Sleighing Christmas

Don’t let the cost-of-living Grinch ruin your fun

If, like many people this year, you’ve found yourself stretched thin with essentials like food and electricity, fear not. Haven is here to save Christmas with 10 budget-conscious ideas that don’t require months of planning and, importantly, won’t make you look like a Scrooge.

1. Decorate on a dime:

Buying Christmas lights, trees, baubles and tinsel at a charity shop is not only good for your budget, it’s environmentally friendly. So, you earn the right to feel a little smug while you’re decking the halls with second-hand holly. If you haven’t browsed a second-hand shop in November, you’ll be astounded at the range of decorations and Christmas-themed crockery and clothing on offer.

2. Only buy one present:

Buying gifts for extended family and friends is a major stressor at Christmas. It saps not only your savings, but precious time that should be spent with loved ones, rather than scouring shopping centres.

Why not take the pressure off by turning gift-giving into a game? Sure, you could do a traditional Secret Santa, but Stealing Secret Santa is so much more fun. Even young children love the cheeky twist of stealing other people’s presents.

The rules are simple – let everyone know in advance that they are required to bring only one gift to Christmas gatherings and set a budget, say $30. Everyone draws a number from a hat that denotes the order of choosing gifts. Person #1 picks a gift and unwraps it. Person #2 then decides whether to steal the unwrapped gift, or chose a new one to open, and so it goes down the line.

If someone has their present stolen, they get to choose a new one. There is an obvious advantage in going last, so perhaps engineer for the youngest children to be at the tail end of proceedings. The joy of this method is it turns the process of unwrapping a single gift into an extended social game.

3. Play tourist at home:

Search online for tips on places to visit in your hometown. It’s surprising how many tourist attractions locals have never checked out either where you live or in the surrounding region.

4. Organise a house swap:

Take accommodation costs out of the holiday. They say a change is as good as a holiday, so why not try stepping into someone else’s shoes? You can do this informally, through friend networks (you’d be surprised how many regional dwellers would love a weekend in the city and vice versa). Or you could join the growing number of online groups such as Home Exchange or Aussie House Swap.

An alternate way to offset costs is to list your home as a shortterm rental on Airbnb while you’re away. The website bnbcalc.com can help check local council restrictions.

5. Bring a plate:

If you’re hosting Christmas lunch for the hordes, make it easy on yourself and allow everyone to contribute by bringing a salad or dessert. Lean in to the fact people don’t want to turn up empty-handed and would rather spend time with you than watch you dashing around the kitchen.

6. Create a new tradition:

Many of us have family traditions passed on from previous generations, but why not start some new ones? Here’s a few cheap and cheerful ideas:

• If you live near the beach or water, why not start the day with a morning swim? It’s a nice way to take the focus off presents and put it on spending time together.

• Decorate the tree and sit down to a special meal on December 1. It gets everyone in the spirit of the season and is a tradition that can be maintained when you don’t get to spend Christmas Day at home.

• If you’re struggling to contain early risers on Christmas morning, set up an escape-room puzzle they need to solve to get out of their bedrooms! Everyone’s a winner. There are plenty of DIY escape room plans online, or major stores sell affordable kits designed to be set up at home.

• Hide a pickle ornament. Yes, pickle ornaments are a thing. This weirdly wonderful tradition – thought to have German-American roots – involves hiding a distinctive ornament on your tree (or around the house to make it harder) on Christmas Day. Whoever finds the pickle gets endowed with good luck, or an extra present.

• Plan a Christmas lights tour. Even the big kids can’t help but enjoy themselves.

7. Go handmade:

Giving friends a handmade present is about gifting your time, and that in itself is precious. But if you’re recoiling in horror at the thought of crocheted coat hangers, there are plenty of more modern DIY ideas that should be well-received. Aim for useful rather than decorative with things such as:

• Herbal and fruit teas: Buy some ready-to-fill tea bags, then load them with blended leaf teas, herbs, spices and dehydrated fruits. There are plenty of great recipes online to get you started stuffing tea bags like a pro.

• Christmas snacks and cocktail garnishes: An edible gift never goes astray in December. Think sweet treats such as rocky road, white Christmas, rum balls or tamari almonds and fresh nut mixes. Take it up a notch by dehydrating fruit such as blood oranges, lemons, limes and raspberries in the oven to package up as the perfect yuletide drink garnishes.

• Spice rubs and curry mixes: It’s all about simple entertaining at Christmas and gifting someone a homemade barbecue rub or freshly roasted curry-spice mix should be well received. It’s also a gift you can make in bulk, but be sure to include ingredient and instructions tags. Again, look online for plenty of recipe ideas.

• Stovetop potpourri: This is a bit of a niche idea, but any olfactory friends – and those used to Christmas in the chilly Northern Hemisphere – will appreciate it. There are recipes online, but the idea is to fill a jar with dehydrated fruits and spices that can be tipped into a pot and left simmering with water to fill a house with delicious Christmas scents. Again, be sure to include instructions so people know it’s to smell, not eat.

8. Stick to cash:

Okay, this is definitely not going to inject more fun into your Christmas season, but the reason it’s so annoying is why it’s also effective. Setting a hard cash budget will force you to plan your purchases and prevent overspending. Pro tip: keep separate envelopes for different types of expenses during the holiday season.

9. Curate a Christmas entertainment list:

Everyone knows the paralysis of choice that results in wasting half a movie night scrolling through movie trailers and streaming services. Do your friends a favour by compiling a list of movies, books and podcasts you think they and/or their family may enjoy over the holiday period. Divide movies up according to categories (e.g. family, thriller, comedy). And don’t forget to include which streaming service they’re on.

10. Give back:

Consider donating your time or money to a charity this Christmas.