This is the first Christmas is years that will be a proper Christmas for my family. We've moved during the last few and I'm excited to be at home and looking forward to establishing some of our own Christmas traditions. Hairbaby, who is only 5 months old, will be too young to remember it, but Headbanger is almost 20 months old and will be able to appreciate the fun of big family meals, decorating and opening presents.
As the kids are still very young and will play with anything, I've been trying to find second-hand toys to give them. I've been looking on Ebay, but have had better luck on Craigslist. Last week, I bought a Little People Car Garage set for Headbanger for $10. Its in good shape and it retails for about $30-$40.
Flashlight and I feel that saving money is important this year. New gifts will be kept to a minimum and we'll spend a lot of time making candies and other treats. We've also decided that every Christmas season from now on will involve a Lord of the Rings Extended Edition marathon.
What are your holiday traditions and how will you be saving money this year?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
A Second-Hand Christmas
Posted by Nancy Ross at 10:01 AM
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4 comments:
We too are doing an inexpensive Christmas simply because we never in 10 years of marriage had the forethought to save a little money each month so that we actually can buy stuff. So everything is going to be handmade or an activity. Sassafrass is getting some doll clothes and sewing lessons. Jedi is getting a trip to the Science museum in the State Capitol which he has been begging for for several months. HotDog is getting Kung Fu lessons since he insists on doing Kung Fu everywhere to the detriment of innocent bystanders (ie., almost kicking old lady at mall yesterday). I am making pajama pants for Beau Brummel, and both of his parents. I am making my own mother a scrapbook. I am not getting anything for my siblings unless I find I have more time instead of less as Christmas approaches. I love giving hand made presents, but I wonder if people really like to receive them. I have received many hand made presents from Beau Brummel, but occasionally I think that I would just like him to spend the $20 and get me that silpat or cheesegrater or popcorn popper. Every year I ask for those same three things and I never get them. Is $20 to much to spend on your spouse?
A couple of years ago, we decided that huge presents at Christmas really steals the spotlight from Christ, who is really the reason we are celebrating. So our kids get their "big" presents for birthdays and at christmas they get 3 smaller things from Santa to represent the 3 presents from the Wisemen and then one thing from mom & dad, and of course the stockings get stuffed as well. I think it helps my kids remember what the season is about and it's much less stressful because it doesn't seem so commercial at our house. I also frequently check ebay, craigslist, and thrift stores for presents because I just can't afford a lot of brand new stuff and the grandparents tend to be generous anyway. As for me and Guy Noir, we have a super fun game we play for gifts. We set a limit (usually $30 or less) and we each go shopping to find what WE want for christmas. Then we tell each other where it is and how much, i.e. "What I really want is at Wal-Mart and it's $24.95". Then we have to go to the respective stores and hunt for the other person's gift... and it has to be exactly the same price at that particular store... hopefully we manage to pick the right one, but either way, it's a blast.... and cheap. It also helps keep us from going over the spending limit, which used to happen a lot. If we're really poor, we do homemade gifts for each other, which can also be a lot of fun. Once Guy Noir made a book for me of all the things he loves about me. He wrote something down and drew a picture every day for a month. Then he took an old pair of his corduroy pants and cut out and hand stitched a book cover for it. To this day, it's one of the very best gifts I've ever gotten. I cried when I read it! Anyway, that's all I've got. I'm glad to know that we're not the only ones with an extra tight budget this year! Happy Christmas! Good luck!
p.s. Opal... I think $20 is really reasonable and if you've asked for the same things every year, certainly he'll catch on...? Maybe you could have your kids help him shop and "suggest" things that you would like :)
I like handmade things. Flashlight and I are fortunate to have everything that we need and so handmade gifts are really special. For my birthday this year, my sister sent me some bits and pieces of nostalgia that were lying around the house we grew up in. She didn't even make anything, but it showed a lot of thought and I was really touched by the effort. For Christmas, I'm going to package up some memories for her and I think that she'll appreciate that more than anything I could buy.
Same for us. Inexpensive christmas. I even used a tiny plastic Christmas tree (2 feet high?) and old decorations but they still had a lot of fun. It does not really matter as long as everybody is enjoying his time.
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