Preparing for a Hard Candy Christmas: Tightening Belts for the Holidays

Nancy Fulton asked:


The financial crisis that started on Wall Street has spread to Main Street and is now stalking neighborhoods across the US. According to CNN, the number of layoffs impacting 50 workers or more rose to the highest level in September since the month of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Massive job cuts have been announced by large employeers every week since. This will be a “hard candy Christmas” for many families. Starting to prepare now can make the disruption of holiday plans easier for everyone.

Reduced credit lines and maxed out credit cards will reduce travel and gift giving for most families. Those who are out of work or facing foreclosure will have very, very little to spend. The best way to make things easier for your family is to start preparing them now for the changes in their holiday traditions, and then to begin establishing some new activities to fill the gap.

For example, if your family is used to traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to meet, consider making a “memory book”. Email, call or write all your family members and ask them to contribute a letter and a picture that describes their favorite holiday memory. Combine the pages to create a book. Create photocopies of the book and ship it to family members. You will be surprised how the memory book will bring you closer than you’ve ever been, and how much you will come to value it as the years go by.

For kids, one of the best aspects of holiday travel is that they get to play with someone else’s toys. If your kids are under nine, consider calling other parents and asking them to gather up five to ten good toys or books their kids are tired of. Have them ship you the toys along with the names of the original owners. Wrap the gifts and put them under the tree. You’ll be surprised how much a used toy from well loved cousin means to your child.

The book 31 Ways to Enjoy a A Hard Candy Christmas describes dozens of cost effective, practical ways to make this Christmas one of the best you, your family and your friends have ever had. It has solutions for those who will be spending the holiday alone for the first time, and suggestions for those who are coping with severe financial constraints.

Sometimes a Christmas that costs less becomes the best Christmas you’ve ever had. Begin preparing now.



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