Here’s the thing, Christmas is a wonderful, magical time of the year, but it is also a time of the year when people make the difficult decision to stretch themselves financially in order to keep up appearances and make people around them happy. The commercialisation of the festive season is bigger and louder than ever, and it can be really tough for some of us, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to cope! Here are ten ways to do more with less at Christmas.
Rather than marking the holidays with lots of disposable gifts, instead concentrate on making memories with your loved ones through fun experiences and moments. There are plenty of free and lost cost festive things to do in your local area.
Be strict with yourself from the onset and set a budget for all of your Christmas expenses. If you know you have that much to spread across everything, you will work harder to be savvy throughout the month.
Make the most of your Christmas dinner leftovers. Look up lots of different recipes online and you can make the expense of that one big meal stretch for many more days after the 25th!
It’s much cheaper to buy some basic craft materials and make your own decorations than buy some pre-made ones from stores. If you have the right creativity and imagination, homemade decs can look even better than store bought! There is so much inspiration in the Allwomenstalk DIY section and online.
You should always find time to think of others during this time of year, so do a sweep of the house to see if there are things you can give to charity before a whole new bunch of toys and accessories make their way in to your life. This is a good thing to do when you don’t have cash to spare, but have plenty of second hand goods to give.
Take things back to basics by getting your kids and young family members together and reading a Christmas story aloud. You can choose whether you do religious or commercial, but the important thing is that you are giving them a gift that you didn’t have to pay for!
It can be stressful to wait close to the big day to do your shopping, but if you can stand to hold on, lots of sites start to put big discounts on their items in the days running up to Christmas. Just make sure they offer quick delivery!
Spend less money and time on gadgets, and put some traditional Christmas cheer back in to your family by going caroling together. You never know, you might end up with a little bit of extra cash if you impress people!
If you have a talent like singing, dancing or even a skill like massage or DIY, then you can swap bought presents out for vouchers promising to teach or use these skills on your recipients!
Live within your means by only using cash and your debit card to buy Christmas things. Stay away from the credit card, because that is how people start to get in trouble this time of year!