Christmas can be so stressful for everyone, but when you have a tight budget it can be worse. This is the perfect time to start making meaningful Christmas traditions that work on a tight budget instead of giving expensive gifts through the month or doing expensive things. I prefer to give my kids memories that they can hold on to forever rather than something that is going to get tossed out after the holidays are over.
10+ Christmas Traditions for A Tight Budget
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An Advent Calendar
There are a lot of options for advent calendars when sticking to a tight budget. There are the cheaper ones that have small chocolates each day, which is what we usually get, but you could also make your own. You can create a countdown with paper chains, taking one away each day, simple, effective, and great on your budget.
Special Start Days
These could be like a certain day each year that you do certain things such as November 1st I start putting out my snowmen decorations. December 1st we put our tree up and all of our Christmas decorations go up.
Go See Lights
Depending on your area you might be able to walk around your neighborhood or you might be more like us and have to drive to see the Christmas lights that are up around your neighborhood.
Movie Night!
We have movie nights quite often as a family, but during December we have more so that we can watch all of our favorite holiday movies, it is a fun Christmas tradition to watch new and old Christmas movies.
Cookie Decorating
We usually do this on either December 23rd or 24th so that we have cookies for Santa. Otherwise, they just won’t last and we’ll have to make for him. This is one of the few Christmas traditions that my hubby does with our kids and I stay out of … except for the eating part of course.
Making Gifts
My kids love to make ornaments for their Grandparents for Christmas. They get to be crafty, create a memory, and have a special, budget-friendly gift to give out of their own.
Visiting Santa
Is there a special Santa that you like to take your kids to see? We have been going to see the Cabela’s Santa for six years, they get a kick out of seeing Santa dressed in a camo suit. They also don’t charge you for a single photo here which is perfect for my budget. Yes, they do try to upsell you, but you don’t have to buy.
Letter to Santa
In Canada, if you send a letter to Santa, he writes back. There is a time limit as to when you need your letter mailed to ensure that the volunteers have time to write it back.
Make a Gingerbread House
A few years ago we bought a kit for making our own gingerbread house from scratch, forgetting that Momma is not the world’s best cookie baker. This is one area I spend a little more and just buy the kit.
You can also get a Lego Gingerbread house! A fun project for the whole family to do each year.
Tracking Santa
This is our favorite pastime and Christmas tradition for Christmas Eve. Plus, educational! We get interested in looking up the places as Santa flies over.
Use a Special Plate for Santa’s Cookies
We were given a special plate to use 10 years ago for our oldest daughters’ first Christmas. It’s a special plate that doesn’t cost us to use and has become a Christmas tradition to us.
More stocking stuffer ideas:
Stocking Stuffers for Men
Stocking Stuffers for Women
Stocking Stuffers for Kids