Do you have any ideas for Christmas on a dime??? I would love to see some ideas. I have teenagers who have been happy to receive furniture that I have refinished like end tables and solid wood rocking chairs… things they will take with them when they move out. A Reader
We have several articles here that you can check out here at the bottom. How about it readers? What are your ways to save on Christmas?
Tawra
dear tawra,
i just wanted to say that i had just started your website and has become my favorite. i was wondering about christmas and how can i afford it til i saw your christmas on a dime. I decided to go that route and only to find out that half the people i asked if they would mind getting a basket like that they all said heck no which surprised me cause i expected everyone to say i want this and that so i wanted to say thank you for that posting it helped me and i am now on a 5th basket.
Hi,
just wanted to share a great gift idea - framed family pictures! You know you have some to send out! Frame them and make them a Christmas gift! Also, we do a family type gift, a dvd or game for the whole family to use. That way you’re buying one inexpensive item and it’s fun for the entire family too!
For decorations make paper snowflakes to hang up in streamers or on windows! Inexpensive and a fun family arts & crafts project! For younger ones they can help place some window clings on the windows. You can find these at dollar tree for a dollar a sheet!
Also, while decorating the tree play Christmas music on the cd or sing! This makes it a fun process of setting up the tree & decorating it as a family - dance around & have fun with it! Sing! falalalalalalalalalala Don’t forget to set out Santa’s snack on Christmas eve!! A plate with a couple cookies or chex mix for the reindeer is exciting fun for little ones anticipating the arrival of Santa!
As for party type clothing a green or red blouse dressed up with a necklace or holiday pin is classic with either a skirt or pants - you probably already have one = $0, looking GREAT at the family get together priceless! For men any nice pullover sweater will do with pressed pants & dress shoes = $0
I always keep a list of the year’s Christmas gifts given each year so that I’m not stuck on giving Grammy slippers every year! I also shop sales & markdown racks for bargains throughout the year and that way there is no huge financial burden in Decemebr to contend with. I hope this helps! Thanks for your website & blog!
~Jen
In our family, Santa brings stockings and family members give what is under the tree (how else would Santa get everything on his sleigh?)
This year, with finances tight and the matriarch of our family undergoing chemo, the following decision was reached: Presents were for children (under age 18); stockings could be for everyone BUT, there is a $5 limit on items for stuffers. Things made by hand (crafts or food items) do not count towards the totals. I decided to make dangle earrings for all the women in my family that have pierced ears. For about $15 worth of supplied at Michaels (craft store) I have enough materials to make about 25 pairs of earrings! (Oh, yes, and it takes about 5 minutes to make a pair…the longest part of this project is picking the beads and reading (for free from library) how to do it!)I am putting them in a small glassine envelopes (1″x1″) and folding in a small piece of wrapping paper and “Viola!” Christmas presents for approx $1 each.
For the men’s stockings, they are receiving 1/2 pint jars of dry spice rub for grilling. 1/2 pint jars for $8 at supermarket (less if I had thought ahead and gotten them at a yard sale)and $4 worth of spice rub from Sam’s. Close up and tie with festive cloth ribbon and another gift for about $1.25 per jar! WooHoo! and Merry Christmas!
Hi–
A couple of xmas ideas: 1) My kids are still young, so they are thrilled to get useful but fancy things in their santa-stockings, like fancy disney-themed toothbrushes (which they need anyway, but I NEVER buy the expensive ones on a regular basis), underwear, new fancy socks, etc. These take up lots of room in the stocking, and I just buy them earlier in the year when they’re on sale. They’re too expensive to justify normally, but…
2) I wrap santa gifts in newspaper as I find them - garage sales during the summer, super-sales at box-stores, etc. Then on xmas eve, we leave santa food, milk, and a stack of old newspapers so he can ‘wrap the gifts’. Of course, they are already wrapped in newspaper from before! This way, I buy very little wrapping paper, if any. We try to wrap family gifts in brown grocery sacks and use holiday stamps + paint to decorate.
3) We decorate the dining room with red/green paper chains made from construction paper and magazine pages that are mostly red/green/white -ish. Preschoolers are old enough to cut out links and tape them together. We tape them in a streamer-like pattern over the dining room table and it looks so festive.
I am melting crayon bits and pieces in an old muffin tin and making “new” crayons for my nieces and nephews along with getting them a new coloring book from the dollar store.
I am making grocery bags for friends and family.
I am also making some cookie platters.
For my teen son, who loves Andy Warhol, I’m doing a Warhol-style triptych of our dogs in Photoshop. Cost is only whatever it will cost me to print out something poster-sized at a print shop.
Lots of instructions for doing this kind of picture are available online. It’s easy and fun!
8 Grandkids for about $3 each….New fuzzy PJ’s, a matching Teddy bear, new color book and crayons, fun toothbrush, small book, and a candy cane. Yes, I said $3 each. Luckily, I sew!
The PJ’s are homemade out of fabric from fluffy bathrobes I got at a $1/bag rummage sale. I have about 10 cents in each set of PJ’s - the teddy bears are made out of the same fabric as the PJ’s. Color books, crayons and toothbrushes came from the Dollar store. Small books were in a set, dividable, from a garage sale, and the candy cane at the gorcery outlet - about $15 cents each.
In addition - we will make memories….Thanks to a big $8 box of sugar cookie mix with all the decorations in it…. I’ll make cookies twice with the two bunches of little grandkids
Marci, you are a grandma after my own heart. I do the same kinds of things, you have to when the grandkids start adding up. What most people don’t realize is the kids love these kinds of things. Even the kids that get the expensive, top of the line presents all the time love these kinds of things. I think maybe because it is so different for the usual big ticket items they always get.
Good ideas.
Jill
I haven’t seen this idea so thought I would add it for larger families. We have ten children, five are married with children, five still @ home, (homeschooled). My husband has to take credit for our “gift giving”. We choose an amount $25- $30. We put the word out on Turkey Day.
Rules: #1. Box must be closed! (This one rule has given us boundless fun. Duct tape, string, rolls of ribbon, etc.
Rule #2. Dollar items only!(They can be purchased @ walmart, dollar stores, rummage sales, anywhere. They HAVE to be marked $1 or under.)
Rule #3: It must be decorated, somehow. (This isn’t really a rule. But, the competition can get fierce.) The guys really get into this. They will do their best to pack as much stuff into a box as they can. Then make it as difficult to open as possible. (Red & green duct tape)
We then apply a number to each of the boxes as they arrive. When its time to open presents these are usually last. My husband assigns a number to each box and then puts a matching number into a basket and they draw out a number. Obviously they don’t get their own box.
Sometimes we put homemade items in, usually not. The guys feel this isn’t in the true ’spirit’ of The Box. We do not do ‘The Box’ for the children although, with eight grandchildren and five teens we are thinking of something similar.
This has been one of the best Christmas traditions we have done. Competition is fierce between the guys, who can buy the best, the most, for the cheapest! This tradition has seen us through law school (for some), unemployment, expensive weddings, debts, medical bills, etc..
One thing I should add, keep the gifts in good taste. We could go to Sam’s and buy a case of toilet paper for under $25, that isn’t within the ’spirit’ of gift giving or the spirit of ‘The Box’. ALWAY Keep it Fun!