This year has been a year of many lessons in frugality. While our 2010 family resolution was not intended to be a penny pinching endeavor it has become that and I am very grateful to have had the preparation. In January we never imagined the negative impact that a new teaching contract would have on Andrew's take home pay, nor the sharply rising costs of insurance and food (have you SEEN the price of butter?!) generally.
Like many Americans a single paycheck just isn't cutting it no matter how frugal we try to be. We are blessed to have some savings and I earn a small amount from babysitting which make up for the difference, but savings won't last forever when there is always a deficit. After Christmas I will need to get a part-time job and the necessity frightens me. Going back to work isn't frightening so much as the need to go back to work despite my tireless efforts to reduce our spending. We live very frugally and just within this past year we have let go of a cell phone, new clothes, a car, cable TV, Netflix, eating out, comfortable thermostat settings and taking vacations all in the name of THE BUDGET. The only thing that we haven't cut back on is food but I am not willing to sacrifice the health and happiness of my family and live on beans and rice. Yet...
With these looming financial pressures Christmas appears on the horizon. After figuring out the budget we decided that we would only spend $150 total which is the smallest amount we have ever spent on Christmas in our entire marriage. After the gift giving list was tallied that left only $30 for me and Andrew but we are excited for the challenge and know we can make it work and still have great gifts! How? Nearly all of the gifts we are giving are going to be handmade/secondhand which we have had a lot of practice doing this year! Luckily for Ravenna, I have been collecting her gifts throughout the year at thrift stores and garage sales but her gifts will also not amount to more than $15.
This post is not written to worry anyone (especially our families) about our family, but to honestly state that we understand the financial pressures of a down economy very keenly; we sympathize with the greater struggles that others are going through and we know we are blessed. Despite a small budget we will be able to find ways to still participate in holiday traditions despite. God gave us magnificent brains and a desire to create. If I can harness those two energies I know I can learn how to use them to give joy to others in a frugal, yet still loving, fashion.
Does anyone else have a frugal Christmas plans? Maybe we can share ideas? I already have a growing list of Internet links with great (frugal) gift giving ideas that I am going to post soon. Handmade Christmas gifts take time and planning so getting started ASAP is a necessity!
9 comments:
I would love to see your list of ideas, although I don't have any particular ones to share, myself. I think it's awesome that you've gotten so good at stretching your budget.
We're doing an ornament exchange among siblings. That way, we can hand make them for probably about $2 per gift. Good luck. I think a lot of us are right there with you!
I love handmade Chrismtas's .It's harder though, for teenagers to appreciate though. Like Tyler's sisters who have much picker tastes (and spoiled) than I do. But I am happy to be using up some more of my huge fabric stash and making crayon pouches and pennant flag shirts for my nieces and BYU PJ bottoms for the boys.
I love to find really cheap new clothing and embellishing them into "designer" or "boutique" style clothing so the kids don't even realize they're handmade! I suppose I could do some freezer paper stenciled t-shirts for the teenagers too...hmmmm...
I always like to get practical gifts too like books(used or not) or home storage/emergency preparedness stuff. one year my dad just asked for homemade bread and jam and he was happy :)
And like you did last year tie them up in reusable cloth sacks of I always love to use paper (instead of reusable or plastic) grocery bags and wrap the gifts w/those, tied up with string :) to save on wrapping paper. Plus the kids can color it and add their own personal touch.
Good luck!
I've already blown my budget for Joc Christmas/bday but it's a great investment that will last for a very long time (see most recent post).
I thought I had a frugal Christmas planned, now I"m not so sure : )
We've done a couple that were pretty frugal. Four years ago we had a budget of $25/head, so not quite as tight as yours, but similar...
The first thing I want to say is, how did $120 disappear on other people? Are you somehow obligated to spend all that money on extended family? Frankly, that's ridiculous. If you're being so frugal with your own family, you shouldn't be expected to give so much outside the family. If exchanges are standard, consider doing something homemade there--for example herbed olive oils are yummy and easy to make. I've given home-canned jams, or home-baked sweetbreads or cookies.
Some very inexpensive gifts we do/have done (I'm actually planning to do a blog post in the near future...):
--Make a couple's journal. Get a little blank journal-type notebook, then write questions at the top of each page, some serious, some more silly... take turns writing your answers to each other over the coming year(s) (I can provide a list of question ideas if you like). Writing in there has made a few cheap date nights. :)
--Dress-up clothes are a fun option for kids, I sew a lot of them (and if you need more for R drop me a line, I have some fun fabrics leftover from formal gowns and such)
--I often watch for fabric sales and sew stuff. I know that's not your strong point yet, but maybe someday. :) I made my hubby a lined-fleece vest for $8 that year.
--something your DH might be able to do for you would be to collect recipes (from family/internet/etc) and copy them into a cookbook or recipe file so that you have them all easily accessible
--coupons!! As in, coupons to do stuff for each other: backrubs, foot massages, taking care of the dishes for whoever usually does it, that kind of thing. Coupons are awesome, and free!
To answer Jenni's question about the breakdown...here is what it comes down to.
$15/person in the extended family e.g. 2 parents and 1 sibling=$45/family X 2=$90
This might actually cost us less with the items I am making but I prefer to over budget and then be pleasantly surprised.
$5/grandparents: mostly handmade items again but with postage will probably cost that much 4X5=$20
$10 for friend gifts
We will not be sending out Christmas cards this year.
This doesn't include the neighbor/church gifts that I am planning on giving out this year but those will cost very little since they are coming out of food and craft storage. ;)
I feel for you! I had to go through an adjustment period after James got a job, realizing that all our financial worries were NOT over. We're actually a bit poorer than when we were in school. Rats. I'm making most of the presents this year, except the stuff I got at garage sales. We're still going to enjoy the holidays, even if it still feels like we're starving students. :)
We are on a very tight budget ourselves... so I can relate. My husband has a commission only job selling cabinets, and lets face it, no one is building houses in the winter! We had a yard sale, and our Christmas budget is mainly the money that was made from that... For our parents and grandparents I have discovered a fabulous $10 gift. I made a calendar with my kids pictures for each month... You can make them online and they have cute templates to use. We did it last year and it was such a big hit that we are going to do it from now on. As for our 3 kids, we have been buying things from thrift stores and craigslist. It's amazing how you put more thought into Christmas when you can't just buy whatever you'd like. I'm sure you'll figure it out, and it will turn out wonderful. Good luck!
AMEN sister, well said. I cant wait to see your ideas.
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