For many, Christmas is stressful due to a tight budget. Using a little creativity, you and your family can happily enjoy a budget-friendly holiday season.
Tree Decorating
Spend an afternoon decorating your Christmas tree. Put on Christmas music or a movie to make the activity more festive. If you need a Christmas tree, check out your local thrift store. When downsizing, many people donate larger artificial trees.
Make Christmas Ornaments
Yes, you can buy inexpensive ornaments at your local dollar store or at the thrift store. Or you can spend time making homemade ornaments. Salt dough ornaments, construction paper chains, stringed popcorn, canning lid ornaments, and numerous others are simple and inexpensive. Make ornaments as a family activity.
Make Homemade Christmas Cards
Construction paper, glitter, glue, markers, or paint can be found at your local dollar store. Spend time making together making the Christmas cards. When you are finished, hand-deliver the cards.
Attend a Tree-Lighting Ceremony
Many communities hold tree-lighting ceremonies or present Santa with a key to the city. Attend local events. Generally, outdoor community events are free.
Attend a Christmas Parade
Christmas parades or light parades are a fun community tradition. Many communities combine the parade with the tree lighting ceremony.
Attend a Live Nativity
Churches often host live Nativity events. Viewing the Nativity scene does not require you to be a member of the church. Enjoy the evening.Sing carols. Many churches invite people inside to drink hot cocoa and eat cookies. Some churches even set up free activities for children.
View Christmas Lights
When decorating a home or business, some people go all out. Every part of their property is highly decorated with lights, figures, and other Christmas related items. Take a slow drive around your community and look at the Christmas lights. The outing is a perfect evening activity. Consider packing snacks to enjoy on your night out.
Visit Santa Claus
Many places play host to Santa to get you to come inside the business. For younger children, visiting Santa Clause may be a dream come true. Often, candy canes or other small treats are passed out as part of the event. Depending on the business or event, visiting Santa may include live reindeer or photo opportunities.
Host a Christmas Movie Night
Pick out a Christmas movie or cartoon to enjoy as a family. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or A Charlie Brown Christmas are two popular favorites. Serve hot cocoa, popcorn, or other snacks.
Make Christmas Cookies
Make a batch or two of your favorite Christmas cookies. Christmas cookies would go fantastic with your movie night.
Go to the Library
When thinking of Christmas activities, visiting a library is probably not on your list. But go to your local library to check out Christmas-related books. Reading to younger children is a great way to spend quality time. Older children may find Christmas stories fun to read. Many libraries allow you to check out movies, DVDs, or other media to make the holiday season more fun. Also, your local library may have a visit from Santa or other Christmas related events for your family to enjoy.
Being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to skip on family fun. Enjoy the simple things, the memories you make will last forever.
