Celebrate Christmas with Less Stress On A Budget

Is this title possible can we celebrate Christmas with less stress on a budget?

Tis’ The Season To Be Stressed out or does it have to be?

We have all been there haven’t we? Where we signed up for to many committees or in charge of the holiday cookie swap once again? You signed up for this and for that it all sounded like a great idea at the time…. Where do we draw the line? Is it okay to say no to sometimes? I think yes sometimes it’s okay to let us have a break and so important to our emotional health as well. Have you had over committing remorse? I sure have!

Recently I watched an episode of “The Middle” where Deborah decided that she was not going to be stressed out for the holidays and it got me thinking……do we really have so much to do? Or are we placing unrealistic expectations on ourselves? Either way we can simplify things for sure.

This year I wanted a peaceful Christmas Season at our homestead one where I didn’t feel like I had to keep up with anyone but just celebrate it in our own way. For us we aren’t going completely non commercial because we aren’t huge consumers in our household so we all like to receive goodies, gifts and treats for the holiday! We do like to give and receive gifts and have no shame about that at all!

I think folks get pressured to be too non commercial or I have also received pressure from others you know you should spend more! Well it doesn’t work that way folks I have to work within my budget…yes I do want to see a smile on family’s faces but I also want to be reasonable about things.

I also recently reflected that I did way too much work this past Thanksgiving cooking multiple menus even though I had fun but ultimately I decided I want to enjoy my Christmas too!

So here were my guidelines for a less stressful and on budget holiday season!

I have planned easy and simple holiday menus that include meat and cheeses and our home canned goods! I love having a prepared pantry don’t you?

On the financial end of things….we did the following:
Set a budget for my husband and children
Set a budget for our extended family.
Come up with some fun and exciting gifts for family and friends that our creative and fun!
Oh and we looked for opportunities to earn extra money too!

Homemade gifts are loved by just about everyone! I love everything about them! In particular I love wooden gifts, silver jewelry, homemade soap and so much more! I love handmade gifts as well too!

Click here to read my Shop Local and Small Biz post!

For friends and family we have made lip balm, mud scrub, homemade kahlua our Muddy Buddy Gift Pack, apple butter, applesauce, relish and the ever coveted golden elixir we call honey!

We made these items all year-long so they are in stock and ready to gift!

So I did this earlier in the year mostly and I even decided on a few areas I would decorate a portion of my front porch, I would get my tree up, put a portion of my Christmas treasures around and I’m done! You see now that I have given up on perfection! I am going to concentrate on spending time with friends and family and plan to have fun! I look forward to enjoying this holiday season and even with my crazy blogging and podcasting schedule to just enjoy my brief hiatus from work…this gal is not complaining!

I wish you all a peaceful and stress-free holiday ahead and a beautiful week!

Until next time!

Fondly,