The holiday season usually comes with dedicated time off to spend with the ones we love. Instead of going into debt doing expensive activities or forgoing any festivities altogether, how about finding a middle ground? Here are some affordable ways to enjoy the holidays without destroying your budget.
1. Explore low-cost activities in the city. Whether you live in a big city or a small town, there are usually several low-cost activities in the area to explore during the holidays. Check out winter decorations in the city and Christmas lights as you walk around your local area. Spend the weekend going ice skating at a park or visit an indoor rink. If you work for a corporation or are in involved in various community organizations, you can also check out company Christmas party or some holiday soirée filled with young professionals in the community. Search the internet, ask your friends, and skim your local newspaper to find out about various affordable activities in the city around the holidays.
2. Buy inexpensive, meaningful gifts for friends and family members. Gift giving is a great way to show our gratitude for others. Many times it can be quite rewarding. Instead of lamenting over the realization that we cannot purchase new Iphones, designer clothes, or hefty gift cards, why not purchase inexpensive meaningful gifts for the ones we love instead? If you need some ideas, try giving a Christmas basket filled with the person’s favorite desserts, a holiday stocking filled with pajamas, hot chocolate, and other trinkets they can use to relax and watch a holiday movie, or even gifting them framed photos of a happy memory, wine they’d enjoy, or a book they’d find intriguing.
3. Search for discounts on holiday travel. With the holidays usually comes lots of travel. Oftentimes, it’s the travel expenses that end up being putting a serious dent our budget. In order to prevent this from happening search for discounts. Look to see if you have earned any rewards points from credit cards or if you qualify for any discounts on transportation services like Uber or Lyft. You could also search Groupon for affordable travel packages and skim AirBnb for reasonably priced lodging options. Regardless of which route you take, spending a little time searching for travel discounts may be worth your while.
4. Enjoy holiday festivities on existing subscription services. In this current digital world, many of us have a variety of different ways we entertain ourselves. Whether it is listening to Apple Podcasts on the way to work, dancing to our favorite playlist on Spotify, laughing at the newest comedy on Hulu, or watching a popular movie on Netflix, we have a variety of subscription services we use for entertainment. The majority of them are either free or some inexpensive bill we pay each month. As we look for ways to enjoy the winter season in an affordable manner, why not make use of the things we already have? Whether it’s a Christmas playlist, holiday episodes of our favorite shows, or adorable Christmas movies from our childhood, we could all find ways to enjoy holiday festivities on the subscription services we already have.
5. Participate in fun activities at home. If you’re looking for ways to enjoy the holidays without leaving the comfort of your home, there are several things you could try as well. You could decorate your home and Christmas tree as a family. If you’re like me and crave a good amount of social interaction, you could invite some of your close friends over to watch holidays movies and drink hot chocolate. You could even adopt the mindset of some of my coworkers by hosting a holiday potluck for some of your associates. Lastly, you could play fun holiday games, do puzzles, or bake cookies with your loved ones as well. Either way you spin it, there are fun and affordable things to do during the holidays at home.
Tell me, what are some ways you plan to enjoy the holidays that don’t require you to spend a lot of money?