With difficult financial times facing many this holiday season; Christmas celebrations will be tough to fit in an already stretched budget. But you really don t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy the holiday and some of the most fun has nothing to do with spending money.
My father was always thinking of ways to make us understand and appreciate our good fortune by sharing with others. We were big on family meetings where we would discuss upcoming events and plans for vacations or outings. One year it was decided that everyone would give half of their allowance and any money earned in November or December to a charity of their choice.
My father was very into teaching us the value of a dollar and although we did get an allowance we had to do chores to compensate. We also used to do things like shovel snow and mow lawns, wash cars, or any kind of odd job for neighbors, and try and earn a few dollars too.
Along with the giving half of our allowances to charity that year, he also limited our spending amounts on presents. The idea was to realize that you didn t have to spend a lot of money to buy gifts and it was the thought and joy of giving that was important. This was a challenge for me since I barely was able to get everyone a present with my allowance and any extra money I made in the two months.
I was 11 years old that year and I had two sisters; one that was 13 and one that was 15. This proved to be quite a dilemma for all three of us. Which brings to mind that the one thing my father s little lessons often involved was teamwork and learning how to work together.
So the day after Thanksgiving my sisters and I sat down and made our gift lists. This was an eye opener right off the bat. This was going to be a lot tougher than we had thought, some real imagination and ingenuity was going to be necessary to find something for each person on our lists within our very meager budget.
My oldest sister was the creative one and she came up with some really good ideas. My other sister was the book smart one and could figure out just about anything. And I provided the brawn and mechanical chores that I was good at so we all had something to contribute. We decided to pool our resources for our parents and grand parents since adults were tough even with a good budget.
My mom loved to take pictures but she wasn t really good at storing them or finding them afterwards. So we decided to make a family scrapbook and put all the pictures and other stuff in it and that would make a great gift for years to come. Since it involved more labor than money, it was a great solution.
My dad was a little tougher situation. He had several hobbies but most of the stuff he used was pretty expensive and nothing we could think of matched our budget. He was big into barbecuing so we decided on a collection of wood chips and a book on meat rubs would fit out budget and give him something he would use more than once.
And so the list went on, using some creativity and our own labor whenever we could. We even managed to have enough left over to increase our contributions to charity. And it did teach us a few things in the process. When Christmas day finally came, it was a lot of fun giving the background story on each present and I think we had more fun in giving the gifts than any we received.
Even though we self imposed our tight budget in this experience, it taught me how to still enjoy the holidays in lean times. It s the thought that counts and the cost has little to do with the value. And the act of giving to others is something anyone can enjoy.
My dad was a smart guy and always came up with good ways to teach us valuable lessons about many things. The true meaning of the holiday spirit is about the joy of giving to others, especially those in need. Even in tough times and if you re on a tight budget you can enjoy the holidays by sharing.
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