Christmas Gift Giving on the Frugal Budget

Like many of us today our cash flow is not what it was last year as the Christmas season begins to fill our minds with stress. Gas prices are high and so heating cost is going to be much higher than it was last year. It cost more to feed families and for many others homes are lost and hearts are broken. Life on the edge from last year is now lying on the ground below of broken dreams and smaller budgets. So how do we plan for Christmas?

This year Christmas will have to be a frugal affair for many people. Cash flow will not allow the abundance of past years so you have to adjust your gift giving, your heart on what you can expect to receive and forgive yourself for not providing more for everyone on your wish list. Fill your own heart with what you give is all you can afford and if you are happy it will help everyone else to be happy about their gifts. Stop feeling bad about the lack of cash. Everyone is having the same problem so if it makes you feel better to announce it is going to be a frugal Christmas then do it! It will relax everyone else's mind and the expectations they are feeling.

You can set a money limit for family, set a money limit for friends and then set a creative limit of what can be made. With adjustments and acceptance by all this will be an easier Christmas on everyone. Pull family together or the friends you spend holidays with and make a plan. The first to go is work. Do not exchange gifts at work. If you want to do something special have everyone make home made cards and have a pot luck. This will provide a special time and a little creative magic everyone can enjoy without financial guilt.

For your adult friends choose to create a gift of love or fun. You can draw on art paper from the dollar store and place in a frame from the same. Try to draw them and yourself together doing something. Make it funny and be sure you are not trying to draw the perfect picture. If it even gets close to the likeness of each of you it is a gift they will cherish.

A small collage of pictures from the past around the edge of heavy paper with a poem in the middle you have written will keep memories alive. You can learn to create something memorable out of what you have or what you can find in your own home and boxes stored away. Go through your books and choose some as gifts. Clean them and tie with a ribbon and message. Look for glass ware you have had for a long time and fill it with cookies or candies and give as a gift for the cook or friend with a sweet tooth. These are gifts from your home to their heart without a lot of cash investment.

For family choose something special and affordable. Maybe for women you can choose costume jewelry from a department store place inside of a small affordable box. With this add bubble bath, cocoa's or coffee's and one good book. Also silky tee tops are loved by women. Make sure you buy them big enough. They are to make her feel better and not for another half's viewing pleasure. There are many, many kinds of inexpensive watches in every color and kind now available to fill out your gift list.

For the man of the family they seem to like foods in a pan, on a board, in a cup or in a bucket. Choose something with meats and cheeses, breads and beer. No sweets unless you know he really likes them. Books on his interest such as sci fi or frontier history and tee shirt with sayings or pictures to suit his mood. If he is into collectable check out antique stores or specialty shops in your area. Give him a memory of childhood with a game he loved as a kid or a set of Lincoln logs. You can never go wrong with a Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader for his private study time on the kings throne!

The kids are the hardest to say no too. Choose one good gift for each, but make it reasonable for your budget. If you have family that are planning to shower them with gifts then don't over invest in gift items from your own budget. You can fill in with a lot of smaller gifts from a dollar store, with tee shirts or inexpensive gifts from a department store. They don't always care about how much the gift cost as they do about how much fun it is to have a gift.

Don't be afraid to cut back on the gift giving budget this year. Everyone is having a hard time so try not to out do them to deal with your own guilt of frugal living. The best thing you can do for your family is to accept your situation, stay positive and happy and keep them laughing. It's ok to be poor. It happens to all of us during our life time and sometimes throughout our lives again.