Don’t Forget to Include Your Christmas Tree in Your Christmas Budget
When people budget for Christmas they often forget to include two things – the tree and the decorations.
Buying a new Christmas tree every year, whether artificial or real, makes no sense financially. If you have an artificial tree and use it year in, year out, this is likely to be the best value for money even if you paid slightly more to buy it in the first place because you are getting a lot of use out of it.
However if you’re thinking of buying a brand new tree this year you may want to buy a real tree. Instead of dumping the tree after the festivities are over, consider planting it in your garden or in a large pot to take care of for the following year and use it again the following Christmas. This can be real value for money as you’ll be getting the authentic Christmas tree look and smell but for years on end.
An even better way to save money on the initial outlay for this is to buy a Christmas tree directly after Christmas – trees being sold off in January can be bought at dramatically cut prices and you can then plant it in your garden to enjoy all year until Christmas comes round again.
You might also consider renting a Christmas tree instead of buying a brand new one if you don’t want the hassle (or don’t have the room) to re-plant your tree each year. Look online for companies who deliver the Christmas tree of your choice to your door for you to enjoy for the festive period, and then pick it up again in January to be re-planted for the rest of the year – just make sure you compare the cost with buying your own.
Decorating your home during the holidays is one of the most enjoyable parts of preparing for Christmas, but it can be all too easy to over-spend on buying brand new decorations at premium prices in November or December. Instead of buying brand new, always look through your old decorations from previous years and see how you can make use of them. It may be with a bit of polish you can restore your old decorations to their former glory thereby saving you having to splash out on new ones.
Jay@MoneyBulldog
I agree, it’s a bit sad though because Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas like it did before. With tougher times, the money becomes harder to come by for a lot of people and you just notice it around because there decors aren’t mostly there anymore.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life
Fresh christmas trees are SO expensive. My parents buy a new one every year… I shake my head.