Bring the Holiday Magic Without Breaking the Bank

As parents, we have the massive responsibility of making the holidays sparkle for our littles. They don't know or care (nor should they) about the cost-of-living crisis. Lucky us, this is yet another item to put in the 'our problem' category. And besides, according to them, Santa doesn't have a budget. My kids have a list as long as my arm of allll the things they want to see under the tree, and we've got to come up with a solution to a) make their dreams come true and b) not push us off the cliff into bankruptcy. Clearly, it's no small feat, but we've come up with some tips and tricks to keep you in the black this holiday season.

Mitigate Expectations

Even the little ones can understand some basic, let's call them, concepts (read: white lies). You have our permission at this very special time of year. Try something like this: Santa's elves have been sick this year and can't make as many toys, so they will need to choose only <insert # here> gifts this year. Or if you want to be a real giant a-hole, you can tell them the Grinch actually stole Christmas. I kid, I kid.

Local Marketplaces 

Although our wallet/earth/time-saving app isn't quite ready yet, you can start itemising all the toys that are going unused in your houses right now. While you wait for us, you save money by selling clothes, toys, books, and equipment on local marketplaces. Yes, we hate the awkward interactions as much as you do… that's why we created this swapping app… but to make a few extra bucks, we can hold our noses and just suck it up for the holidays. You can also buy gently used items that are new to them, clean them up and put a bow on them. And voila, they will be none the wiser. This is great for the littles, but maybe not so much for the older ones! You may even find brand spanking new items with tags still attached for half off retail. It's like a GD Christmas miracle.

No-Cost-Christmas Activities

My daughter and I have a Christmas tradition that, unfortunately, we won't be partaking in this holiday season. We would get all dolled up in our best dresses and faux fur coats, go out for a fancy dinner and head to our local theatre's production of The Nutcracker. Truth be told, I don't even love the show, but I do love the girl bonding time and yummy dinner, so I'm quite sad to miss this year - It's just not in the budget. And that's OK. We will hopefully resume the tradition next year. So, in lieu, we are going to make cookies and watch a Christmas movie at home. All this to say, you may have to amend your traditions or get creative and make new ones. You can host an ugly sweater and hot chocolate party at home or go sledding or skating at your local hill or pond… don't forget to bring the Baileys and coffee! Invite friends and family over for Christmas board games… or holiday-themed charades. You get the gist!

Potluck Holiday Dinner

First of all, it should always be a potluck style dinner, because let's face it, putting on a big scoff for 20 people is hella tiring… not to mention hugely expensive! If you usually foot the bill and put in all the man hours, I strongly urge you to take this opportunity to put a quick stop to that nonsense. It's always the same people (looking at you, Uncle Bob and Aunt Helen) that show up with a cheap-ass bottle of wine, sit and eat everything in sight, and leave before it's time to clean up. Ask each attending family to take on one item from the absolutely massive Christmas menu, and maybe you can actually enjoy the meal this year? Dare to dream.

I know the holidays can be stressful, with or without oodles of cash. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make it perfect. I'm so guilty of this. But how about we cut ourselves some slack this year? Let's get creative, spread out the workload and the cost… and we can get through it relatively unscathed with a little effort. No one wants to start the New Year drowning in December's credit card debt.

Now if we could just get rid of that damn elf. That will be next year's plan.