- Don't let your kids believe Santa is real so they understand that families with more money will have more presents
- No presents have to be wrapped, but if they are 1 one type of paper or even newspaper works for all gifts of reasonable size.
- Bicycles can be bought at garage sales, painted to look new with replaced tires for much less than a new one
- Refill name brand cereal boxes with generic store brand. Same for mayo, ketchup, juice bottles, and bags of frozen chicken nuggets or french fries
- Don't turn on the heater until it is below 60 in your home. Wear socks, ski caps, and sweaters.
- Buy 1 or 2 gifts a month all year to cut down on wallet shock during November and December
- Young kids need few to no expensive gifts. Items bought at thrift stores or facebook marketplace wrapped in colored paper and bows work. They will like the boxes and paper more anyway
- Try to avoid gifts that require batteries unless you already have rechargeable batteries and the charger.
- Egg nog is pointless. Just sweeten whole milk with vanilla sugar syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon
- Aldis will probably have most of the items you need for an inexpensive but nice holiday dinner with family
- If you find turkey or ham on sale, and have a freezer, buy as many as you can afford and freeze when it becomes more expensive months after the holidays
- Use cabbage instead of lettuces for salads. Much cheaper
- Save as much of the wrapping paper, bows, and bags for use next year
- Dollar tree for stocking trinkets