How to Use Your Kids to Cut Your Christmas Spending

It’s that time a year again when every store front seems to attract all the pounds in your pocketbook. From big box stores to country market boutiques, it appears everyone on your Christmas list is just dying to have that one thing they’ve been longing for all year. With each gift requested to fill, cards to send or new must have tree ornament, so shrinks your bank account. So how can you rein in the endless spending of this holiday season without appearing to be a spendthrift? Harness your kids’ creativity! Teach them embroidery by incorporating different quilting pattern, or maybe teach them how to make cards!

If you are like most people, your holiday budget doesn’t stretch as far as you need it to. You have to budget for sending cards, gift giving, and holiday decorating. If encouraged positively, your kids can help you cut your Christmas spending by up to 50 %. Think about all the holiday cards you send every year. With an average of 3-5 per card, not including the cost of postage (if required), that can add up to a pretty hefty expense. Why not try making your own Christmas cards? If you spend 3- 5 for a package of 100 pieces of card stock in assorted colours, you have a terrific head start for a special, truly unique card. Add glitter, glue, markers, stickers, ribbons or easy print card templates from the internet, your kids will have a ball creating mini masterpieces to send to everyone on your card list.

In the words of Blue Peter, here’s one I made earlier…

Another area that can suck your holiday budget dry is gift giving. Much like the homemade cards, nothing says love, or ‘I appreciate you,’ more than a handmade gift. It doesn’t take much thinking to decide between a homemade gift and a store-bought one when you simply don’t have the money to give everyone on your list their heart’s desire. Once again, call upon the help of your kids to save your budget. It will take some creativity on your part to find age-appropriate gifts they can create, but the end result is worth it. Some suggestions include making assorted baked goods and serving in gaily wrapped tissue paper, homemade scented wax candles, or for more personal gift giving, having kids paint and string various sized paper mache beads into necklaces and bangles.

Who says you have to rival Buckingham Palace with your holiday decorations? Instead of buying the next designer ornament, why not try making your own? Drag out ye old paper mache pulp again. If you have a small ball, you can use it as a mould for your own ball-style ornaments. Make your paper mache balls, finish with a metallic spray paint and poke a paper clip, slightly bent into the top and hang. You can also pop some popcorn, string it and drape it around your tree.

With a bit of researching online, surfing through holiday edition magazines, watching the ever present DIY holiday televised craft shows, you will find it easy to find ways to involve your kids and cut your Christmas spending.