Christmas: How to Celebrate on a Limited Budget

During these troubling economic times, many people might find themselves with less money to spend during the Christmas Holiday season. It might even cause a lot of concern, frustration and possibly feelings of hopelessness and depression, knowing they can't offer their families the Christmas that they once could, when times were better.

However, it doesn't have to be that way. Christmas can still be an enjoyable holiday to look forward to, with many of the trimmings that we've become accustomed to over the years. We might just have to learn how to do it on a more down-sized scale, by discovering new ways or even by inventing new traditions, to enjoy the holiday spirit.

In fact, we might even see that there are some advantages to the crash in the financial market. Maybe we can now re-learn how to celebrate the holiday season in a more "old fashioned" and "traditional" way, bringing families closer together instead of pulling them further apart.

Here are some ways to still enjoy the Christmas season and not have it put you closer to the brink of bankruptcy or send you into a downward spiral of depression:

Inexpensive Gift Giving

When it comes to gift giving, you can reduce the amount of money you might have to spend on gifts by picking names within your family, amongst office colleagues and/or group of friends. Predetermine a limit on the cost of the gift. Instead of buying several gifts for everyone, you can now downsize your gift list, purchasing one gift for one friend or for one family member. It's always a surprise to see who picked your name, and this will substantially reduce the amount of money that the holidays will cost you.

After all, Christmas isn't about the amount of gifts you can cram under the Christmas tree (or onto your credit cards for that matter), but about family and friends being together and sharing that blessing with one another.

Someone in the family can possibly purchase or bring along a game, such as Cranium or charades, as a family gift. This will also give your guests something to do during the family gatherings between Christmas eve and New Years. An advantage to this is that everyone, young and old, can participate in a fun activity and have a great time doing it. It's sure to add a sense of family togetherness and laughter to your holidays, rather than having the adults visiting in the living room while the children are off playing in another room.

Get everyone together in ONE room and enjoy the company of one another. This can easily take the place of the time a family would take to open dozens of gifts, yet it's still just as much fun.

Christmas Dinner on a Shoestring Budget

If large Christmas dinners have a tendency of taking a big chunk out of your holiday budget, there are several things you can do to reduce the cost.

* A really good idea is to have everyone in the family bring part of the meal to the table. Delegate certain items on the menu to certain family members and/or guests. The head of the household might supply the turkey (which is usually the biggest and most expensive part of the meal), another member can bring the ham, another the potatoes, etc. Possibly, every family member could even do some of the baking.

In this way, everyone is contributing to the meal, yet, on an individual basis, it's not costing anyone a lot of money. They'll also feel as though they are contributing something very special to the family and holiday spirit. As well, this leaves less work for the usual, designated cook. They will be spending less time in the kitchen preparing a big meal, and can spend more time visiting with the family. It just makes for a less stressed family get together all around.

* Yet another option you might want to consider, is having something entirely different on your dinner menu. Christmas dinner doesn't have to include the traditional "turkey" with all the extras. There are so many other possibilities when it comes to the Christmas menu.

* Or possibly, instead of having a Christmas dinner, what about a Christmas brunch gathering? Brunches can be considerably less in cost, rather than having a four or five course dinner. By trying something a little out of the ordinary, this might help to easy the stress of having less money to spend at Christmas time.

Inexpensive Christmas Decorations

Rather than going out to purchase the latest in Christmas decorative fashions, why not make your own. There are so many great ideas that can be found on the internet for the craftsperson. There was a time when the only Christmas decorations to be found in the home were homemade, so why not help these old traditions make a comeback. The children will love getting involved, helping to decorate the house with the creations they've made themselves.

Just a few examples are (but remember, creative ideas are only limited by your own imagination):

* make and string together popcorn garlands

* make your own wreaths using packing styrofoam, pine cones and recycled ribbon

* put your creative imagination to use by turning old Christmas cards into new decorations. One idea might be to make a cube out of the front face of old cards, thread a string through them and hang them around the house. Another idea is to cut out the old cards in a circle, glue them to a rubber sealer ring, add glitter to the ring and tie a string for hanging.

* something as simple as snowflakes can beautify your home for the holiday season. Children love to make them and are very good at this project

* make your own gift wrapping paper by letting the children paint or draw festive murals or designs on packing paper

* just by adding some inexpensive colored glitter, you can give your old tree ornaments new life

No-cost Entertainment at Christmas

Bring family entertainment back into the holiday season. When you're occupied with family and guests, having fun, you surely won't be dwelling on the fact that you had to cut a few corners financially.

* Family singalongs can be a lot of fun. If someone in the family is musically inclined, bring out the instruments for a sing-a-long, singing all the old favorite Christmas carols. If you don't have instruments, put a Christmas CD into the stereo and sing along.

* Go caroling in the neighborhood, just like they use to do in the olden days. It's a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit. You can all enjoy a hot cup of cocoa when you return back home.

* As mentioned above, play a game with the entire family. It can bring a lot of fun and laughter to your gathering.

* Go to a church service in your neighborhood. This is a sure way to get into the holiday spirit. It can also be an excellent reminder as to what this holiday is really all about.

I truly believe that if we were to look at these financially troubled times as a blessing, we might just find that we can start having the best Christmas season ever, bringing back many of the old family values and traditions that began Christmas celebrations in the first place.

Over the past few decades, Christmas has become much too commercialized. We have become too spoiled with the availability of so much abundance in our society. However, Christmas is not about bigger, better and more expensive gifts. It's not about spending more and more money each year. The most important part of Christmas is about enjoying family and friends, being together, counting your blessings and most importantly, about celebrating the birth of Christ.