You Never Know if Someobe Is Really Having a Merry Christmas

We never really accept a whole lot of coin to spend on Christmas gifts, just this year feels especially light. December and January are always slow months at my husband's commission income job. We are too doing everything we tin to salve for a larger van by the fourth dimension our baby girl arrives in April, and we need to exist pre-paying for the delivery. And the downstairs floor needs to exist replaced – not an emergency all the same, but if we permit ourselves spend the money in our savings account, it will never happen.

I *know* that presents don't truly make kids happy, merely equally a parent, I would love to be able to merely buy some of the items on their lists without worrying about the cost. Not to mention gifts for my sweetie – we rarely go each other anything!

Yesterday, the boys and I went out for dejeuner after being iced in for four days (this is what happens in Texas where in that location are no snow plows!), and anybody was a picayune grouchy after all the dreary weather and being stuck inside the house. At the restaurant, ane of the boys launched into a full scale pout and mope session afterwards I told him that he could not have more Cheetos until he ate his sandwich. The beliefs was so exasperating, and I gave into the temptation to be frustrated and angry with him.

After, I was thinking about gifts. And the meltdown at luncheon. And I realized that although the kids would probably not acknowledge it at this stage in their lives, it really is truthful that people are more important than things. When they are grown, their primary memories will probably non be the number of gifts under the tree and how that compared to what their friends received. Just they will recall the relationships.

Sometimes, buying "things" is easier than controlling my tongue with an uncooperative kid, reading yet some other story, or taking the time to really listen. Simply I know it's true that the latter are the most important things. For i, the Bible says they are. And we see this played out in real life. A couple months ago, I took a poll of my readers on the Frugal Fun for Boys Facebook folio. I asked if people had grown up in a large family unit, and if so, whether or not they liked growing up with a lot of brothers and sisters. The responses fit my theory – the biggest factor in the happiness of large families seems to exist the mental attitude of the parents (delectation, love, and treating the children as a gift and not a burden) and actually has little to practise with finances. I imagine that this is really true regardless of family unit size!

And so I am giving myself a firm talking-to. I am thankful that nosotros accept money for the things we need, and that we even have money to make decisions with at all. I am reminding myself that not buying a lot of gifts is a choice we are making considering we want to be wise with upcoming needs. And I am thinking of all the ways that we can enjoy a Merry Christmas without spending a lot of coin on gifts or entertainment this flavor. In that location are enough of means to relish the season and to create fun family unit memories without spending a lot of cash!

• Play board games by the tree.

• Proceed your vacation schedule relaxed. Don't keep going and doing to the point where everyone is tired, stressed, and grouchy.

• Make fourth dimension to keep your focus on Christ as the reason for our celebration!

• Choose to smile, be content in God'southward provision, and set a cheerful tone for your firm despite the finances, bad weather, traffic, sickness, or cranky children.

• Find a Christmas concert to attend. Many churches offer a free Christmas programme – I know ours does!

• Found some family traditions. Choose a few things to practise every year, and make a large deal out of them! Traditions make people experience like they are part of something. This is ane that we really could do amend on.

• Write a love annotation to your spouse and put it under the tree if there is not money for gifts. Do this fifty-fifty if y'all are buying gifts. Gifts will exist forgotten, but the human relationship is worth cherishing! (We did this one year, and I'yard so glad we did. We should do it again!)

• Pray – You never know how God might provide gifts to requite from unexpected sources!

• Allow your kids run into how much you care about and respect their dad. Family stability is a powerful gift that yous tin give them. (I know this isn't always possible, only I'k just proverb – don't fail your spouse with all of the busy-ness in your life! Kids need to know their parents love each other.)

• Cut out paper snowflakes or string popcorn.

• Choose to brand someone else's flavour a niggling brighter. Accept homemade cookies or Christmas ornaments to your dentist or doctor, or exit a picayune treat out for the mail homo. Show your kids how to appreciate people who may not ordinarily receive gifts at Christmas – like the lab people at the doctor's role. Who takes Christmas cookies to their phlebotomist?

• Go expect at Christmas lights. And before you lot go, print off a complimentary Christmas light scavenger hunt.

• Eat dinner on a blanket and watch a Christmas movie.

• Watch for coupons. Hallmark usually has some adept $five off a $x purchase coupons that I accept used to get modest blimp animals for stockings.

• Tell your kids every day something that yous love about them.

• Read a book together as a family. Here are some books that we love.

• Practise a Jesse tree. It'south not too late to start on Jesse tree devotions – no one says you take to exercise them all, and they are brusque enough that y'all can double up on days.

• Brand bootleg ornaments for the tree. Or build some ornaments out of Legos!

• Go caroling.

• I borrowed this last tip from Amy Lynn Andrews. She recommends telling your kids, "We're choosing to spend our money on something else," rather than saying, "We tin can't afford that." I Beloved this advice. This is specially applicable to Christmas. Instead of saying, "We tin't afford a lot of gifts," nosotros are telling our boys that we are choosing to save our coin for a van and for other things that we need. In our surface area, kids tend to receive a lot of expensive gifts. I desire the boys to understand that we are not victims – we are just choosing to spend our money a different way. And our happiness won't be compromised in any style!

What ideas can you add for making Christmas merry without a lot of expense? I'd especially dear to hear ideas for meaningful homemade gifts!

Likewise, when money is tight, y'all want to brand good decisions about gifts. Check out my list of Christmas gift ideas that won't plow into more toy clutter.

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Source: https://frugalfun4boys.com/celebrating-a-merry-christmas-when-money-is-tight/

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