Survivify: Occasions

How can you economize around the holidays without turning into Scrooge or the Grinch? The holidays get more commercialized every year, and there is a lot of pressure to keep outdoing ourselves when it comes to gift-giving. When there are kids involved, it is even more difficult to cut back. Factor in a bad economy, and it just gets even more challenging. All parents want to be able to give their children gifts, but sometimes it is just not possible.

When the children are old enough to understand that the household finances are an issue, it's worth involving them in the process of setting spending limits. This helps to manage expectations, as well as minimize the stress they are probably already picking up on. For large families, have everyone pick names out of a hat and be responsible for buying a gift for that one person.

Share your own ideas here, and help others avoid a getting lump of coal in their Christmas stockings!