The holidays are expensive. Between cooking lavish meals and buying extravagant gifts, all while paying a raised electric bill due to the multiple cords of stringed lights, expenses rack up quickly.
According to the National Retail Foundation, holiday spending is expected to rise between 2.5% and 3.5% during the 2024 holiday season. That’s between $979.5 and $989 billion dollars spent throughout November and December.
The foundation also reported that shoppers are expected to spend around $902 each this holiday season.
That’s a lot of money, especially for people who have to stick to a budget in their daily lives and those who find it important to give gifts and decorate for the holidays. As a university student, I am one of these people and I’ve grown up finding ways to be conservative in my spending while still enjoying the holidays.
From one Shocker to another, saving money is important, especially during the holidays when there are so many responsibilities and commitments. There are alternative ways besides emptying a savings account for gifts to participate in holiday celebrations.
Hand making gifts is a great way to save money during the holidays — and to spread holiday cheer.
When I was a kid, money was tight. When I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas, not realizing it was her money I would be spending, she always said nothing or to spend time with me.
Of course it didn’t sit well with me, as gift giving is one of my love languages. I’d do what little kids do best — make something. I made ornaments, booklets, ‘free hug’ coupons and poems. It’s still a tradition for me to write a poem that will inevitably make my mom cry on Christmas morning. She found these gifts more heart-warming than the pieces of jewelry I would give her later on.
The greatness of a homemade gift is that you can easily tailor it to who it’s for. For instance, if you know someone who enjoys music, you can print out a photo of their favorite artist and create a unique holiday card for them.
Make sure the craft is in your skill range and you make it something the other person will enjoy. It’s cheap, brings smiles and you can get into the holiday spirit in the process.
If crafting is outside of your wheelhouse, here are some other ideas for how you can inexpensively gift quality time with loved ones this holiday season.
One of my favorite activities during the holidays was going around town and looking at the light displays in surrounding neighborhoods. Dazzling and cute, inflatable snowmen get me in the holiday mood without having to spend a penny.
Of course there are light displays that cost money, such as Illuminations at Botanica and Wild Lights at the Sedgwick County Zoo, but a lot of the local ones are just neighborhood households that go all out.
Looking at light displays is a cost effective way to put even the Grinchiest of people in the festive spirit.
My best piece of advice for celebrating the holidays on a budget is to pay attention. Pay attention to newspapers, Facebook pages and flyers around town because, more often than not, there’s going to be at least one local event centered around the festivities of December.
I recommend looking at school or community Facebook pages to find these events or checking your local post offices or grocery store’s bulletin boards to find festive flyers.
These can range from candle lighting services to school Christmas concerts to holiday flea markets, such as the Kansas Global Holiday Market at Naftzger Park. These activities are a simple way to not only save money but to go out for a night and enjoy the company of others.
There’s also other activities such as local tours happening around Wichita like Victorian Christmas at Old Cowtown Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Allen House Museum and Study Center, which is decorated for the winter season.
Last but certainly not least is spending time with friends and family. You simply can not place a price tag on quality time with those you love. It could be a potluck, a white elephant or as simple as getting together to watch ‘Elf’ for the 100th time.
If your family does an annual potluck every year, I’d recommend either buying items in bulk or going to stores that offer a lot of holiday deals to make a quick and delicious dinner for cheap.
Being with someone is completely free and is bound to warm hearts throughout the freezing cold of winter.
In times such as these, where one tap can buy you a whole sleigh-full of presents, it’s easy to forget that the holidays aren’t solely based on retail sales and who gets the newest PlayStation. Sometimes it’s about making memories and messes in the kitchen with your mom or walking around in the snow, watching as the lights glow on your neighbor’s house.
