Holiday Shopping for Tightwads

There's a lot of reasons that the holidays are the most depressing time of year, and though most of them are attributed to dysfunctional families and bigotry, one of those reasons is money.

Year after year the hot items seem to be pricier, the targeted ads are more aggressive, and the pressure to spend is screaming like a tea kettle at this point. I've found a way to keep Holiday spending for 12 adults and 1 child well under half a paycheque and I've got some tips so you can too. It's gonna take a little bit of imagination, a sprinkle of good intentions, a shot of bourbon (that's for me), and maybe a bit of elbow grease. But it won't take thousands of dollars. SO LET'S GO. Hannah's Holidays on a budget, or as my mother would call it, Christmas for Tightwads.

Think of my tips for a wallet-friendly holiday haul as a Christmas tree. Observe this classy looking tree in what appears to be a palace, somewhat contradictory to the message of my entire article:

First, we have the base of the tree. The base of the tree is what keeps the whole thing up and holds it in place: that's your budget or price limit per person. No matter WHAT, if you want to avoid overspending, you pick that price limit and you stay within it. Let me tell you I've done Christmases on $30 per person, OR LESS if I found a good sale, and it made no difference. Seriously, if you're giving gifts to people who will be upset about what you spent, you can also save your wallet by giving them absolutely nothing because they're assholes!

Then, moving up the tree, we have the full, fluffy, festive branches that really make your tree come to life: that's your traditions. I'm not talking about pictures with the least smelly mall Santa or driving around to look at Christmas lights while listening to crappy Christmas music, I'm talking gift-giving traditions. If you have a lot of adult siblings, decide on something like each person drawing one name, or each household bringing a gift for an exchange game every year, or just skipping gifts and enjoying each other's company. For kids, avoid the pressure to shop till you drop by doing something like these snowman gift towers:

Stick a toy or two in the bottom box, clothes in the middle, candy in the head, and a keepsake in the hat. Saves dollars AND mess!

Now of course, all over the tree we've got some nice ornaments adding a special and personal touch to the Holiday decor: those are craft gifts or a theme. If you have the time, this tip can really cut costs while still keeping the season of giving thoughtful and fun. For friends and adult family members, try picking a theme to your gift-giving or gift exchanges. Things that you'll apply to every single gift, like "DIY", "Home Made with Love", "Best Dollar Store Finds" or "$20 gift basket". Obviously you're at an advantage on this one if you're crafty, but even with another price limit theme, everyone can play along in the same price range and be happy not to just pick out or make something fun for their loved ones. Hell, do a baking exchange-- no one hates Christmas cookies! One year, we bought everyone we knew 1 month's subscription to some sort of monthly gift box we thought they would like; if they liked it, they could continue it and pay for it their damn selves, and if they didn't want to spend the money, they got a box of fun stuff to open that didn't cost us $100. Everybody won. One year, we bought a few of our friends supplies to do DIY nights at home for date nights and they all used them and loved them. Ran us about $15 per person!

And of course, the iconic final touches, the star, angel, or bra on top of the Christmas tree, is the nice eco-friendly wrapping paper and reusable boxes. Saving the planet really is the piece de resistance; there's no use in trying to save money and enjoy the Holidays if we all die a fiery death due to global warming and pollution am I right? SO-- for example, those snowman gift towers? Yep-- just get four boxes with lids and wrap them up, making sure your kids don't rip up the lids, and just use the same ones every year in different wrapping. You buy one set of four boxes and can use them for years! Wrap the rest of your gifts in brown or white paper and tie them up with cute twine or ribbon and you're serving rustic vintage holiday fabulous! Not only is that less flashy, un-shimmery wrapping paper priced lower, but it's also the only wrapping paper you can recycle-- save a dollar and the world!

And there you have it, the cheap but classy and thoughtful way to not make Christmas an all-out money suck:

1. Base/Budget

2. Branches/Traditions

3. Ornaments/Crafts or Themes

4. The Star on Top/ Eco-friendly Wrapping

May your tightwad trees be ever so lovely.