When I was very rich Christmas for me was simple, spend, spend, spend! My family and friends could always rely on me providing the very best food, drink and gifts money could buy. After all Harrods was my second home and showing off, my passion. These days after losing all my cash and having to get creative without spending and showing off, I am now an expert at Christmas on a budget saving money when it comes to any grand occasion, like the holidays or weddings.
Practise does make perfect and being the stylish chick I am over the years when I had lost my fortune and was rebuilding I shocked my friends and family with my budget ideas and creativity. One year I set myself a £5 budget per person and bought everyone a scratch card which ended up being the best entertainment at the party because my nephew got lucky with a £50 winner.
These days I always find it really hard to understand why people put themselves under so much unnecessary pressure for just one day in the year, starting the preparation months in advance. And even though I am no longer strapped for cash once you've seen something new and changed for the better you cannot go backwards. you see things differently. It is all about a price war for the stores who want you eating mince pies in October, drinking sherry in November, their plan to have you spent out by December 25th! No wonder everyone is overweight, tired, depressed, broke and washed out by January and all for what?
This year things are very tight for everyone and I’ve heard some people are even considering cancelling Christmas altogether, which if you are broke is the most sensible thing you could do in reality. Although just because you have no money does not mean you have to be miserable or miss out, you just have to think outside the box and do something unique and different.
I have listed below things I discovered when I had no cash to splash, my tried and tested budget Christmas tips. I have to say the biggest thing if you can swerve Christmas altogether is having absolutely no stress whatsoever, which is more important than anything else when it comes to lasting personal happiness.
How To Make A Free Homemade Christmas Tree
Go out into the woods for a nice long walk with the family and have some fun collecting yourself as many large twigs and sticks as possible. When you return home spray everything silver and gold with any old paint you have and leave to dry overnight. The following morning build a tall structure by layering the twigs on top of each other, securing with a glue gun until you have the height you desire. Don't worry about it being perfect. Once you have this ready decorate the tree structure with anything you can find that means something special to you then add your old Christmas lights. It will look amazing, be fun to do and will cost you nothing but your time.
How To Make Your Home Smell Christmas Wonderful
Place two large oranges in a low oven with peel still on and bake slowly for a few hours. The smell is amazing!
How To Wrap Your Presents To Look Unique and Cost Very Little
These days I recycle everything particularly lovely paper, tinsel, braid, ribbon. It’s a great idea to use up any old wall paper, newspaper or brown packing paper to wrap your gifts and then use old ribbon, wool or string to tie bows.
How To Create Holiday Atmosphere
My three best free/top tips. Take some time to create an amazing playlist, tracks that mean something to you or you know will surprise and excite your guests, that "I love this song" or "I haven't heard this for ages" or "who sang this" is an amazing way to break the ice at any gathering instead of just sticking on a Christmas compillation CD with all the same tracks, a bag of voltive candles from the 99 cent store and table centre pieces old bottles and jars and twigs or evergreen from the garden, if you can easily source Holly or Mistletoe all the better.
I love giving my time to make sure those who have nothing, like the homeless, have a great day. Volunteering at the local shelter costs nothing but your time, so try it this year yourself, I'll wager it'll be the best Christmas you've ever had and remember this holiday is not all about shopping, stress and money. It’s about giving your time and good will to all.
Photo by: Nadia Valko Unsplash