The Holiday Season on a Budget

This year the holidays are tighter than ever for many Americans, so let's talk about how you can have a great holiday season on a budget and keep the planet in mind. The old saying “it’s the thought that counts” means that you don’t need to break the bank (certainly don’t go into debt) to have a great holiday. Thinking about the holidays a little differently will save both your wallet and the planet.

The Gift of Homemade

I know, I know homemade items get a bad wrap (pun intended) but honestly when I get a homemade jar of jalapeno jam or artwork from the grandkids, I get excited! Some of my friends give homemade candles, soaps, scrubs, decorations or layered ingredients in a jar for holiday treats like cocoa or muffins.

Homemade decorations are also a great option – no kits needed and kids can participate in the family fun. Strings of popcorn or dried fruit garlands, chains made of scrap paper, and anything fun you can find around the house. Home made ornaments anyone?

Visit Your Local Reuse Store

For kids

If you've got any littles in your life, a great option is to go to a local children's reuse store. In my area, we have a chain called Once Upon a Child that is fantastic. It’s huge, and they have everything from cribs to clothes including expensive (and barely used or new) seasonal clothing like jackets and snow suits to toys, books, shoes, and even brand new still-in-package items like sippy cups and diapers. Tons of options that don’t break the bank for gift giving or your own use. The most sustainable thing you can do once something is produced is to reuse it as many times as possible!

For adults

Reuse stores for grown-ups exist too! One of my favorite frequent visits is to the Goodwill store next to my favorite nail salon. I have found clothes, shoes, home décor, and my famous turkey gravy boat that gets pulled out every Thanksgiving. As with the kids stores there are often brand-new items with tags still on in grown-up reuse stores, it’s a bit like a treasure hunt. I may only find something great every 5 or 6 times I go in, but the money I save is well worth it! Options vary by area but ARC, Habitat for Humanity, AMVETS, Restore are a few that come to mind. Look up “reuse stores near me” to find some local options in your area.

Garage / Estate Sales

Everyone knows you can find great deals at garage and estate sales. Often you will find rare and valuable treasures, things never used and still in their original packages. At our garage sale this summer, I sold several never used new in package pieces of technology that came with the house, a lightly used Rumba and many other great items!

The Barter System

I love love love the barter system! So much that I run a bartering Facebook page in my town. Trading is a time-honored tradition that goes back as far as humanity itself, the ancients either didn’t have a money system or didn’t have a common one, so they traded with one another. When looking for solutions to modern day problems, I find it helpful to look backwards for solutions vs. forward. I often find that we once had a solution that we have long forgotten.

Freebies

Who doesn’t love a freebie? One of the great things about archaic Facebook is the buy nothing pages that exist for many communities. Check apps like Next Door and any other local social media for freebies and buy nothing posts. There is some great stuff out there!

Hosting a Swap

You can host a swap for just about anything! Books, clothes, decorations, costumes, the list is endless!

Clothing Swap

Over the summer I hosted a clothing swap where people dropped off anything they didn’t want and took anything they wanted, everything was free. Many of the items that were brought to the swap were brand new name brand items with tags still on. It was awesome! You can read more and get swap tips from my Spring Newsletter this year.

Costume Swap

My friend Brittany hosts a costume swap every year at her store Marley and Moose www.marleyandmoose.com – if you haven’t been by her brick and mortar shop in Berthoud, visit her online store. It’s magical!

Neighborhood kids and families bring their old costumes and swap it out for something that is new to you. No cost, no environmental impact!

Decoration Swap

You can do the same thing with any kind of seasonal décor, giving your house a fresh new look without spending a dime.

Discount Stores

Not everyone is comfortable with used, I get that. For new items, hit the local discount store

Next up on the shopping adventure is your local dollar discount store. I tend to forget about these stores more than I should.

Family dollar, dollar tree, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, and many more exist across the country. I have often found screaming deals from these stores on name brand items at a deep discount. Recently I visited a local dollar store and found some cute character fuzzy socks, which are perfect for wintertime and play dough toys that some of the littles will be unwrapped on Christmas morning.

They also had tons of decorations I found a beautiful metal reindeer decoration that would have been a nice gift for somebody, but I liked it, so I kept it for me.  It’s true that many of the items are cheap, won’t last and I wouldn’t buy for sustainability reasons, but you can find some good stuff that will last too. These items were a fraction of the cost I would have paid had I gone to Target or Walmart, it’s the exact same thing.

Give the Gift of Sustainability

• Gift card or a gift certificate to your local zero waste store. That will not only allow the person receiving the gift to try some new products, but you also don’t have to wrap it can simply go in a stocking or go hang right on the tree.
• Visit your local zero waste or refillery store in person or online for gift giving. This year I am giving several sustainable gifts for products I have tried and really love.

Here are some ideas:

• Wool dryer balls – no more dryer sheets! I’ve had mine for years and never had to replace them.
• Laundry strips – no more plastic! A large box of these lasts me about 16 months, the cost is far less than what I would spend on even cheap liquid or powder soap and there is zero plastic. Tru Earth has stood the test of sweaty workouts and yard work for my family. We have been using it for years and it always gets our clothes perfectly clean.

https://a.co/d/abgZtzG

• Beeswax bread bags – keep bread fresh longer on the counter https://thesourcezeronoco.com/products/bee-wax-bread-bag?variant=42575653470250
• Veggie Saver vegetable storage for the fridge – keeps your fruits and vegetables fresh much longer. Washable, compostable. https://veggiesaver.com/
• Kitchen sponge scrubber by Scrub Be Love – lasts longer than conventional sponge scrubbers and is compostable at the end of its life! https://scrubbelove.com/products/scrub-be-love-sponges
• Shampoo, conditioning and body bars – there are many available from local artisans that are beautiful, functional and have zero plastic. I can vouch for these brands, and some are suitable for colored hair.

https://ladybuglather.com/

https://humbyorganics.com/

The spirit of the season is not about price tags; it’s about togetherness and perhaps a thoughtful exchange of something from the heart. As I have often said, the most valuable thing we have is time, once it is spent it can never be retrieved. Any day of the year, I would rather have the gift of time with you than a physical gift.

Have a happy holiday season, filled with peace, love, joy and togetherness.