Have you prepared for Christmas yet? In just about a week’s time, it will officially become the time of year to start preparing all of those little Christmas decorations around the house. This time of the years also means purchasing gifts for loved ones and planning out holiday activities. Unfortunately, all of this costs a lot of money. Doesn’t it? Well, the holidays don’t have to weigh so heavily on your wallet. You can save money this Christmas holiday with just a little bit of planning and preparation.
For instance, consider the holiday decorations: why not decorate your home with a few free items hanging around your yard? Pinecones serve as wonderful, frugal decoration items to spruce up the old home. You could fill baskets and urns by your front door or hearth for that special holiday feel. I’ve also always had great luck finding frugal decorations at the Dollar Tree such as cheap ribbons, bows and Christmas ornaments. Then, there’s always the old stand by: stringing popcorn. Popcorn serves as an incredible idea for cheap decorations. You can get the whole family in on this project.
If expensive Christmas cards aren’t in your budget this year, you should consider just not sending them in the first place. Make a face to face appearance with all of the would be card recipients. Or, just simply scale back on your list of card recipients. Cut this list down to your closest friends and family. Postcards also serve as a frugal alternative to traditionally expensive holiday cards. Shutterfly and Snapfish almost always run great card deals. So, you should sign up for their newsletter list to receive all of the the latest
Speaking of amazing holiday gift card deals, Vista Print is running their annual holiday sale. Between now and December 31st, you can take an entire 50% off any customized holiday card or calendar purchase using the coupon code: BEMERRY! That’s it. Simple, right. Just enter that code at check out and your purchase of a set of Holiday cards will be cut in half!
Wrapping paper is one of those big ticket items that really increases the expense every holiday, year after year. You can use newspaper or clippings from magazines to wrap small gifts. Or, why not ask your children to color plain white paper for a memorable wrap? As always, you should try to save wrapping paper and bags for the next year to cut down on costs. Brown grocery bags are another option. I find that they look beautiful when wrapped with a big red bow.
Consider making your own gift tags as well. You can use old Christmas cards for this or just a small piece of wrapping paper. Old scraps of fabric also make interesting, homemade tags.
What’s so great about using a little creativity at Christmas to decorate is that your decorations and gifts suddenly covey a greater sense of thoughtfulness and appreciation to the recipient. They’ll also have a wonderful DIY feel and look to them.
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