Ah Christmas. It’s all eggnog, chocolate, family visits, reindeer sweater and enormous credit card bills. In our chase to buy the perfect present, decorations and THE dress or suits for the office holiday party, we get carried away with our spending. But having an amazing Christmas doesn’t have to mean shelling out all our hard earned money. There are plenty of ways to save money and enjoy the holidays. Here are few tips.
- Ye old Yule tree. Do you really need a Christmas tree or a crazy expensive designer wreath in every room? You know you don’t. Limit yourself to one tree for your entire apartment or one sensibly proportioned wreath p
er room. If you’re going with the Christmas tree, you know that you don’t need the biggest one on the tree lot. You know, the one you know won’t even fit into your apartment. Get a smaller one you can display on a table. Or you can just rip off the Band-Aid and get a sensibly-priced faux tree that will last you for years to come. If you go with a faux tree, buy a safe choice. If you buy the super trendy hot pink one you’ll be the most fabulous tree this year, but you’ll end up throwing it out the next (or be super-embarrassed about it). Go with green, white, gold or maybe red. These perennially Christmas-y colors will ensure you’ll be able to use tree in coming years as well. - Deco. Picking up globes and tinsel officially means Christmas is coming up. But digging out previous years’ decorations could do that too. Most people have boxes upon boxes of angels, snowmen, globes and tinsel in storage. Pick one, maybe two colors and hang only items in that color scheme on your tree. This will give it a more polished look. If you don’t have enough decorations in your chosen color scheme but have some in errant colors or some that are looking shabby, get your DIY on and revamp them. Paint, spray-paint, wrap and glue to your hearts’ content. Any other decorations you have, you can use to bring holiday cheer into your other rooms. Group them according to color or theme and hang them in your bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, so you’re reminded of the holidays wherever you are in your apartment.
- Candles are a great way to add warmth and Christmas mood to any apartment. Feel free to pick up new ones in your Christmas theme, as you’ll probably end up using them during the holidays. If you’re feeling super thrifty you can pick up simple white ones, usually the cheapest kind, and adding a touch of paint or glitter from your chosen theme.
- Presents. This one is a difficult place to save for many. Most of us try to gift people as lavishly as possible and it could seem unloving to save on presents. But it is possible to save money and give amazing gifts. For example, if you have a special talent (say baking, sewing, car maintenance, dancing) give people personalized gift cards. Most will appreciate a gift card for a month of home-made cupcakes or waltzing lessons. You can still give home-made gift cards even if you aren’t Martha Stewart. A card for full clean-up after the next epic party will be a much-appreciated stocking stuffer.
- Renter’s insurance. While technically it does mean extra spending, it does save you a lot. You could say that you have to spend money to save money. And it’s really just a dime. For as little as 50 cents a day, Resident Shield offers you protection in case of fire, theft, vandalism, and personal liability, including a provision for dog bites. Now that’s a money saver!
Happy Holidays!
