Christmas, for many, is the most anticipated time of the year. The excitement, festive cheer, and preparations that unite the whole family – just the thought of it manage to bring a smile. However, it can also be the most expensive time of the year. Here are five easy ways to have a budget-friendly Christmas.
1) Start Early!
The early bird gets the first worm and the best Christmas inventory too. The most essential and prominent thing that happens when you start early is minimum to zero stress at the eleventh hour. This makes more sense for those who like their Christmas grand and elaborate.
You know how crazy things get when it comes to preparations for anything even remotely celebratory, let alone Christmas. Moreover, it’s not uncommon to find highly cheap deals on really amazing things. This comes like a blessing in disguise for those who like every detail of their Christmas done on a grand scale.
2) Homemade, Everything!
Dearest grannie will agree when you ask her if there’s any sense in going all homemade, right from the decorations to the treats to the gifts. After all, isn’t that what they did before consumerism possessed all of us like there was no tomorrow? And, you’re never going to find a better way to do something that involves active participation from the ENTIRE family.
The biggest bonus – it’s cheap too! You can make your decorations, a “greeting cards Christmas tree,” or recycle what’s already there in your attic. As for the sweet treats, you can easily get the kids together and make a cookie tree, gumball mistletoe, and so many other quirky little things.
3) Set Aside a Budget Right at the Beginning
I know many people who think birthdays happen only once in a lifetime when it happens just once in a year. Anyway, the point is that that’s how they like to celebrate it – grand and larger-than-life. They start saving for the next birthday the moment the current birthday ends. It may sound stupid, but every tiny cash-saving move is an act of wisdom when it comes to budgeting.
If you’re one of those people who likes to have three different cuisines and the whole neighborhood at your dining table for Christmas (which is perfectly cool, by the way), this plan is the best way to go.
Make little Christmas purchases and do your usual shopping for months. Set a specific Christmas budget, and stick to it, come what may. It’s a better idea than worrying sick about finances when you should be celebrating.
4) Prioritize
There’s the whole essence of the festival to consider too. Start with whatever’s on top of your mind, and stick to only what you think is essential. Details like shopping, getting drunk, or buying the limited edition toys for the kids, may seem important, but that isn’t the festival’s purpose. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. That’s the spirit of Christmas.
Make sure everything you do is driven to the one goal of bringing family and friends together, closer than ever before. It’s that one time in the year when EVERYONE gets to take a break. Please don’t waste it by excessively stressing over the materialistic details, no matter how pressing they seem.
5) Pre-plan Grand Buffet!
Food does become the focal point of everyone’s existence, especially during festivals and special occasions. This pretty much explains the crazy rush at most groceries and supermarkets. But, you should know one thing for sure, the later you get, the lesser are the chances of finding the ingredients and, subsequently, the higher prices you have to pay.
Put the menu together well in advance. Get your baking supplies in place right in the off-season. Freeze whatever can be frozen. And yes, do watch out for sales! Every grand buffet needs grand planning, but it doesn’t need to drill grand holes in your pocket.
All this prior planning and so much consideration may sound like we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Do you want to save the budget or not?
