KidsHappen Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Everyone in the family is broke, broke, broke. So we had to figure out how to celebrate in ways that cost as little as possible. The teens are coming here for the last weekend of the month. That's my 14 yr. old's birthday, the anniversary (memorial) of my mother's death (her birthday was the 30th) and the we will go trick or treating in the historic dowmtown area. We usually have a family dinner at a restaurant of the b-day person's choice so that will be our only cost. Of course, the teens will have to drive here but they will be staying at home. We are going to my dd'd for Thanksgiving dinner. We will all contribute to the dinner. Then we will have family pictures done which we will also all contribute to. For Christmas we have decided to spend a day at a Great Wolf Lodge. They have a suite that will hold 8 for $400 per night. That is $100 per couple. So we are going to do that and then go back to my dd's for Christmas dinner and then exchange white elephant gifts (because we enjoy them so much) and we are going to try and handmake one gift for each person. This will end up costing significantly less than normal and I think we will enjoy it even more. Is anyone else planning radical changes in the hopes of saving money? Share your plans? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We've always tried to keep holiday expectations low, like just getting one gift for the whole family, or one gift per kid. Dh grew up like this, so it seems normal to him. Our kids know we do things much more simply than other people, but since they've always known it this way, they don't seem too disappointed. They may do much more elaborate celebrations when they have their own families, though. I think your plans sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 That sounds like a lot of fun! I don't think anyone will feel deprived and since your littles aren't so little, it's time to transition away from the Christmas present frenzy to family togetherness anyway, IMHO. I hope you all enjoy yourselves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Dh got nothing for Christmas or birthdays as a child, not because his parents couldn't afford it, but because his father had never wanted a third child and so he "punished" him by refusing to allow him to receive gifts. So, as a dad, it has always been HUGELY important to dh to have BIG Christmases for the kids. I finally convinced him last year that big isn't always better and we did something simpler. We used less than half of what dh would normally spend and purchased a Wii for the entire family plus the Wii fit plus and some games. We put simple things in their stockings and the whole day was a blast. We had so much fun and have decided to do the same thing this year. More games and add-ons for the Wii, simple buffet style food to snack on throughout the day, and playing together. We also managed to find ski's for the entire family at garage sales and thrift stores this year for less than $100.00 for the six of us and we will be hurling ourselves down a quasi - bunny hop hill at mil's house. Dh is going to use his power winch to rig a tow rope to a couple of big trees that are off to the side and at the top of the hill so that we can get back up. No cost skiing! MIL said she'd provide doughnuts, muffins, hot chocolate, and cider for the skiiers. So, I'm really excited about Christmas Day at our house and SOOOOOO glad not to have mega amounts of things to wrap, wrapping paper all over the house, and everyone doing their own thing with their mound of toys. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Several years ago, to reign in what had always been Christmas spending that caused us to be embarassed and shake our heads at ourselves, dh devised the Family Gift Matrix. It's an Excell spreadsheet that allows each person to spend $X on each other person, and that's it. As we make our purchases, we enter them in the Matrix. Clearly this encourages more thought to be put into finding less expensive and/or materialistic gifts. Straying from the Matrix renders it irrellevant and, because dh is so proud of it and it has made Christmas manageable and reasonable, that doesn't happen much! It Our current spending limit is $25 per person, but that can obviously be adjusted as needed. It's worked wonderfully! The kids always know they'll be having a modest Christmas (usually on principal rather than out of necessity, which teaches them yet another lesson), and it's replaced much of the materialism of the season with thoughtfulness and togetherness. We also extend this rule to buying for immediate family members, usually doing carbon copy gifts like calendars. This year we had our first professional family photos taken in over a decade(!), so the grandparents and uncles will get a nicely framed photo of the whole family. They'll actually be thrilled about that! The Matrix also encourages us to "make up" for modest Christmas gifts by putting more thought (and usually money) into everyone's individual birthday throughout the rest of the year. Now Christmas is better for us, and birthdays are better for them. As a rule, we don't buy for extended family, usually just some homemade baked goods, etc. I'm happy to share the Matrix if anyone's interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I finally convinced him last year that big isn't always better and we did something simpler. We used less than half of what dh would normally spend and purchased a Wii for the entire family plus the Wii fit plus and some games. We put simple things in their stockings and the whole day was a blast. We had so much fun and have decided to do the same thing this year. More games and add-ons for the Wii, simple buffet style food to snack on throughout the day, and playing together. Faith Last year, we did this, too. We took it on faith that the kids would be OK receiving one "huge" gift between all 5 of us (a Wii). It certainly soaked up every dollar on our Matrix (described in my post above), but we were able to slip an inexpensive Wii game for each into their stockings. It was pretty funny when they woke up on Christmas morning and saw only one more present under the tree, rather than the several they expected "Santa" to bring. Since this was our first video game system, they were overjoyed when they opened it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Dh got nothing for Christmas or birthdays as a child, not because his parents couldn't afford it, but because his father had never wanted a third child and so he "punished" him by refusing to allow him to receive gifts. Faith :crying: How awful! Thankfully it sounds like your dh is a very loving dad! Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Dh got nothing for Christmas or birthdays as a child, not because his parents couldn't afford it, but because his father had never wanted a third child and so he "punished" him by refusing to allow him to receive gifts. I agree. So awful! :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We're not doing anything unorthodox here. This Christmas will be way, way smaller than usual. No electric guitars, amps, or American Girl Dolls this year. Our typical Christmas is extravagant to some, but pretty sedate compared to how much the average American spends. I'm a little bummed because we don't buy our kids stuff during the year, so Christmas has always been a big deal. This year it will be pretty modest. The kids have been told and understand why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We're not doing anything unorthodox here. This Christmas will be way, way smaller than usual. No electric guitars, amps, or American Girl Dolls this year. Our typical Christmas is extravagant to some, but pretty sedate compared to how much the average American spends. I'm a little bummed because we don't buy our kids stuff during the year, so Christmas has always been a big deal. This year it will be pretty modest. The kids have been told and understand why. Now to continue to read these posts for more ways to make it fun! I like the idea of going somewhere different or play lots of games together or a short outing that everyone would like. I'm great for finding little thinks cheaply at dollar stores, on sale at places like TJMax, making little things. Wrap every little thing (even the toothbrushes and bandaids). It makes it fun. :D We send my ds and family a themed box every year. One year I made skirts and sent a 50's party with some music, Russia With Love which included a couple of books, video, russian teacake cookies, and little goofy things that I can't remember. All in all they are fun and relatively inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I think it sounds like great fun You get 2 days at Great Wolf Lodge-the day you arrive and the day you leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Dh got nothing for Christmas or birthdays as a child, not because his parents couldn't afford it, but because his father had never wanted a third child and so he "punished" him by refusing to allow him to receive gifts. Not to derail the thread, but that is just horrible. Your poor dh. Did his siblings get presents? Your dh sounds like a thoughtful and generous man in spite of his father's cruelty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 One year when we had a tight Christmas one of the kids' under-the-tree gifts was a box (purchased on sale) of their favorite sugary cereal. We only ever have Cheerios or Life cereal in our pantry, so this was very exciting for them, and since we always open presents before breakfast it meant I didn't have to plan anything special for Christmas morning breakfast. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 I am thinking of having a good friend over with her two children (if they want to come). She is going through a nasty divorce and could use the break. I love to cook and bake for Christmas and just being together would be fun. I would like to restrict everyone to purchasing one gift under $30.00. None of us need anything major and with the economy on life support, we cannot afford to run up a bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We have always tried to throw 1 gift into the mix that will make everyone laugh. Usually we pick a quirky thing about somebody and play off of it. Last year was an exception, Santa brought a stork to soon to be new grandparents, aunts and uncles.:D Santa gifts are usually something pretty special. We were able to keep quiet for about 3 months. We haven't figured out how to top that one this year;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenpatty Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Maybe you already knew this - but Great Wolf's prices fluctuate daily. Sometimes you can save a couple hundred on a room if you happen to go on a day that they have open ones. You do have to call & reserve on the day you want to stay, though, so it might not work in your situation. We happen to live near one. Lol, did that make sense? Either way, it sounds like a fun idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We started this last year and it worked well - all dh's siblings, instead of drawing names and exchaging gifts, we just all made little homemade gift baskets for each family. I make good bread, so I made each family bread and included a jar of homemade jam. My sil made yummy little bundt cakes, another sil made plates of pretty cookies. It went over really well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaAkins Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 We no longer exchange with much of our extended family and my parents have told us not to buy for them--just to put the money towards the kids' gifts. With friends, we either give homemade (usually food) gifts and/or cards. With my closest 6 friends, we do an ornament exchange. (Each of us buys or makes one nice Christmas ornament and then we draw numbers to see who gets which one). Mostly, we try to focus on spending quality time together and on community service to make the holidays enjoyable. We spend whole days baking cookies, treats and breads. We try to adopt at least one person off the Angel tree at my dd's dance studio so we can focus on someone less fortunate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 We are trying to cut way back on gifts for our children this year. We cut out extended family gifts except for the kids (5 grandkids total) and we usually do something low cost for my Mom. Then, we purchase gifts for MIL and BIL. We are taking the advice of someone else from the Hive that said they purchase 4 gifts for kids: Something they want, something they need, something to play with and something to read. My MIL has gone over the top for girls this year so they will still get plenty. I am planning to try to incorporate more of a sense of charity in my girls this year as well. They usually have to use their own money to purchase something for Toys for Tots and I want to do something else this year as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 We're going hiking on Thanksgiving Day! We're not deliberately trying to save money -- we just wanted to do something unorthodox -- but I think campfire food on Thanksgiving sounds like fun. Maybe we'll catch a wild turkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 Maybe you already knew this - but Great Wolf's prices fluctuate daily. Sometimes you can save a couple hundred on a room if you happen to go on a day that they have open ones. You do have to call & reserve on the day you want to stay, though, so it might not work in your situation. We happen to live near one. Lol, did that make sense? Either way, it sounds like a fun idea! Yes, we saw that. For some reason it seems that the one we want to visit is much cheaper on the 23rd of Dec. than any other day that week so that is probably the day we will go with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyce Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 We started it about 7 years ago. We used to go to my moms on Christmas Eve or day and we'd have a big meal with all the trimmings. After she died we had to celebrate at home. We talked about it with the kids and we were trying to save time on clean up so we could just play games in the evening and listen to carols. The kids revealed that they didn't really like Turkey that much so we asked them what they would like to have for Christmas and they quickly said Pizza. At first it sounded like a horrible idea after all what's Christmas without turkey or ham but the more we thought about it the more we liked it. The tradition is now to make up 2 bathes of pizza dough. There are four of us so we split the batches into 4. Each of us is given a cookie sheet with some flour on it and we each get to make our own pizza in any shape we want. When the kids were younger they got real imaginative with their shapes. We'd make sure we had topping we all like, such as bacon, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, beef, green peppers etc. Each of us would put on what ever we wanted on our pizza and we'd cook them. It was so much fun to make and we spent lots of time together. And the clean up is actually not so hard. The good part is that we had leftovers that we all actually wanted to eat instead of it going to waste or turning into something we lived with for days until we got sick of it. My kids would kill us now if we didn't keep doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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