Have you noticed that celebrating the holidays is expensive? Presents consume a significant portion of most families’ budgets. We go all out on fancy food for the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. Then there are decorations, Christmas cards, postage, and holiday attire. It is easy to get caught up in the spending frenzy. Over half of all Americans (52%) began 2023 with debts from their Christmas spending last year. As recently as the end of September, one-third reported they were still paying off their credit card balances.
Hopefully, you have planned for your spending for 2023. If you have been reading my blog all year, you may have established a spending budget early in the year and are in good financial shape for this Christmas. If not, starting a budget now for next year is never too early. I hope you have a blessed Christmas and can celebrate the birth of our Savior without creating financial stress for yourself in the coming year.
With that in mind, my purpose today is to suggest that there are many activities that you can do with your spouse, children, grandchildren, and friends that will create beautiful memories without breaking your budget. Here’s a list of the ones I have thought of to get you started.
1. Bake cookies with your friends and family or for your friends and family. You can make several batches of cookies while drinking cocoa and catching up.
2. Host a cookie exchange party. The women’s ministries group at my church does this each year. Every woman brings three dozen cookies of one kind and goes home with a mixture of three dozen cookies made by the other women. It’s fun to get new recipes and taste everyone’s favorites.
3. Decorate Christmas cookies. If you do not enjoy baking sugar cookies, you can purchase them at the supermarket and decorate them with the younger family members. My grandchildren love to frost cookies and sprinkle them with sugar crystals. It’s a bit of a mess, and it creates wonderful memories.
4. Decorate your tree and home. I have always enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree; however, it is much more fun now that I have grandchildren. They also like to help Gramma decorate the house. Their ideas will differ from mine, and sometimes they are much better.
5. Drive around and look at the holiday lights. It helps to plan and know what neighborhoods have many decorated houses. Community Facebook pages are a good source of information on where to find the best lights.
6. Attend nativity programs at your church and others in your town. You will likely be surprised by the variety of methods of telling the Christmas story. Some churches put on outdoor living nativities, while other productions are more traditional.
7. Go to the Christmas parade. Children especially love Christmas parades, and in our community, we have several hosted by different localities within a thirty-minute drive of our house.
8. Go Christmas caroling. This has long been one of my favorite activities. For many years, our girls’ program at church has visited a local assisted living center and sang for the residents. The residents love it and join in the fun. One year, a 94-year-old resident accompanied us on the piano. We hand out some gifts that help the children interact with the older people. I always leave feeling happy and blessed.
9. Donate some canned goods to your local food pantry. Food pantries rely on donations year-round. The needs are even greater during the holidays, as many families seek extra help to enjoy their holiday feasts. Check with your local pantry to find out their biggest needs, and pick up a few items while shopping. You don’t have to spend a lot—look for items on sale. This is one instance in which many small donations can add up to a large amount of food to be distributed to others in your community.
10. Make simple homemade gifts. If your budget will not allow you to purchase gifts for everyone on your list, roll up your sleeves and make some inexpensive gifts. Pinterest is full of ideas and patterns, which you can download for free. The recipients will likely appreciate your homemade gift more than a store-bought one and will cherish it much longer.
11. Make homemade decorations. Rather than spending a lot of money on new decorations, reuse your old ones and make some new ones to give your tree and home a fresh look. Again, Pinterest is my go-to resource for creating inexpensive and fun decorations. You will have more fun and memories if you recruit friends or family to help make decorations.
12. Watch holiday movies. Pop a large bowl of popcorn or make your favorite holiday treat and settle in with loved ones to watch your favorite holiday movies. We have many beloved Christmas movies that we watch each year with our grandkids or extended family. My mother’s favorite was Those Calloways. I have many fond memories of the family watching it on Christmas night after we unwrapped all the presents, ate the Christmas meal, and cleaned up. We often ate turkey sandwiches while we watched.
13. Hang the stockings. Hand-knit Christmas stockings are a tradition handed down to me by my grandmother. My grandchildren love to help hang the stockings on the railing of our staircase. They love to come up with different arrangements each year. A few years ago, one of them decided we should hang fairy lights between the stockings. It was a beautiful way to highlight the stockings. They also take turns helping Gramma to stuff the stockings. The two eight-year-olds will have their turns this year and are already excited about it.
14. Read the nativity story to the younger members of the family. Plan a quiet time, perhaps after decorating the tree, to read Christ’s birth story. Have cocoa and Christmas cookies while reading or after reading.
15. Attend the church Christmas dinner. Our church family gathers together in early December for the annual Christmas dinner. It is always a great time of fellowship; everyone brings a dish or two to share. This is another excellent way to create memories and share family favorite recipes with your friends.
I am sure you have other activities for your family’s Christmas celebration. Please comment and share your ideas.
Susan's Reflections 