Create a Memorable Christmas for Your Children – on a Budget

Photo credit: Cathryn040 via Pixabay.com

As parents, it can be tempting to think that our children's enjoyment of Christmas is directly related to the amount of money we spend on them. However, this is not necessarily the case.

With a little effort, you can create special Christmas memories for your children on even the tightest of budgets.

You can make Christmas fun and exciting for your children even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend.

Prepare for Christmas with Your Children

In the run-up to Christmas, involve your children in every aspect of the preparations. This will help them feel that their contributions are valued and it will increase the sense of anticipation. 

Instead of buying new Christmas decorations, make simple decorations with your children using materials that you already have. From paper chains to paper plate angels, plenty of ideas and inspiration can be found online.

Ask your children to decorate an inexpensive roll of brown Kraft paper using coloring pens. It can then be used as Christmas wrapping paper, exhibiting your children’s artwork to family and friends. 

Children can also design and make their own Christmas cards, gift tags, and such items as Christmas bonbons or crackers can also be handmade.

If you bake Christmas cake, mince pies, cookies and other delicacies before Christmas, let your children help during each baking session, even if it means that your kitchen becomes very messy! 

When the sweet treats are in the oven, you can encourage the children to help clean up the mess by promising them a freshly baked reward!

Keep to a Budget When Shopping for Children's Christmas Presents

When shopping for Christmas presents for your children, set a total budget and keep to it. 

Look for good, less expensive substitutes for some of the presents on their wish lists. For example, if your son would like the latest toy, look for a less expensive, similar toy that he would like just as much, or, if you're comfortable with giving him a good quality, second hand toy, look online or in thrift stores for such a toy. 

In addition, buy a selection of small presents inexpensively from Christmas fairs, eBay and thrift stores.

Don't be afraid to buy your children items that they need for Christmas. For example, if your daughter has just grown out of her winter coat, it is fine to buy her a new one as a Christmas present.

Organize a Christmas Treasure Hunt

Make Christmas Day more exciting by hiding each child’s presents in different parts of the house and organizing a treasure hunt. 

You can tell younger children that Santa Claus left presents in all kinds of places and gave Mommy and Daddy clues so that they can help the children to find them. Give older children written clues to follow by themselves.

This makes the whole process of gift giving much more exciting than sitting down by the Christmas tree and ripping open all of their presents in five minutes flat.

Don't become upset or feel guilty if your children complain that they didn't receive what they wanted for Christmas. 

They will be learning the valuable lesson that a happy, joy-filled family Christmas is a much better gift than a roomful of expensive presents. 

Give as a Family

If possible, involve your children in some charitable activity at Christmas, such as sending gifts to children in orphanages in developing countries. 

This will help them to understand that there are some children in the world who have very little and who are grateful for even the smallest gift at Christmas.

So, keep to your budget, involve your children in all of the Christmas preparations, organize a fun-filled Christmas Day and, if possible, encourage the whole family to participate in a charitable project. 

This should ensure that your children have a joyful Christmas that they'll remember for the rest of their lives. This is a much better gift than a pile of expensive toys and designer clothes.

Do you have any other tips for creating a memorable family Christmas on a budget?

Things You Can Do After Christmas to Prepare for Next Christmas!

Photo Credit: Tookapic via Pixabay.com

It's never too early to start preparing for next Christmas! Here are some things you can do soon after Christmas so that your preparations for next Christmas are off to a good start!

Save Materials

When unwrapping gifts and cards, lots of re-useable materials are thrown away unnecessarily. I'm not saying you should keep everything but there are some things that are useful to keep, especially if you are creative. Here are some of them:

• Paper Gift Bags - If you have received any gifts in paper gift bags, ensure that you keep the gift bags and re-use them next Christmas (or for birthdays if they don't have a Christmas design on them). If they have a gift tag attached, just cut this off and attach a new one when re-using the gift bag. 
• Attractive Packaging - Pictures can be cut out and used to make Christmas gift tags or cards. Even plain packaging can be re-used in card-making, scrapbooking, making collages or other creative activities.
• Christmas Catalogs or Gift Guides - So many catalogs and gift guides are published around Christmas. Make the best use of them by cutting out Christmas-themed images and greetings and using them in your creative pursuits. 
• Ribbon - This can be used to make gift tags or cards.
• Christmas Cards - cut out pictures from Christmas cards and use them to make gift tags or new Christmas cards of your own design.
• Wrapping Paper - While some people iron and re-use wrapping paper, I don't tend to do this because most wrapping paper tends to be ripped and/or very crumpled once presents have been opened. If you find some wrapping paper in excellent condition, you could save it and re-use it. 

However, make sure you don't keep too many materials - there can sometimes be a fine line between frugality and hoarding! Just save the things you're certain that you'll be able to re-use during the year. If they're still unused by this time next year, recycle them!

Sort Through Christmas Decorations

If you have some decorations you haven't used this year, sort through them before taking down the decorations you have used. Ask yourself if you're ever going to use each of these unused decorations again. If not, give them away or donate them to charity.

When you're taking down your Christmas decorations, look at each item and get rid of anything that's broken or damaged. If there is a decoration that you know that you won't use again, give it away or donate it to charity.

Decide What to Do With Unwanted Presents

Almost everyone receives presents that they don't really need or want; items that are put to one side and never used. Look through all your Christmas presents and decide which items fall into this category. Then, decide whether you will:

• Re-gift them as either birthday or Christmas presents (but make a note of who gave you the presents so that you don't mistakenly re-gift them to the original giver!).
• Donate them to charity.
• Sell them online or at a garage sale. 

If you decide to re-gift some presents, put them in a dedicated cupboard so that you can easily find them again when you need them.

Buy Cut-Price Christmas Items in the January Sales

The January sales are the ideal time to buy Christmas items at rock-bottom prices. Doing so will greatly reduce your Christmas spending at the end of the year. You can stock up on gifts, cards, wrapping paper, decorations and other items you'll need next Christmas. Store them all in one place so that you can find them when Christmas rolls around again.  

Start Saving for Next Christmas

Whether you have a lot or a little money to spare, there are several ways of saving for next Christmas. You could, for example:

• Set up a separate Christmas savings account and pay in a regular amount of money each week or month.
• Set up a separate Christmas savings account and pay in variable amounts of money each week or month.
• Empty your spare change into a Christmas savings jar each evening.

There is also another fun way of saving for next Christmas which my family and I have decided to do and which I'll write about in another blog post.

Although many people don't like to think about next Christmas when this Christmas has just finished, in reality it is the ideal time to start preparing for next Christmas. If you get a head start on preparing for next Christmas, you'll save money and feel less stressed when Christmas gets closer. 

What do you do in January to prepare for next Christmas?




 

You Have Enough for Christmas!

Photo credit: Kaboompics via Pixabay.com

A couple of days ago, when I was in the supermarket, I was overtaken by the pre-Christmas buying panic. Everyone was rushing around the supermarket and loading mountains of food and drink into their shopping carts. I began to think: "We don't have enough to eat and drink!" "We don't have enough to last until the shops open again!" and then I began to put more and more items in my shopping cart, too.

When I got home and looked at all the stuff I'd bought, I realized that we do have enough. More than enough, in fact. I realized that I was overtaken by the panic that seems to be widespread just before Christmas. We wonder if we've bought enough presents, enough food and drink, etc, so we carry on and on, shopping and spending.

It's not necessary. We need to set ourselves limits in terms of our budget. I went very slightly overbudget on my spending on Christmas presents this year (about £5 overbudget)...and I spent £12 more than I intended to on my last grocery shop before Christmas. If I'd been more careful and thoughtful and not got carried away by the Christmas panic, I could have saved that £12 and perhaps even more.

So, believe that you have enough for Christmas. Look at it from the point of view of abundance rather than lack. If we look at things from the point of view of lack, we'll never have enough even if we have more than the vast majority of people in the world.

If, however, we look at it from the point of view of abundance, we will be thankful for everything we have and that joy will permeate every aspect of our Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful, abundant, and joyful Christmas wherever you are and whatever you're doing!

Running - An Unusual Way to Prepare for Christmas?

Photo credit: Skeeze via Pixabay.com

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a cloudless blue sky and sunshine. So, I decided to seize the day and go for a run. I ran around a small lake near where I live and it was beautiful. The sunshine glinting on the surface of the lake, dappled light coming through the canopy of trees overhead, the beauty of evergreen trees and even bare branches on other trees. It was like a foretaste of spring. Such a lovely reminder straight after the shortest day of the year!

When I got home, I felt alive and energized but also relaxed. If you're feeling stressed about Christmas or just want to do something different, why not go out for a pre-Christmas run (or a run between Christmas and New Year)? It's something positive you can do that's free of charge and will help you feel good.

By the way, I'm so glad I went running yesterday. It's raining heavily today :)

Half-Price eBook on Planning a Happy Family Christmas Without Going Into Debt - One Day Only!

Do you need a little help with planning a fun, family Christmas without spending a fortune? With less than 2 weeks to go until Christmas Day, it's normal for stress levels to rise, especially amongst hard-working mums!

That's why I've halved the price of my eBook, 'Spend Less Enjoy Christmas More' on Amazon.co.uk to just 99p for 24 hours only from 8am GMT on Sunday 13th December until 8am GMT on Monday 14th December. Sunday is the ideal time to slow down a little, read, and plan for the next ten days before Christmas.

If you've subscribed to Kindleunlimited, you get the eBook for free.

I hope my eBook inspires you to spend less money and enjoy Christmas more than ever. I'd love to know what you think of it. Please leave a comment here or write a review on Amazon.

Wishing you all a fantastic Christmas!

Spend Less, Enjoy Christmas More Kindle eBook for Just $0.99 - One Day Only!

Get a head start on planning a fun, family Christmas without spending a fortune by downloading the Spend Less, Enjoy Christmas More Kindle eBook for just $0.99 on Amazon.com from 8pm PST today (Friday, 20 November) until 8pm PST tomorrow (Saturday 21 November).

Don't worry if you're reading this on Saturday evening or Sunday. The eBook is still discounted to $1.99 until 8pm PST on Sunday, 22 November, when it will revert to its original price of $2.99.

The eBook is filled with lots of tips and suggestions for planning a fun yet frugal family Christmas!

I would very much appreciate it if you could let me know what you think of the eBook by writing a review on Amazon and/or leaving a comment on this blog. Thank you!

If, after reading the eBook, you have any questions or suggestions for things that you'd like me to cover on this blog, please post them in the comments.

I hope Spend Less, Enjoy Christmas More inspires you to plan your best Christmas yet!

 

Christmas Gifts for Under $10!

After thinking about 5 ways to spend less on Christmas gifts, I came across this cool list of 50 Christmas gifts for less than $10 on the Penny Hoarder website.

One of my favorite suggestions is this cut handmade crochet cat mug cozy for sale on Etsy for $7.99:

Source: QuiltNCrochet Shop on Etsy

I also like the crocheted heart mug cozies from the same shop:

 

 

Source: QuiltNCrochet Shop on Etsy

Candles make nice relaxing winter gifts. Candles that fragrance your room are even better. How about gingerbread, cranberry or cinnamon soy candles to fill your home with scents associated with Christmas? Soy candles fragranced with all these scents are available from the Plainjbodyandhome shop on Etsy:

 

Source: Plainjbodyandhome shop on Etsy

 

I think these elegant candles look more expensive than they are ($8 each), so they would make the perfect Christmas gift!

 

If you know someone who loves to drink tea, they'd appreciate these black tea bags flavored with orange peel, cinnamon and cloves. They're great value at $8.99 for a box of 50 tea bags.

 

Source: Supermarket Italy

 

For someone who suffers from cold hands in the winter, these long fingerless gloves would be ideal. They'd still be able to do everything they normally do while keeping their hands warm! They cost just $3.72 (plus $2.49 for shipping).

Source: Amazon

So, there you have it! Those are my favorite items on Penny Hoarder's list. Be sure to check it out for many more ideas. Do you have any favorite Christmas gifts for $10?

5 Ways to Spend Less on Christmas Gifts

Many people spend hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds or dollars on Christmas gifts. In 2014, Americans planned to spend $781 on average on Christmas presents, according to the website, Statista.com. If your budget won't stretch that far or if you want to avoid Christmas-related debt this year, here are some ways to reduce your spending on Christmas gifts.

Start Christmas Gift Shopping as Early as Possible

The longer you have to shop for Christmas gifts, the easier it is to find great gifts for everyone at reasonable prices. Although most people don't like to think about shopping for next Christmas in January, the post-Christmas sales are the ideal time to buy some gifts for the following Christmas. If you do this, make sure you store them in a dedicated place so that you can remember where they are in December!

Another way of shopping for Christmas gifts throughout the year is to buy everyone on your list an extra present for their birthday. Instead of giving them this present, put it in your Christmas storage cupboard. When December rolls around, your Christmas shopping will be finished with the exception of a few extra presents, such as stocking fillers, that you may wish to purchase.

Even if you start Christmas shopping in September, October or November, you'll still have time to find good presents at reasonable prices.

Buy Sets and Split Them Up

You can buy sets of many items, including:

• Books
• DVDs
• Clothing
• Jewelry
• Toiletries.

Once you've bought a set, you could open it up and give one or more items from the set to different people. This is especially a good idea if you see a set of DVDs, for example, that contains DVDs that several different people would like. Since sets generally cost less than buying each item individually, you'll save money.

Last year I bought a set of 3 puzzle books. I gave the sudoku book to my husband, the wordsearch book to a friend, and kept the crossword book for myself! If I'd bought three individual books, it would have cost at least three times as much.

Look for Gifts That Appear More Expensive Than They Are

Some inexpensive gifts look much more expensive than they are. Sometimes this is because they are packaged very nicely. For example, I recently saw fairly large and nicely packaged box of Belgian chocolates for £2.50 ($3.80 approx). It looked as if would cost at least twice that amount.

Take some time to look for gifts that have that expensive look without costing very much.

Shop in Unusual Places

If you shop for Christmas gifts at stores, markets and fairs where many people would not consider buying Christmas gifts, you're likely to find some good deals. You might also find unusual and unique items. For example, local craft fairs often offer a wide range of unusual, interesting and quirky items at reasonable prices. Charity shops/thrift stores often sell new and unopened gifts at lower prices than other stores. Stores in outlet malls can also be great places to hunt for inexpensive Christmas gifts.

Benefit From Discounts and Offers

Take advantage of discounts and offers as much as you can. Look out for:

• Half price discounts.
• Buy-one-get-one-free promotions.
• Buy three-pay-for-two promotions.
• Clearance items.

It's important to shop early if you want to benefit from the best discounts. In December, there are likely to be very few good discounts and promotions.

Set a total budget for your expenditure on Christmas gifts. Record how much you spend on each shopping trip so that you know how much more you have available to spend on other gifts. Alternatively, set a budget for each person and keep track of how much you've spent so far on a spreadsheet.

It is possible to buy great gifts that will delight everyone on your Christmas list without spending a large amount of money. Start shopping early and shop smartly in order to find the most suitable gifts for everyone.





  

 
 

Have Fun Making and Giving Personalized Christmas Gifts in a Jar

While browsing through a magazine, I came across the idea of making Christmas gifts in a jar. So, I decided to investigate further on the Internet.

Although many Christmas gifts in a jar are available for sale, it would be much more fun to make your own!

Also, it would be good to recycle large jars that you already have for this project. To prepare them:

• Soak them in hot water so that the labels come off.
• Thoroughly wash the inside and outside of the jar and the lid.
• Leave to dry completely.
• If the lid has a logo or writing on it, cover it with a small piece of fabric secured with an elastic band or by sticking on pretty paper with strong glue. 

Then comes the fun bit! Think of the person you'd like to give the gift to. What are their hobbies and interests? What kind of things do they like? You can then fill the jar with small gifts on the same theme.

For example, a Christmas gift jar for someone who loves sewing could contain:

• A few patchwork squares or fat quarters of pretty fabric tied together with ribbon.
• 1 or 2 reels of thread in similar colors to the fabric.
• A small 'roll-up' tape measure.
• Buttons that would go well with the fabric.
• Other small sewing accessories, such as pins, scissors and ribbon.

Once you've placed everything in the jar, write a gift tag, thread it onto a length of ribbon and tie it onto the jar with a bow.

When you've finished, it could look a bit like this:

Source: The Country Chic Cottage (where step-by-step instructions on making the gift shown above are given)

Other Christmas gifts in jars could be made for:

• Make-up addicts - fill with small cosmetics such as nail polishes, lip balms, single eye shadows - my daughter would love this!
• Bakers - jars can be filled with the ingredients you need to make cakes, cookies and other sweet treats.
• Girls who like to (or should!) pamper themselves - add small bath bombs, body lotion, hand cream, etc.

The possibilities are endless!

I like this idea because:

• You can make a very personalized gift for a special person.
• You re-use and recycle glass jars.
• You can be as creative as you like (you could also decorate the outside and the top of the jar if you wish).
• You don't need wrapping paper, so you don't add to the mountain of paper waste created by Christmas!
• The recipient won't receive another gift like it!

What do you think? Would you make and give Christmas gifts in a jar?

Make Your Own Christmas Pom Pom Garland Decoration

There are many Christmas decorations you can make yourself. If you have lots of small odds and ends of yarn at home, making a Christmas pom pom garland is a fun way to use them up!

I found an easy-to-follow tutorial on making a Christmas pom pom garland. If you didn't want to make the pom poms using card, you could buy an inexpensive pom pom maker on eBay.

The great thing is that you can use a variety of different colors of yarn to make your Christmas pom pom garland. You could use white to give the impression of snow and snowflakes:

Source: A Beautiful Mess

Or, you could use more traditional Christmas colors of red, green and white:

Source: And So We Craft

Whatever colors you choose, you could use your Christmas pom pom garland in a variety of ways to decorate your home this Christmas, including:

• hanging it above the fireplace.
• hanging it on the wall.
• displaying it in a large bowl with baubles and other Christmas decorations.
• hanging it on your Christmas tree instead of or as well as tinsel.

Making your own Christmas pom pom garland is a budget-friendly way of preparing for Christmas. You can use up materials you already have and enjoy being creative. How about challenging yourself to reuse and make as many Christmas decorations as possible so you won't need to buy any new ones this year?

5 Easy Ways to Save Money on Christmas

Do you always spend more than you intended to on Christmas? If so, you're not alone! Here are five easy ways to save money on Christmas.

Start Shopping for Christmas Gifts as Early as Possible

Don't wait until December to start your Christmas gift shopping. By then, all the good quality, reasonably-priced products will have been sold and the stores will be filled with expensive, over-priced gifts.

If possible, shop for Christmas gifts throughout the year. Whenever you see a great gift for someone you love, purchase it immediately, if funds allow. At home, wrap it up, add a gift tag and put it in a dedicated cupboard or 'hiding place'.

If you haven't yet started Christmas gift shopping this year, start now! There are still many sales and good deals to be found in October and early November.

Spread the Cost of Food and Drink

The last grocery shop before Christmas is always expensive. In order to reduce its cost, start buying 2 or 3 extra non-perishable items each week. Store them in a separate cupboard and, by the time Christmas rolls around, all you'll need to shop for are meat, vegetables and other fresh items.

Just think - there are 12 weeks from now until Christmas week. If you added just 2 extra items for Christmas to each of your weekly grocery shops, you'd have 24 items ready for Christmas. If each item costs £2 on average, your final Christmas shop would be reduced by £48!

Make Use of What You Already Have

Most of us have lots of Christmas items tucked away in the loft, attic, garage or other storage places. However, instead of getting these items out and deciding what we can re-use this year, it's all too easy to just buy new.


Challenge yourself to find all the Christmas-related items you have in your home and see how many you can use this year. Don't buy anything new until you're convinced that you haven't already got a similar item hiding somewhere in your home!

You might also have food and drink that you can use at Christmas. Look through your kitchen cupboards and freezer to see what you can find. 

Make Things For Christmas

You can make many things for Christmas yourself, including decorations, Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper.

You can even make some Christmas presents yourself. You don't have to be very good at making things to create unique personalized gifts. Some ideas are given in the Spend Less, Enjoy Christmas More eBook.

If you enjoy baking, you can make a Christmas cake, Christmas biscuits (cookies), gingerbread, mince pies and many other Christmas treats.


Send Christmas e-cards

Christmas e-cards have become an increasingly popular alternative to sending traditional Christmas cards through the post in recent years. Consider sending Christmas e-cards to at least some of the people on your Christmas card list.

You'll save money on Christmas cards and stamps and the environment will benefit (even recycling Christmas cards uses a lot of energy).  You also won't need to stress about last posting dates because you can send an e-card to anyone in the world as late as Christmas Eve!

Christmas doesn't have to be incredibly expensive! Do you have a favourite way of reducing the cost of Christmas?




  

Starting Christmas Gift Shopping in September!

I have a confession to make. Although in my ebook I advocate starting to shop for Christmas presents as early in the year as possible (perhaps even in January), I don't usually start buying Christmas gifts until October.

This year, it's different! I saw a book that I know my daughter would love and bought it today! So, I've turned over a new leaf and started my Christmas gift shopping in September!

As an added bonus, the book was reduced from £7.99 to £4, so I saved £3.99. That definitely wouldn't be possible nearer Christmas when all the prices are high. There are quite a few sales on at the moment, so it's a good time to look around and buy more Christmas presents.

If I bought one or two more presents a week starting today, I could finish my Christmas gift shopping by November! Then, I'd have more time for baking and other Christmas preparations.

How about you? When do you start shopping for Christmas gifts? Do you spread the cost over several months? 

Starting Christmas Preparations in August!

Re-Use Old Christmas Cards - Make Them Into Gift Tags

When do you begin preparing for Christmas? I usually do one or two small things in August. Some years I make a few Christmas cards. This year I spent a rainy August afternoon making a collection of gift tags from old Christmas cards. They were simple and enjoyable to make.

You'll need:

• Christmas cards that you received in previous years and would normally recycle
• A hole punch
• Ribbon, thread, wool, etc in a variety of colours
• Scissors

1. Look at each card and cut out one or more images that would be suitable for a gift tag. You could, for example, choose an image of a Christmas tree; an inscription such as "Season's Greetings" or anything else that takes your fancy. Ensure the back of each image is blank, so that you'll be able to write a message.
2. Once you have a stack of cut-out images, punch a hole in the top of each one using a hole punch.
3. Choose ribbon, thread or wool in a colour that goes well with the gift tag image. 
4. Cut off a length of ribbon or thread. Fold it in half, forming a loop in the middle.
5. Thread the loop through the hole in the top of the gift tag. Pull both ends of the ribbon or thread through the loop. 
6. Pull to secure the ribbon or thread to the gift tag. 

It's as easy as that! Do you make your own Christmas gift tags? If so, do you recycle old Christmas cards or do you use another method?