It's an unfortunate thing to say, but many people are actually dreading Christmas this year. It's not because they don't like the season, or because they've had any previous reason to hate the season. It's because the cost of living crisis right now has led many people to realize that they're going to be living this Christmas on a budget. For those who are used to living a more lavish Christmas with all of the trimmings and the presence and the fun, they may be worried about how they're going to make this Christmas stand out with all the others. The thing is, despite what the commercials tell you, and what the adverts tell you, and what the stores are telling you, you don't actually have to have a lot of money spent to have a lavish Christmas. Christmas has one solid meaning no matter what TV show you watch for it or what Christmas movie you tune into, and it's about the fact that Christmas is all about togetherness and love. 

 

You will always see a Christmas movie come to the conclusion that the only thing that people really need is love, actually. You don't need the latest and greatest toys. You don't even need to have a lavish seafood spread. Instant online loans may help you to cover the energy bill, but you certainly don't need them to cover the Christmas presents. It doesn't matter what your background is, what your current job is, and how much you are struggling. You can have a beautiful Christmas on a budget and it can be just as great as every other year without the debt or the price tag that comes with it. The main thing to understand here is that you control your finances, they do not have to control you. Planning an affordable Christmas that is fun and joyful and full of everybody smiling and laughing is the goal. Memories aren't just made because of money. They are made because of how you all interact and treat each other at this special time of year. So, here are some solutions for a beautiful budget Christmas.

 

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• Make a list of your priorities. What do you want this Christmas season? We're not asking whether or not you want a new set of Louboutins, because let's be real, in this climate nobody's getting new Louboutins unless they are already rich! You need to make a list of your priorities. If you want to have a lavish and affordable Christmas, then you need to pick what's most important to you. Are you going to be lavished with your grocery shopping bill or with your gift bill? Are you going to be lavished with your Christmas tree or with the ceiling decorations? You need to figure out what you prioritize the most because from here, you can maximize it for your Christmas Day. It’s the season to be jolly, not the season of indulgence, so stop listening to what the TV is telling you to buy and think about what your priorities are. Once you know your priorities, you can keep them straight with your finances.

• Plan yourself a budget. This is actually the hardest thing to do for Christmas, because everybody has the ideal budget of no budget at all. Unfortunately, most people do live in the real world which means you need to think of how you can make this Christmas beautiful on the budget you have rather than the budget you want. There is no point in trying to have a champagne Christmas on a lemonade budget when lemonade is perfectly good on it all on its own. From dinners to the decor to the gifts, figure out what you can afford to spend and then go from there. Speak to adults you would normally buy gifts for and explain your financial circumstances and arrange a Secret Santa rather than lavish gifts for everybody. For the children, focus on your own and ask your relatives to do the same so that you are not buying for multiple nieces, nephews and cousins. Everybody is going to be in the same boat.

• Make a shopping list. While you are listing all of your priorities for this Christmas, write a shopping list of the food that you need rather than the food that you want. Consider what you would like for Christmas dinner and shop around it. The reality is that Christmas Day is just one day of the whole year. You definitely don't need to add an additional $100 on your shopping bill just because you want to be able to buy Christmas themed food. Anything is Christmassy if you are eating it on Christmas Day, even baked beans on toast!

• Create new Christmas traditions that are not financially driven. There are so many traditions that you can start with your family at Christmas time when they don't have to be based on money. For example, when was the last time you made paper chains as a family? When was the last time you decided to make your own snowflakes by cutting up paper? Have you been Christmas caroling yet? Have you gone on a walk around your suburb to find the beautiful Christmas lights outside people's homes? These are all traditions that you could get involved in and they don't cost any money at all. If you have the staples in the house already, you could bake with the children and make baking biscuits the thing that you do every Christmas Eve together. Christmas traditions aren't just about playing the latest and greatest board games. Sure, it's fun, but that doesn't mean you can necessarily afford to do it. Getting yourself in debt for one day of the year is not financially sound, and if you are trying to keep yourself away from being in debt then you need to consider that.

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• Have a Christmas potluck. If you and your family are all in similar positions when it comes to budget, why not get together at one family member's house for a giant Christmas potluck? Divvy out responsibility as to who will cook the Turkey or who will make the vegetables and have everybody convene at the same time in the same place. This way, you are not slaving away in the kitchen cooking when you should be socializing, and you still get to enjoy a delicious Christmas meal. If everybody is helping and responsible for the cooking, then everybody only needs to spend extra money on one dish and not several. It's a good way to be able to enjoy yummy Christmas food without having to go over budget. The Christmas dinner and the food around it for the day is often where people tend to lavish their most cash. You don't have to do that if you don't want to!

• Jump on you're planning for next year already. We haven't even had Christmas 2022, but that doesn't mean you can't start planning for Christmas 2023. This should be the year that you could start a reserve for your finances so that you could have the Christmas that you want next year rather than the one you have to have because your budget is low this year. Even an additional $20 a month into a pot is going to save you $240 which could be your grocery shopping fund if you prefer to spend all your money on good food. By starting a pot early, you can save what you can afford to save and make sure that next Christmas is going to be a better one than this Christmas. You never know, you might just discover that you don't need to spend huge amounts of money to make your Christmas the best one ever.

• Secret Santa can save your butt. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on gifts for every single family member. Get your siblings together and arrange a Secret Santa draw in September or October, and then buy according to that budget that you all set. The budget doesn't have to be very high, and everybody then gets a gift even if they don't get one gift from every single person. Remember, the whole point of Christmases togetherness, so if anybody complains just exclude them from the secret center! There is no shame in choosing affordable gifts, either. If you're a good Baker, bake some delicious cookies or cakes. You could make jams, jellies or chocolates. Packaging them doesn't have to be expensive either, not when you can wash out and sterilize jars that you have, or repurpose gift boxes and bags.

• Buy second hand decorations. You can head to the charity shops for your decorations for your home. People often donate their decorations from the previous year which means you can have your choice of the bunch and some of them can be treasures. Going to the local charity shops and seeing what you can find can also help you to come up with some creative ideas to make your own decorations. We talked about making paper chains earlier on, and it's a long held tradition for many families. Choosing to go this way for your decorations for your house means you're going to spend a lot less money but your house is still going to look beautiful.