TheCrazySquirrel

A couple days ago I saw this over at beingfrugal.net. I liked it so much I’m borrowing it!! Beingfrugal.net is a blog about (drum roll please) being frugal. It is written by a Christian so I like it. Go check it out. Now for the fun! I listed just a few off the list I liked. My favorite is to track Santa with NORAD.

50 Frugal Christmas Ideas

Christmas is quickly approaching, and it’s time to start planning. I’ve found that if I take the time to PLAN a frugal holiday season, I get less caught up in the urge to spend once December is here. With that in mind, here are 50 frugal things you can do to celebrate the holiday season.

1. Read a book a day. I read about this tradition a couple of years ago at Debt-Proof Living, and it’s quickly become my family’s favorite tradition. Buy 24 children’s Christmas books (I bought them used to save money), wrap them up, then have your children unwrap one book a day starting December first. We re-wrap the same books year after year, and my family looks forward to reading our Christmas favorites. Apparently Mary Hunt devotes a section of Debt-Proof the Holidays to this tradition, so head to the library and check it out!

2. Celebrate Advent with an Advent Wreath. You can even make the wreath yourself. That’s more frugal than buying one. There’s even a “no-flame” version for families who have young children.

3. Pray for people send you Christmas Cards. A good time to do this is after dinner. Or pray for them during your advent time, if you’re using the advent wreath.

5. Have a family slumber party in the living room. Pull out the sleeping bags and turn on the Christmas lights. Just enjoy being together as a family.

6. Go Christmas caroling. Grab some friends or just go as a family. Get to know your neighbors as you bless them with Christmas carols.

7. See the Christmas lights. Drive around your town and look at the decked out houses. Vote on which neighborhood has the best display.

10. Bake Christmas cookies. My daughter and I have been making sugar cookies together every year for a long time.

12. Read the Christmas story. Read it straight out of the Bible, or use a bible storybook if you have young children.

13. Pick up some library books and study Christmas Traditions in other countries. This year I’d like to learn about Sinterklaas with my children, since I am Dutch, and my ancestors celebrated Sinterklaas.

14. Host a White Elephant gift exchange. These are so fun. With the right group of people, you’ll be rolling in laughter. If you’ve never hosted a white elephant gift exchange before, the instructions can be found here. Now where did I put that rubber chicken?

16. Participate in Operation Christmas Child or another charity. We like to fill shoe boxes for children the same ages as our children. Our children help us shop and at the same time learn that Christmas is about giving, not getting.

19. Have a Christmas movie marathon. Get the movies from the library if you want to be really frugal. Some of our favorites are Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story, White Christmas.

20. Invite some friends or family over for dinner. It doesn’t have to be formal. Just enjoy the company. Make it a potluck. Or have a soup night. Have everyone bring their favorite soup in a crock-pot.

21. Make a gingerbread house. You can try the ambitious way, or you can make one the easy way.

26. Track Santa on NORAD.

27. Make candy. Our favorites are fudge and peanut brittle.

40. Make Christmas ornaments.

41. Cut your own Christmas tree. In Oregon you can buy a permit to go to a designated place in the forest to cut a tree. The permits are $5.00. You can’t beat that. If you don’t have a forest, try a Christmas tree farm. It’s more expensive, but still often cheaper than buying from a lot. Of course the most frugal option would be to buy a fake tree to use year after year. But if you like live trees, cutting your own is the way to go.

Read the complete list over on beingfrugal.net.