Christmas + budget = pure frustration.
Thankfully, necessity is also the mother of invention.
When our first Christmas rolled around, we faced the conundrum of most young couples: finding perfect gifts that wouldn't break the bank. With both of us in college, our discretionary budget was especially tight. We secretly shopped for each other. We independently realized that anything decent was also out of our price range. A week before we were scheduled to leave for San Diego, we both fessed up. We wanted our first Christmas to be wonderful; we worried it would instead be a disappointment.
Then we had an idea. We would each have a budget of $30... and everything had to fit in our stockings. Suddenly, the frustration of shopping turned into an exciting challenge. By the time Christmas rolled around, we couldn't wait to share our finds. We opened our stockings on Christmas Eve after everyone else had gone to bed. It was a total blast! From that point on, that has been our little tradition.
One year, Scott kidnapped my stocking and left a ransom note.
Sometimes we pick a theme.
The budget varies, but we've found that spending less money is actually more fun.
Our Christmas Eve stockings are always a highlight of our holiday, especially now that we have kids. Once the children are asleep, we set up Christmas, then we give each other our stockings. We love sharing this just-the-two-of-us time in all the hustle and bustle of the season.
