4 Simple Ways to Spend Less Than $100 for Christmas

Are you tired of spending thousands of dollars on Christmas every year? Check out my tips below on how you can spend less on Christmas gifts this year.  Try them out and let me know how it goes!

It's that time of year again.  Where the air is filled with holiday cheer, the stockings will soon be hung by the chimney with care, and the children are in dire need of a vacation (and, frankly, so are you).  Oh, and did I mention, your savings are shrinking way too fast.  

If this sounds like you, let me tell ya.  You're not alone.  While I love Christmas and spending time with the fam, I don't like all the debt I get into because of it.

And the sad part is, most of the time you won't even realize just how much you've spent until after the holidays and you get the credit card bill.  

Yikes!  Did I really spend that much?

Yup.  It's time to make a change.  This year will not be like any of the others.  Because this year, you're going to spend much less than ever before. 

So let's reel in that spending and learn how to do Christmas on the cheap.  The best part is, with these are four simple strategies you can save big and still have a magical Christmas.

Gift Exchanges

One of the best ways to spend less on Christmas gifts is to do a gift exchange.  Gift exchanges are great because instead of having to buy gifts for 15 or 20 people you would only have to buy one.

Many of us have probably done a few of these gift exchanges with coworkers or classmates.  But have you thought about doing it with the fam as well?

Secret Santa

I'm sure you've heard of this classic gift exchange.  But here's a refresher just in case.  Essentially, you are secretly assigned to get a gift for one of the members of the Secret Santa group.  

Usually, the gift price is capped at $10 or $20.  So it is very affordable. Then all that's left is to exchange gifts, secretly of course, at the Christmas party.  

Secret Santa is a perfect way to save some serious cash because you only have to get a gift for one person.  Not everybody, they mama, cousin, and kids.  Just one person.

So talk your family into skipping the usual Christmas traditions in favor of starting a new one.  The Secret Santa edition.  For added fun, you can even make a game of it and have each person try to guess who bought them the gift.

White Elephant

As an alternative to Secret Santa, you could try throwing a White Elephant party instead.  It's actually quite similar but with a wee twist.  

In White Elephant gift exchanges, people have the opportunity to steal someone else's gift.  This makes exchanging gifts fun and unpredictable, as you never know what you're going to end up with.

Here's how you play:

Each person brings one present to the party.  The organizer of the event can specify what kind of gift.  For example, a regifting item, a practical item, a weird, gag present that no one would actually buy in real life, etc.  

Anything goes.  After all, white elephant parties are typically about the entertainment of it all and not actually about the gift itself.  So the crazier the gifts, the better. 

Next, you need to decide the order in which everyone will go.  You could draw numbers to determine who will go first.  Or just do the classic - Rock, Paper, Scissors - to figure it out.

Then everyone should sit in a circle in the order that they get to pick their gifts.  It makes it way easier to play this way.

Taking turns, each person will choose a gift from the pile and open it. The person who goes next then has the choice to steal any of the previous gifts or to pick a new one from the pile.

If your gift is stolen, you can then choose someone else's gift to steal. But gifts can't be "stolen" more than once in a round.

In the end, the first person to go gets one more chance to steal a gift. The game ends when someone decides to keep what they have.

Of course, none of these rules are set in stone.  So you can make up your own.  You decide.

Dirty Santa

This gift exchange is just like the White Elephant one except there are multiple rounds of stealing involved not just one.  So with this one, you will want to set a time limit on the stealing or it could get old pretty fast.

DIY Your Gifts

Another way you can save money this Christmas is by forgoing the traditional gift shopping and instead, opting to make your own gifts.

You don't need a green thumb or to be artsy to make your own gifts.  Anyone can do it.  Especially, in this day and age, where help is just a Google search and a Youtube video away.

DIY gifts are truly a labor of love and I know I for one, love getting homemade gifts.  Because that means the person put some thought into your gift and took the time and effort to make it for you.

You could make a photo album, write a poem, knit a scarf, or make some fancy bath bombs and body lotions.  There are so many gift ideas to choose from.  So you just choose the one that speaks to you the most.

If you do decide to DIY your gifts, not only are you putting your blood sweat in tears into something that I'm sure the receiver will love but you are also gaining new skills and learning new things.  

You get to spend less on Christmas gifts and gain new skills.  It's a win-win.  And you know how much I love a win-win.

Plus, you never know where those new skills will take you.  A new business selling handmade soaps, perhaps?

My DIY Escapades

So my family and I decided a few years ago that we weren't going to buy any gifts anymore and instead, we were going to make our gifts.  This opened the flood gates to me really starting to do what I had been wanting to do the whole time.  Make natural products.

I started with one of the easiest things you can make: Candles.  From there, I started making Chapsticks, Air and Fabric Fresheners, and Perfumes.  

Now I make a host of products that I use around the house, such as soap and cleaning supplies.  These save me a ton of money each and every year!  It's the best gift of all!

And here's how much it cost me to make the candles!

• Soy Candle Wax : $12.25 
• Wicks : $4.91  
• Lavender Essential Oil : $9.99 
• Fancy Mug/ Small Bowl : $5.00 x 5 (for 5 people)

So just $47.15 total for Christmas gifts!  You can't beat that!  And I've gotten a few more uses out of the wax, wicks, and oil!  

Needless to say, I now spend much less on Christmas gifts.

Give Gifts of Service

Coupon Books

You know those little coupons you would give to your parents, brothers, or sisters back in the day when you couldn't afford presents?  The coupons for washing the dishes, doing their laundry, walking the dog?

Well, luckily for you and me those little coupons have not gone out of style and probably never will.  Those redeemable at any time coupons are still the best gifts for the fam.

Getting coupons is the best because then your family has the freedom to use them at anytime.  And, honestly, they are just so doggone useful!

So cut up some cute colored paper and start making a coupon book you can give to family, friends, and coworkers.  And while you're at it, make me one! I could really use someone cooking and cleaning for me every now and again!

Donate to a Charity

Gifts of service do not have to stay just in the family.  You and your family could choose a cause that you're passionate about and donate to it.

Or as a gift to your sister who is always going on about saving the planet, you could pay to have 1000 trees planted in her name.  For the charity minded individual, such a gift just might be the best gift they've ever received.

Volunteer Your Time

Instead of just donating, wouldn't it be nice to engage in a volunteering activity with the fam?  Talk to your family this year about giving back to the community.

You could volunteer to serve food to the homeless.  Volunteer to play games and donate clothes to orphans.  Or bring some Christmas cheer to a nursing home.  

What better way to celebrate the season than by giving back to your community and to the people who need it most.

Check out some of these organizations:

• Wheels for Wishes (soup kitchens)
• Feeding America (food banks, pantry, food delivery)
• Sunrise Senior Living (nursing home)

Adopt a Family

Speaking of giving back, there are always families who are less fortunate than yours who may be struggling just to feed themselves this winter.  So why not adopt them!

Cooking a meal and/ or bringing presents, clothes, and necessities to a family in need can be very rewarding.  Because of you, they are able to truly celebrate Christmas.

If you have kids, these kinds of activities could drive home the true meaning of Christmas and instill in them the necessity of giving back and helping those in need.  It could also help them realize just how much they have to be grateful for.

This year how about implementing some giving back gifts?  Not only is it a great cause but these kinds of alternative gift ideas go a long way in helping you spend less for Christmas.

Get Creative With Gift Wrapping

Another often over-looked way to spend less on Christmas gifts is to get creative with the wrapping.

Gift wrap may just be the biggest waste of money ever.  The commercial industry has done a great job in convincing us to spend our hard earned cash on something that is going to ripped to pieces and trashed just after buying it.

Before you rush out to get the fanciest wrapping paper you can find, you should first consider if you even need it in the first place.  I sometimes find with my DIY gifts that is better to have the gift itself on display.  

After all, if you crocheted a nice fluffy, fancy scarf, why not show it off?

But if you decide you do need to wrap, there are ways to do so without selling your soul.  You could use newspapers, paper bags or boxes from previous gifts, or old magazines.  

You could even use things you have around the house such as pillowcases, scarves, or some nice cloth or fabric (like the Japanese Furoshiki). The beauty of using these is that they can be used again and again.

Another option is you could buy a roll of butcher paper for maybe $12 and literally wrap tons and tons of gifts.  And you'd probably have lots more to spare.  

Then if you want to be really fancy and creative, you could draw and color the paper to make them unique for each person.

So make sure every knows and is on board with your plan to save money this Christmas.

Speaking of spending less on Christmas gifts, you may want to push back celebrating Christmas until after Christmas day.  That way you can take advantage of all the boxing day sales. These sales are always way better than any of the sales that come before.

Other Money Saving Tips:

• Plan everything ahead of time
• Make a gift list (making sure to cut most people)
• Skip the Christmas cards. You can go digital if you like.
• If you must give gifts, make it a group gift that everyone in the family can enjoy.
• Re-gifting and secondhand shopping is not bad.  You are saving the planet by doing so.
• Putlock the Christmas Dinner

All in All

Buying gifts for Christmas is really the biggest expense for most of us.  And if you can find ways to spend less on Christmas gifts, you'd be saving yourself loads.

Spending less than $100 on Christmas gifts isn't hard.  You just have to be willing to think outside the box and embrace the things that might not go with how you imagined Christmas to be.

There are many different ways to celebrate Christmas.  So why not try something new this year?  And while you're at it, save a little extra cash while doing so.

Happy Holidays!