How To Make Big Things Happen For Christmas On A Tight Budget
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I hear its footsteps. I smell its oh-so-familiar scent! Best of all, I sense the joy and excitement it brings in the air once again! We all love Christmas if not for anything else but for its power to bring out the child in all of us. That’s why it’s rather sad when the holiday season is oftentimes also associated with stress and frustration (even depression). I think this is often the case because, somehow, we have allowed the Christmas holiday to evolve into being more about putting price tags on every little aspect of what was otherwise meant to be a very meaningful occasion.
Yes, this is now the truth about the world we live in. Christmas equals outrageous expenses! A whole month’s worth of paycheck including bonuses (and a 13th month pay to boot if you’re in the Philippines) all but bounce right out of your hands like a diver on a diving board. Even worse, after the festivities are all over, you then get to spend the first quarter of the new year worrying about paying off debts you incurred within a period of only less than a month right at the end of the previous year! So, whatever we do at Christmas will eventually be reduced to nothing more than just a bunch of pictures to be displayed on our Facebook pages, while the true meaning of Christmas woefully sinks into oblivion, all the way down to the bottom of the sea of bills and purchase receipts you’ve created!
My hope and prayer for you this Christmas is that hopefully, this won’t be the case for you. My hope is that you were wise in your budget planning throughout the year, setting aside some money every month for Christmas, so that you’re not trying to make a miracle happen out of one single paycheck in December. However, if you are among the many who haven’t been able to save anything during the year, I would like to offer the following example of how you might make big things happen for Christmas this year on a tight budget.
Determine Your Total Christmas Budget
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The way I see it, there are four types of expenses to consider in a Christmas budget:
- Budget for Christmas Decorations
- Budget for Christmas Eve Dinner
- Budget for Gifts
- Budget for Special Christmas Activities (concerts, shows, theme park visits, visits to relatives and friends, etc.)
First of all, determine how much your total budget for Christmas will be, and that means for all four types combined and AFTER all bills and other financial obligations for that period have been deducted.
Let’s just say you’re expecting a paycheck that nets P100,000 ($200-$300) for the month of December. You’ve determined that P50,000 of that amount will all go to your monthly home rental, utility bills, and groceries (for days between this payday and the next, but not including your Christmas Eve Dinner budget). Don’t forget to calculate your fare or fuel money going to and from work within those days (and other incidentals like parking and toll fees, and lunch money, etc.). So let’s just say, that’s another P10,000. That gives you a total of P60,000 in expenses. Assuming you haven’t forgotten any other possible expenses, that leaves you with P40,000 to spend on everything Christmas – Christmas decor, Christmas Eve Dinner (Noche Buena), gifts, etc.
So based on that amount (or whatever actual amount you’re left with), here’s how you can make it work this Christmas on a tight budget…
Prioritize
Determine which of the three Christmas categories is most important to you. That should get the biggest percentage of your total budget. Followed by the second most important and then the least. So let’s say, the gifts are the most important to you, followed by Christmas Eve Dinner and decor, and let’s just say you also decide on not going to any theme parks or getting involved in any extra activities this year. Out of the P40,000 budget, decide on what amount you want to allocate for each of the categories.
Let’s say you decide on allocating a P20,000 budget for gifts (this also includes the amount you’ll spend on wrapping and shipping), P10,000 on Christmas Eve Dinner and the other P10,000 on decorations.
Here’s what your planning would look like…
Budget for Christmas Gifts
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Make a Christmas Gifts List! Make a list of the names of each person to whom you plan on sending a gift. Then group them into your 1st priority, 2nd priority, and 3rd priority. Your 1st priority will definitely have a bigger budget (per gift), unless of course you decide to allocate exactly the same amount for all of them. Don’t hesitate or feel ashamed about having to group them this way. Remember, no one else will see this list but you. The reason you ought to consider doing it this way is because – budget aside – you would easily put a hundred people on your list. That’s for sure! However, realistically and practically speaking, if you’re on a tight budget, you must come to terms with the fact that no matter how big your heart is, you simply can’t afford to give a hundred people gifts this year. So, in the worst case scenario, at least everyone in your 1st priority group will be getting something. If there’s still more than enough left in your budget, then you can accommodate the next group of people.
Now, who goes under which group category? That should be totally your decision. It kinda goes without saying that members of your immediate family should be your 1st priority, but then again, your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/significant other should also be in this group, and so should your best friend. If you’re a business owner and you have a personal or executive assistant, he/she might also be included in this group. So, think carefully as to which people you consider to be extremely important to you.
On the same note, even if you have twenty people on your list, but your budget can only accommodate fifteen people, don’t be feel so bad about having to cross five people off your list. That’s just the way that it is. Perhaps next year, you’ll plan ahead so you won’t have to look forward to yet another Christmas on a tight budget. Right now, you can opt to send them greeting cards or consider the following suggestions on other money-saving alternatives so you won’t have to cross some people off your list:
- DIY gifts will save you a lot of money. Consider baking cookies or brownies to be given away as gifts. A single cookie recipe will normally yield two dozen cookies and the ingredients won’t cost much. A few other suggestions would be a Coffee Body Scrub, Lavender Pillow And Linen Spray, or Christmas Peppermint Cocoa Mix in a jar. The ingredients for these recipes are very inexpensive and you can make multiple small jars or bottles of it. Tie a Christmas ribbon with a gift tag around the jar lid or bottle neck, or design your custom label.
- A basket of assorted anything. This is a great gift to give to a family so you don’t have to buy them individual gifts. It can be a basket of monogrammed hand towels, a basket of assorted bath items, a basket of assorted sweets, etc. The trick here is to assemble your gift basket yourself. Don’t buy the pre-packed gift baskets you often see at the supermarkets. If you will be giving gifts to more than one family, you will have to buy the baskets separately and the items you should put in the basket are those that cost cheaper when bought in bulk. Wrap the basket in a clear plastic sheet and tie the ends together with a Christmas ribbon. Don’t forget your dedication tag.
- If you’re into scrap booking or you like creating your own printable art, why not make your own 2015 desk calendar or journal.
- If you knit or crochet, a scarf or a shawl would make a lovely gift!
Budget for Christmas Eve Dinner
Image Credit: uwishunu.com
Plan early on what you will serve for Christmas Eve Dinner (i.e. your Christmas Eve Dinner Menu). List down all ingredients for each dish you’re thinking of serving and determine the prices for each. Make sure that you can obtain all the ingredients you’ll need and that it suits your budget requirements. Give yourself many different choices or alternatives in case one dish turns out to be more costly than what you were expecting. The point is to strictly stay within your budget. The same principle applies to cooked meals you intend to order from restaurants or caterers.
Budget for Christmas Decorations
Image Credit: cdn.homedit.com
I’ll keep this short and straight to the point: If you’re working on a tight budget, skip the idea of decorating your house from the rooftop all the way down to the bushes lining your driveway. Just pick one focal point (or two at the most) in your house and dress up that spot. You can start by deciding on whether or not you’re gonna put up a Christmas tree, and if you are, what size. Of course the size ought to be determined by two factors: the size of the room and the size of your budget. If you have to settle for a slightly smaller-sized Christmas tree than what you were really hoping for, don’t feel so bad. First, it will take less amount of ornaments to fully dress it up, so you can save money on that aspect alone. Second, you can set the tree up on a sturdy box (and then cover it with a tree skirt or any cloth) to make it appear taller. For your ornaments and the rest of your decor, choose items that you can see yourself reusing again for the next two or three more Christmas seasons.
One Final Note!
Depending on your background and financial status, you might have been surprised that I used a some small example budget amounts in my example budget above. I intentionally used a ridiculously small amount to drive a point: the truth of the matter is many of us (single and married individuals) only get to work with that much amount (or even less) for their entire Christmas budget. Unfortunately, the majority of us are in the (really bad) habit of making financial decisions with money they don’t have based entirely on their emotions and desire to do something nice for others. Their justification being, “Hey! It’s Christmas!” What’s really sad is that somehow that sense of entitlement seems to intensify even more at Christmas time – that working hard all year round suddenly justifies spending above and beyond the budget. As if Christmas is a license to go into debt.
Image Credit: thesun.co.uk
Yes, it would really be nice if all of us could afford to give our children the most wonderful Christmas they have ever seen in their lives. Every child in the world deserves that, in my opinion. And perhaps, we do deserve to enjoy the latest and greatest this Christmas because we worked hard all year. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to treat ourselves and our loved ones to the best Christmas celebration we can afford, but that’s precisely the keyword – what you CAN AFFORD – not what you can afford to go in debt for! So my point is that, yes, having to spend Christmas on a tight budget is a tough pill to swallow; but that it’s far better to get a good handle on reality and accept things for what they are than to be infinitely sorry later as a result of spending money you don’t have. Better to sacrifice for a month of festivity than spend the rest of the year paying for the harsh consequences! So, I encourage you to resist the temptation to spend beyond your means by getting really deep into debt this Holiday Season. If possible, and if you can avoid it, don’t even use your credit card for your Christmas purchases this year! You (and your wallet) will thank me next year!
Image Credit: mirror.co.uk
So, who says you can’t enjoy Christmas on a tight budget? You just have to be creative and resourceful and wise with your purchases. It will also help if you talk to your spouse and children this Christmas and help them understand exactly what the situation is and what to expect this Christmas – just how much you can spend as a family so that you’ll all have realistic expectations and Christmas wishes.
About The Author: Myla “MyMy” Upshaw
Myla “MyMy” Upshaw is a stay-at-home mom who prides herself on her status as a Filipino Christian wife and mother and “domestic goddess”. She blogs about popular subjects for stay-at-home moms such as fashion, family, beauty, relationships, entrepreneurialism (“mompreneur”), movies, self-improvement, health & wellness as well as about her faith as a follower of Christ.
To learn more about Myla Upshaw, please click here:
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