Every time a doctor walked into my room, I would say, “Hi, I’m going home tomorrow!”
Our fourth child had been born very early that morning. And while we could hardly contain our excitement over having a daughter (!), we also had three young sons at home.
And tomorrow was Christmas Eve.
The biggest day of the year, especially for the 5 and under set!
That crazy year had proven that our boys could do without a lot of the Christmas traditions we had found so important.
But the one thing they couldn’t do without was having mom and dad home to celebrate the big day.
We learned so much from having a simple Christmas that year.
And you wouldn’t believe how much you can love the season when you skip those things you always feel obligated to do.
So let’s talk about how to celebrate a Christmas you won’t regret!
7 Things You Can Skip This Christmas
Our family put in two Christmases during our #yearofno.
(That was a period of time that we were very careful to not spend any extra money. (Read more about it here.) Instead, we sent every spare dime we could to pay off our ginormous credit card debt.)
You can do it, too. Try these things.
Christmas Cards
Christmas cards are always nice. I especially love to create photo cards and send them to family and friends!
But not only is that time consuming, it can also get expensive.
During our #yearofno, we stopped sending physical cards.
While I love the tradition, we found it easier and free to create a card online (try Canva for a free option).
Then we just sent it to friends and family via email and social media.
Christmas Tree
We used to love hunting the perfect tree and bringing it home to decorate. The smell of a fresh cut tree really makes the season great!
Then we noticed one of our boys couldn’t stop sneezing and wheezing while it was in the house.
And that was the end of the live trees.
So we grabbed an artificial tree on an after Christmas clearance sale. And boy, was it nice to save $50 (that we didn’t really have anyway) the next year! (And several years beyond!)
My hot tip for buying a fake tree is to avoid any that come with lights. Here’s one good artificial Christmas tree that fits the bill!
I mean, how many times have you heard a friend complain that they have to toss out a tree just because the lights stopped working??
It’s just not worth it.
Hot tip number 2: borrow an artificial tree from someone instead.
It always surprises me to find out that people have more than one artificial tree (or they own one, but started buying fresh trees again!).
You’ll be glad to save the expense, and you’ll still have the spirit of the season in your home.
Buying It All!
While traditions at holiday time can be a blessing, the obligations that come with some of those traditions are definitely not.
We often make a long list of people we need to remember during the season.
Things we need to buy to make the family feel special.
Places we have to go.
How many of those things really have to be done?
It’s wonderful to remember everyone in your life at the holiday season. But that doesn’t have to mean spending money!
Pull back…do only the most important things for your family.
Drop anything that just isn’t in the budget this year.
And if that means a tough conversation with friends and family, do it.
Better to try to make them understand your difficult situation than suffer in silence for…how many more Christmases?
A good #yearofno plan doesn’t have to last forever! Take a couple of years to get through the debt, and later you’ll be able to afford the extras without feeling guilty.
Baking
I had a grandmother who loved to bake.
At Christmastime, each family would get a plate piled high with dozens of different cookie recipes. She baked for weeks (and would freeze the cookies so they would still be delicious).
This was such a special part of the season for us. To this day, my oldest children (who remember her) still call her “the Grandma with the cookies”. 🙂
Baking plays a special role for Christmas for many of us.
This year, don’t feel like you have to do it all.
Stick to a couple of family favorites. Make it easy on yourself, and affordable for your grocery budget.
Another idea is to double up. Enjoy baking your cookies…and make it into a gift for others!
You can find many ingredients on sale, especially just before Thanksgiving. And if you want fresh ideas, try some of these Christmas cookie recipes.
You may even enjoy holding a fun cookie exchange instead of a traditional Christmas party!
Gift Exchanges
One thing about the holidays that I actually dread is when someone shows up with a gift that I wasn’t expecting.
If I have nothing to give them back, I feel terrible!
But the truth is, it’s not your responsibility to know the intent of other people. There are many generous souls who love to give, and they don’t necessarily need a gift in return.
Let it go, and realize that it wasn’t your decision to make.
You might be surprised at how many others join your relief to have fewer gifts to buy.
Decor
Seeing adorable Christmas decor at a craft show or lights in the stores makes it really hard to squash that impulse to buy.
In our #yearsofno, we didn’t even buy Christmas decor on clearance in January. (That was especially tough for my lights extravaganza loving husband!)
That doesn’t mean you have to do without. We were pretty happy with the boxes of decor we’d already collected over the years.
But there are lots of ways to decorate without spending tons of cash, or taking hours to set it all up.
Assuming you already have printer ink (or access to a library with free or cheap prints), free printables like these spread cheer throughout your home for little to no cost!
A walk in the park (or your own backyard) will give you plenty of materials for these natural Christmas decor ideas.
Depending what crafting material you already own, these projects might cost you little to nothing!
Media
Do movies and music define the season for you? We enjoy adding to our collection each year. But you don’t have to spend money to enjoy Christmas media.
Look up shows for free on YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime (if you haven’t cut that out).
Borrow from friends.
Hit the library for free books, movies, and music! They may even have free events like making a gingerbread house or a Christmas carols evening.
Don’t feel guilty about celebrating Christmas #yearofno style!
We still celebrate our little Christmas baby every year. And we remember the simple Christmas…
being home with the ones you love is what really matters!
Hey, here’s one more way to save…Grab your free printable funny Christmas Tags here!
How do you save money at Christmas?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
If you really want a real tree (we do) wait as long as you can to buy one. Many places start cutting prices deeply as the holiday draws near and they still have trees to sell. As someone who grew up in the liturgical tradition, Christmas starts on the 25th– up until then it is Advent, not Christmas, so I’m used to waiting until the week before Christmas to buy a tree. I admit I don’t wait until Christmas Eve to put it up — we always have a lot to do that day already — but I wait as late as I can. Artificial trees are sometimes already on sale, then, too. Selection is limited, but we’ve always found a tree.
If people still send you cards, cut them up after the holiday to make cute gift tags for next year.
Consider giving gifts to immediate family in cloth bags — all gifts for each person are put in that person’s gift bag, which gets used from year to year. They can be made easily or bought cheaply.
If you use wrap and bows, save the bows to be used again. Some of my bows are older than my grandchild. If the tissue isn’t torn, save it as well. Of course, save collapsible boxes such as shirt boxes to use again.
Withdraw from Secret Santas, Sunshine Clubs, and holiday exchanges at work. You may feel it to be difficult to withdraw, but it’s one less thing to worry about and less money to spend. You can always tell people you are saving for a particular goal this year and that you are eliminating all unnecessary spending — it’s true!
If you observe the religious aspect of the holiday, look around to see which churches are offering special Christmas Eve services, if you don’t attend a church which has one. They can be wonderful to attend and they are free. Our church has four Christmas Eve services, starting with one at noon for those with small children or traveling to do, and ending with one at 11 p.m. LOTS of people who aren’t members come to these services, and are very welcome. There are a number of cantatas and “Lessons and Carols” services at churches during December, too, that are always open to anyone who would enjoy the music.
I like the ideas in this post, too!