The holiday season is upon us and it’s time to acknowledge the fact that as we’ve been in a pandemic this year, things will look a little different. Some of us are working to a budget, which means that Christmas is going to be squeezed more than usual. Others are finding that they are saving more money than usual because of the lack of commute and the lack of eating out. No matter who you are, the pandemic looks different for everyone. Not only do we tend to spend a lot of money on family gifts, decor, trees and alcohol, we tend to go all out for the kids and their gifts and experiences, too. A COVID-safe Christmas won’t involve any of those things: embracing social distancing and government rules will mean it’s different from what we are used to.
This year things look different. This year, we’re in lockdown and the holiday spending is going to look different. We may have saved a ton of cash without the commuting and extra Starbucks, but is it wise to splash that cash on Christmas? Should we hold onto our money a little longer instead?. There won’t be Father Christmas photos and Christmas trains. There won’t be elaborate markets and funfairs to think about, so you should be able to save a bit more money. While you can turn to Buddy Loans for a helping hand while you have your Christmas planning sorted, you can also learn to manage your budget properly and afford the festive Christmas you always imagined you’d have - and keep saving money. With that in mind, here are some excellent tips for a brilliant Christmas on a budget:
Gifting
This is not the year for buying for everyone in the office and every extended member of the family. In fact, this year, you should only concentrate on yourself and your immediate kids and partner. You may not be able to spoil everyone like crazy, but perhaps this is the year you help everyone to understand that it’s about company, not gifts. Get the family on board with this and go for a secret Santa type scenario this year!
Shop In The Sales
Whether it’s for decorations, food or gifts, shop around for everything you want to get. Sure, you have saved money on everything else this year, but splashing it on shopping is a bad plan. You don't know if you could lose your job in the New Year - keep your pennies aside! Use lists and look at more than one store. You can bet that what you want will be in more than one store and you’ll be able to find it cheaper. Pretty much everything you want to find for Christmas you can get cheaper and when it comes to decorations and gifts, you can even use eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Black Friday and the sales surrounding Thanksgiving can also help you to come up trumps with your Christmas shopping this year.
Get Creative On Decorations
You can buy all the prettiest decorations, but you can also get creative and make them yourself. From paper chains to spray painted salt dough, your Christmas can be so much more personal with creative decorations that you make yourself. You can even go and buy a fake felt tree to put on the wall, with homemade felt decorations that you and the kids can rearrange daily should you want to. Fake trees don’t shed needles around the house, either! Outdoor decorations can be as simple as a wreath hanging on the front door that you make yourself.
Christmas Crafts
Finding some fun activities with the kids over Christmas when you can’t visit Father Christmas or go on the Christmas train is often harder. However, there are plenty of Christmas crafts that you can all enjoy and they don't have to take very much of your budget, either. Going for a family walk to spot the houses with Christmas decorations and lights is a great way to get that festive feeling back, too!
Sending Cards
Those who love to send Christmas cards may find postage and cards a little pricey this year. Instead of posting out cards, why not embrace digital e-cards instead? You can spend zero money and go completely paperless. Sending Christmas cards can also be skipped this year with a group message to your family to tell them that you’re not sending them. Everyone is living on a budget this year so they’ll understand if you can’t afford it!
A Budget Dinner
Do you really need to go all out with a Christmas turkey and all the trimmings? This year, it’s lockdown Christmas which means you will likely not have tons of people over for dinner. You don't have to make a lavish meal - if the family’s favorite meal is macaroni and cheese, you can make that instead! Make it a quirky dinner this year and you can have a gorgeous dinner on a budget.
Bake The Dessert!
Get your ingredients from the store cupboard and stock up on flour and butter - you’re going to bake the Christmas cake this year. You want to start early so that the fruit is soaking in alcohol long enough to make a good fruit cake. Holiday baking with the kids is so much fun, so there’s another activity that you can do together. You can even pot luck the dinner and the dessert if you have people around, as they can bring a dish and save you the time cooking and the money on the food in the first place.
Be Thankful
A lockdown Christmas is not an easy one. If there is one thing that you will learn about this year it’s that a pandemic is a piece of history, and it’s not an easy piece of it. You have made it to Christmas after one of the worst years ever, and you are not sick - you are intact and alive. It's been difficult and scary, but you’re here to have Christmas with the people you love and that should be celebrated. Being thankful and grateful for making it this far is important and it’s important to discuss that with your children, too. Your budget Christmas may well be one of the best ones you ever have, and it’s up to you to make it that way even if your budget is stretched out this year.
Take the time to plan this out properly so that you remain in your budget for the season!
*Collab post
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