ so that they each have their own supplies for their original creations :)
When I thought about all of the teachers and adults in my children’s lives, I was overwhelmed with the thought of all those gifts – even if they are small. But each week I’ve been making pumpkin bread to freeze and give out in December. I hope the added benefit is that the receivers don’t have to deal with yet another knick knack cluttering their house.
Here’s a great way to save this holiday season — http://www.MerryRecession.com
As our daughters grew, our tradition was that the girls would receive one gift each, and one stocking filled with small treats – art supplies (bought after school starts and they go on deep discount), locally produced honey candy, pomegranates, inexpensive little toys, and a small, very precious bag of pistachios for each girl. Our Christmas gift budget was always under $100 total every year. The girls got one gift they really wanted (we didn’t do “Santa”, so the girls made their requests sometime early in the year and I watched for sales, garage sales, and thrift store finds), and they really looked forward to those stockings.
Also – Heiffer International is an excellent charity to give to, a gift that will hopefully give for years.
My sisters and I have agreed to purchase gifts for our immediate family and our mother and that is ALL! We’ll get together over the Christmas holiday and have a great time with our nieces, nephews, in-laws, etc. making wonderful memories. I can’t wait!!
Nice article. But I thought it was going to be about planning your 2010 budget! :-)