It's inevitable that we start thinking about the holidays as we get closer to the holiday season. Since it's just me and the hubby we don't plan for big holidays, we usually just head over to my family's house(because I have younger siblings) and celebrate with them.
Even though we don't plan big parties we still do have get-togethers, eat more food than normal with friends and family around, do more decorating, and have more activities than we regularly do. All of these things can really add up and with the rising costs of everything, it's enough to make you want to throw your budget out the door because it's not working.
The key to having a good budget to get you through the holidays is careful planning. These tips don't just apply to those that are homesteading, they apply to everyone! Here are some ideas to get you started:
1. If you plan on having some kind of party, gathering, or even just decorating for each holiday, it might be a good idea to set a spending limit at the beginning of the year per holiday. Maybe you aren't planning on doing anything for Halloween but you still have to budget for candy or decor, write down a budget for that holiday that you think you can get everything with and then stick with it. If you have money leftover after the holiday you can either put that towards another holiday, or into your savings account.
2. If you do plan a party, don't feel like you have to do it all. Make it a potluck and ask friends and family to bring different kinds of dishes with them. It will make for a good variety of foods and you get to spend less time in the kitchen and they have to take their dishes home so less clean up for you!
3. Go easy on the decor. I love to decorate for a holiday no matter if we are having company over or not. I just love decorating. But I try and keep my decorating budget to a minimum. I shop last years holiday clearance to get decor for the next year. I don't think I've ever bought some decor for a holiday that was full price. Even though I love decorating, it's not a have-to-do thing so I know that I shouldn't spend alot on it.
4. Buy your gifts ahead of time. Don't spend full price if you don't absolutely have to. Make what you can. Shop clearance throughout the year. Utilize extra sources of “income” to help pay for gifts such as referral bonuses, Swagbucks dollars, survey dollars. Every $5 and $10 helps and takes off from the total amount that you ultimately spend.
5. Find activities that are free or cost very little. Often around holidays you can find all kinds of things to do that are free or almost free. Take advantage of these things! When I was little one of my favorite things to do on Christmas Eve was get in the car with my family and drive around and look at all the pretty Christmas lights around town, then we would come home and play board games all evening. The only cost involved with the night was the little bit of gas to drive around town. One, if not the best part of the holidays, is being able to be with family, don't forget that.
How do you save on holiday expenses?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This year, I’m trying to make things for the family or rather give significant and meaningful gifts rather than quantity. Recently, I bought my daughter (for her allowance) a 1930s vintage prarie dress ($6.00) and just this weekend found a full girl’s 1910 slip ($8.00). She has several bonnets she wears outside to protect her face from the sun and she has some black boots. She dressed up in all these clothes and we took pictures by our old fence and with the chickens in her “little house on the praire” clothes. My sister loves seeing her dress up and we are going to get a collage made up at CVS with my extra bucks and get a nice frame at kohls (50% off and i’ll give her the perfect gift for about $10.00. I’m going more this route this year and it makes for more signficant gifts.
That sounds so cute! Where did you find the clothes so cheap?
This year, I’m trying to make things for the family or rather give significant and meaningful gifts rather than quantity. Recently, I bought my daughter (for her allowance) a 1930s vintage prarie dress ($6.00) and just this weekend found a full girl’s 1910 slip ($8.00). She has several bonnets she wears outside to protect her face from the sun and she has some black boots. She dressed up in all these clothes and we took pictures by our old fence and with the chickens in her “little house on the praire” clothes. My sister loves seeing her dress up and we are going to get a collage made up at CVS with my extra bucks and get a nice frame at kohls (50% off and i’ll give her the perfect gift for about $10.00. I’m going more this route this year and it makes for more signficant gifts.
That sounds so cute! Where did you find the clothes so cheap?
Hi Merissa. I found the clothes at antique shops – can you believe it?? Of all places to find clothes, I found them there. And they were on sale too!! I love going to antique shops – because you can negotiate prices. Since I shop there quite frequently, I know what to pay and what not to pay and I often negotiate. Somtimes people don’t think antique shops offer good deals, but they do. Now more than ever with the economy, I’ve noticed antique shops around here are offering sales and one shop here that is my favorite is having a huge holiday open house with up to 50% off. I recommend trying these places. Another great place I go to (this is what they call them around here) is “Upscale Consignments”. They are shops that are extremely particular on the items they get and they only get them from particular brand names (usually only high end brands). One shop here I went to last week I got a J Jill shirt, Eddie Bauershirt , Ann Taylor Loft linen white shirt (gorgeous), pair of Candies dress shoes for my daughter, and capris from the Gap for my daughter, and a linen jacket (at the consignment shop it was still at $25.00 (I think the linen jacket retailed for almost $95.00 originally new) but they were having summer clearance and marked it down to $5.00!), and a gorgeous lamp. All these items totaled $31.52! I couldn’t believe it!! I’m going to get some Christmas gifts there too!
I love antique shops too. I haven’t noticed too many sales at the local ones here but you are right, prices are usually negotiable. I found a very pretty antique chest that we negotiated down to $45. It has pressed metal and it looks perfect in my living room. I use it to store extra blankets:)
Hi Merissa. I found the clothes at antique shops – can you believe it?? Of all places to find clothes, I found them there. And they were on sale too!! I love going to antique shops – because you can negotiate prices. Since I shop there quite frequently, I know what to pay and what not to pay and I often negotiate. Somtimes people don’t think antique shops offer good deals, but they do. Now more than ever with the economy, I’ve noticed antique shops around here are offering sales and one shop here that is my favorite is having a huge holiday open house with up to 50% off. I recommend trying these places. Another great place I go to (this is what they call them around here) is “Upscale Consignments”. They are shops that are extremely particular on the items they get and they only get them from particular brand names (usually only high end brands). One shop here I went to last week I got a J Jill shirt, Eddie Bauershirt , Ann Taylor Loft linen white shirt (gorgeous), pair of Candies dress shoes for my daughter, and capris from the Gap for my daughter, and a linen jacket (at the consignment shop it was still at $25.00 (I think the linen jacket retailed for almost $95.00 originally new) but they were having summer clearance and marked it down to $5.00!), and a gorgeous lamp. All these items totaled $31.52! I couldn’t believe it!! I’m going to get some Christmas gifts there too!
I love antique shops too. I haven’t noticed too many sales at the local ones here but you are right, prices are usually negotiable. I found a very pretty antique chest that we negotiated down to $45. It has pressed metal and it looks perfect in my living room. I use it to store extra blankets:)
I love to decorate at Christmas time as well. Before the big snows, I collect pinecones – little and big, lots of pine and hemlock, white birch that I find on the ground, various fungi and mosses, berries, old horseshoes and bottles. It is amazing what you can find for nothing except your time. For some sparkle I mix in glass and silver stars and icicles around my rusty treasures.