At Casa Davis, this Christmas will be a humble and frugal one and I'm excited about it! It forces me to be even more creative. During the past 3 years that we've been married we've kept everything pretty low-key with the focus being on Christ and family time together instead of presents under the tree and a whole lot of hoopla. This year in particular we have decided to forgo buying Christmas presents for each other. We truly do not need any more 'stuff'. And really, don't we all just have too much stuff? Not only does it help us keep our home clutter-free but it also saves us money too.
One thing we really enjoy doing is making each other gifts and using our talents and getting creative instead of heading to the mall or surfing endlessly online. More on that in my next post where I'll share with you exactly what we made for each other last year! We DO like to fill up little stockings so our budget is basically $20 and under. It's those little things that you feel guilty buying for yourself like a $10 starbucks gift card or a pretty new lipgloss.
We do not in any way feel deprived and do not have any expectations from other family members either. In fact, we've all decided to do a very casual Christmas exchange with our parents and inlaws. There are no children in the family so it is easy peasy and we have a small, set budget for the 5 people we'll be buying for.
I love to decorate so the fun for me has been decorating the tree and the the front porch, making some homemade Christmas decor on a budget, mulling apple cider in the evenings and curling up with some DVD's from the library or listening to a festive CD. Because we live in a high tourist area, Hubby and I also love to go to the biggest, grandest hotels and check out their holiday decor, it's always so beautiful and perfect for photo opps. We usually try to dress up and snap a few pictures. Last year our Christmas card included a fun photo of us in front of some gorgeous holiday scenery and the best part is it's free, no studio sitting fee.
Classy women know their budget and stay within it. They don't feel the need to go into debt so they can provide flashy gifts on Christmas morning or to impress anyone so they'll feel like a success. A $100 gift today could translate into thousands down the road in compounded interest if your credit card cannot be paid off in a timely manner. I've seen this happen so many times and when January comes they are the very women who are panicking and not sure how they'll pay their rent and then get even deeper into debt. It's important to remember that your family and friends will love you no matter how inexpensive their gifts are. In their hearts I'm sure time with you will be considered far more valuable.
How about you? What have you and your families decided to do this Christmas. Do you go all out or draw names so each family member buys for just one person? There are so many great ideas among families to ease the burden of gift giving. I'd love to hear yours so leave a comment. :)
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