How to Celebrate Christmas During a Financial Crisis

Losing your job or receiving a big medical bill can throw a monkey wrench into your Christmas plans. Even during a financial crisis, most people associate the holiday season with material abundance. Children won't cease their demands on your time, money or energy just because you're experiencing financial difficulty. During times like these, worries about money can rob you of your peace of mind. If you're in over your head, it's time to reassess your priorities.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Sit down with your family to have a discussion about what's really feasible this Christmas. Explain to the kids that you won't be able to fulfill their every desires this holiday season. They will have to put off requests for expensive luxury gifts until a time when the family budget is balanced.

2. Get your finances in order as much as you can before planning Christmas activities. Establish a small budget that you can afford for gifts and supplies. Don't exceed it for any reason.

3. Make meaningful gifts for your friends and family rather than buying them. Make Christmas cards by hand with the kids. Enclose snapshots of your family with the card. Paint or draw a colorful picture and frame it yourself. Bake up batches of cookies and homemade bread and wrap them in colorful cellophane tied with a ribbon. Look for things you already have on hand before buying new materials.

4. Offer to do a service for friends and loved ones in lieu of a gift. Offer to watch your brother's kids, mow your dad's lawn or help your grandmother balance her checkbook. Consider making a coupon book full of free services your recipient can redeem later.

5. Browse food gifts for your immediate family. Get a cheap woven basket at the dollar store and fill it with apples, oranges, pears and nuts in the shell. Watch your local grocery store for bargains on produce before you buy. Favor items that are both inexpensive and in season.

6. Think about purchasing necessary items rather than luxuries for Christmas. If your spouse needs a clock radio, get one that's both cheap and reliable. If your kids' school clothes are threadbare, buy a few inexpensive replacements. Look around the house for other broken and worn out items that can be replaced without breaking the bank.

7. Buy token toys for younger children at the dollar store. Only buy enough so that they have something amusing to open on Christmas morning. For the best savings, wrap the toys in last year's leftover wrapping paper or cloth.

Tips & Warnings

• You can easily make your own homemade wrapping paper. Carve some shapes, such as stars and Christmas trees, in a couple of potatoes. Use food coloring to stamp the designs on craft paper.
• Buy gifts second hand if possible.
• Never beg for money or gifts, especially from strangers.
• Never let go of your computer or Internet service during a financial crisis. They can help you to connect to many important money-saving resources.
• Never charge more on credit cards than you can afford to pay in full the next month.
• Avoid shopping malls to avoid temptations.

Resources

• Second hand Christmas gifts on Craigslist.org
• Cheap Christmas gifts on eBay.com
• Dollar Stretcher: money saving ideas
• Frugal Folks Life Yahoo! group
• Homemade Christmas gift ideas

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[jenniferclaerr]

on 12/30/2008 Thanks for all the wonderful comments. I never realized this article would receive such a response. I wrote it because I saw so many people begging for free gifts at the holidays instead of being proactive and finding a solution to their problems. Glad I could help!

[cadence]

on 12/25/2008 Great article. This year, I asked my family members for grocery store gift cards, because practical gifts are the best gifts this season.

[favefive]

on 12/25/2008 Very helpful and timely tips.

[rajgift]

on 12/25/2008 Nice article

[robertsloan2]

on 12/24/2008 One big way to avoid temptations is to cut off cable completely and stop watching commercials. Purchase secondhand DVDs of movies and shows, then get them resurfaced -- a shop in Lawrence does them for $3 a disk no matter how scratched. Or use Amazon Unbox. Without commercials most of the dumbest temptations are eliminated -- and you'd be surprised at how fast the stress and discontent level stops when your usual entertainment isn't interrupted every five minutes as if a whiny toddler was demanding you buy something you can't afford. You'll have less temptation to eat out too.