No matter what holiday you celebrate, your holiday season doesn’t have to break the bank. Here are some tips to help make your holidays happy while also minding your wallet. Many of these tips have worked for my family or for me personally.

Be honest

If you cannot afford gifts this year, you are not alone. 

Be realistic about how much money you have coming in and how much you need for your expenses. Taking out loans or credit card debt, using payroll or cash advance apps, or draining emergency savings are not worth it.

When there is family or social pressure to buy presents, then a discussion about financial differences might be necessary. This discussion can include other reasons for not purchasing gifts, such as reducing clutter or the importance of spending time together instead of buying gifts. Your presence is the present.

Get creative for kids big and small

The whole family having a good time is going to have more of an impact on children than the cost of a gift. Plus, the attention you give kids is a great gift for them, too.

Here are some examples of creativity: 

• If your holiday traditions include such things as Christmas stockings or a Hanukkah menorah, keep the rituals going without having to buy new things if you cannot afford them.
• Little children love the delight of a paper gift bag with tissue paper that you can pull out of the closet from previous years or borrow from a neighbor. What is inside the bag can be whatever you can afford, make, bake, or a treasure you already have. You can even play a game of hide and seek with the treasure bag.
• Have children wake up to a scene of something you create. You can create a play stove from boxes with real pots and pans from your kitchen. You can build a castle or fort. Use things around the house for an obstacle course. Bring in items from nature, like pine cones and branches, and make woodland scenes for table centerpieces that kids can play with. Create your own figurines from toilet paper rolls.
• Include kids in the process. Everyone can secretly stash dad jokes in each other’s stockings and read them aloud together Christmas morning. 

Consider consumables

A way to watch your budget and increase your chances that a gift will be well received is to give a gift people can eat, drink or use in a practical way. Think of food, beverages, toiletries, diapers, coffee, chocolate, cookies — things that don’t sit around for a long-time collecting dust. For someone who has a fireplace or backyard firepit, fire starters can be made from dryer lint, toilet paper rolls, rags and even bacon fat. The beauty of consumables is that there is something for almost every income level.

Make it eventful

• A white elephant party is a fun way for people to give gifts of something they already have in their home in abundance and pass it along to someone else. The gifts can be homemade, like a jar of salsa, or hilarious, like a hideous knickknack. You can set the tone for how festive or goofy you want it to be.
• Host a cookie bake, meal, caroling, game/puzzle night or craft day together. This is something that can be shared across generations. It can also be held with members of your community, like your scout, school, neighborhood or church group.
• Deck the walls with do-it-yourself (DIY) decorations. Fill a homemade Advent calendar with events to do like sledding, skating or singing. Making snowflakes or a Kwanzaa kinara can be a fun family project.
• Other ideas: A dance-off, a treasure hunt with clues in secret code, a snowball fight with cocoa afterwards.

Use humor 

Humor helps ease the tension created by not having enough money for gifts or having too many things and not enough space for them. One line I like to use is, “Please, no gifts; we’re allergic to wrapping paper.” Ask people to come with something that reflects their attitude and talent, like bringing their worst dance moves, best karaoke voice or richest cake (with zero calories, of course!). Or tell everyone to bring their biggest hugs and their best compliments.

Give yourself the gift of boundaries

Holidays come with their own stressors. You might need to intentionally create spaces to allow yourself to be present with people, moments and things. This might mean creating boundaries for yourself.

Creating boundaries might be difficult if you are managing a household with children or if life becomes chaotic. Your children might have meltdowns when switching from one event to another. People might have feelings of jealousy at a big family event if some get expensive things and others don’t. Whatever the situation, identifying your own needs can enhance your ability to be in relationship with others. Find and use strategies for self-care, whether it is waking up early, taking a shower to escape and relax, or practicing yoga or meditation. Recognize there might be times when it is best to leave a situation or say no.

Develop an attitude of appreciation

My last tip for gift giving is about our perspective toward it and how we react to others and the things we receive. A gift only has value if it is appreciated. In our daily lives, we can choose whether to appreciate something’s value or not. It can be as simple as enjoying food we eat and really savoring the moment. It can be feeling gratitude when something is done for you, like someone washing the dishes so you can sit and relax. Practice the art of receiving gifts. If someone says, “Let me clear the table for you,” practice acceptance and say, “Thank you.” Gratitude is something to share and receive.

Prioritize your financial wellness

Taking good financial care of yourself is worth it.

Author Sarah Jannusch is a certified financial counselor with LSS Financial Counseling.

Call 888.577.2227 to set up a free, confidential appointment, or get started by creating a financial profile.

North Star Credit Union members have access to six free and confidential financial counseling sessions. Let them know that you are a member when you call.