Are You Feeling Financially Squeezed By Christmas This Year?

Is money for Christmas gifts more than a little scarce at your house this year? If so, you are definitely not alone. Thousands upon thousands of parents are wondering whether or not they will be able to afford even one of the items on their kids’ ambitious Christmas “want” lists let alone the whole bunch.

As a parent, I know how hard it is to go from being able to get a number of gifts for each child to a year when I wasn’t sure I could give them even one. If you are in that spot right now, there are a number of things you can do.

First of all, let the kids in on the news that times are tough. Don’t be afraid to tell them that money is harder to come by this year, and that they need to lower their expectations a bit.. It might even be a good time to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas, and how sad it is that Christmas has come to the point where many people only think of it as a time for getting lots of gifts for themselves. Kids are pretty resilient and will come through with flying colors when they understand there is a real need for it.

Do tell them that you will try to see that they each have one nice gift under the tree, and try very hard to do that if it is at all possible.

To fill in after that, how about taking stock of what you already have around the house.

If you mothers are like me, you probably have stacks of unused yardage in your sewing area. How about making an imaginative pillow cover or some new drapes for the kids’ rooms? Even small scraps of yardage can be used to make new clothes for Barbie, or other types of dolls kids already own. Both boys and girls might appreciate a lap quilt for watching TV, or a batch of their favorite cookies packed into a unique but inexpensive container picked up at the Dollar Store. For that matter, use some of that unused yardage to cover a paper box to make a container for the cookies, and save your dollar.

Try digging around in their closets; you will be surprised at what turns up. Toys with dead batteries will seem like new after you replace the batteries and shine the toy up a bit.

Toys that the kids once loved before they became unusable can usually be repaired. The other day I read about a book on how to repair an Xbox 360 in less than an hour or your money back. I couldn’t help wondering how many inactive Xboxes are gathering dust on some kid’s closet shelf when they could be repaired and give their owners many more hours of pleasure. (If your kid is one of those people, here is a link where you can find out how to get that repair book for yourself— Click Here! and it’s downloadable, so you would have plenty of time to get it done before Christmas.)

If you do have just a little cash to spare, try spending it on craft materials instead of on individual gifts. This could result in great memory-making moments as the whole family gathers around to work on crafts as a group.

When there are older children as well as very small ones, getting the older ones to help make gifts for the younger ones is a great activity. (Actually that could work in reverse, also if you choose easier crafts and let the younger ones make gifts for the older ones.) Use Google online to find free craft ideas for making gifts out of items found around the house. Here’s just one to help get you started: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/index.shtml#kids

A trip to the dollar store can make a great gift and not cost a lot. I’ll admit that older children might not be thrilled with a trip to the dollar store, but most kids under ten will love it if you give them even as little as one or two dollars and then make a special trip for them to spend their money at the dollar store. Most of them will consider dozens of items before finally making their purchases so be prepared to spend considerable time in the store.

There are hundreds of other things you could do or give to your kids that won’t take a lot of cash. The important thing is to let them know ahead of time that there won’t be as much money as usual to spend this Christmas so they will have time to get used to the idea ahead of time. They might even surprise you and come up with some excellent suggestions of their own.