by Ashley
Hey guys! Sorry for disappearing for a whole week! Yikes! With the holiday season in full force and the semester wrapping up (right in the middle of finals), I’ve definitely been scrambling to try to get everything done. This is the girls’ last week of preschool until the New Year and while I’m SO SO SO excited for the break together….I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was also a bit stressed to try to finish everything work-related this week, as well as Christmas shopping, some stuff needing to be done for my Dad, etc.
That being said, we’ve managed to squeeze in some fun FREE (or cheap) Christmas-related activities. People often associate big price tags ($$$) with Christmas, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Here’s a sampling of the fun things we’ve done….
- Attend the Christmas tree lighting in our town. It’s a totally free event, plus they have free cookies and hot chocolate, dance performances from local dance groups and schools, hot air balloon shows, bounce houses for kids, and everything culminated with the lighting of the Christmas tree. The lights are on a timer that is synced up with music. It’s really a beautiful display and 100% free!
- Attend a live Nativity performance by our local church. This was the first year (since we’ve been in the area – apparently they used to do it many years ago) that our church has hosted this event. It was incredible and I cannot imagine the number of hours and manpower that went into the event. A huge stable, a village inn, all the cast and crew (including LIVE ANIMALS!!!!), and the simple story of Jesus’ birth. It was beautiful (albeit freezing, as it was outside) and the girls loved seeing the story acted out and getting to pet the donkeys afterward. Again – 100% free.
- Driving around to see Christmas lights. We’re lucky that a neighborhood not far from us is one of the ones in Tucson known for their light display. We bought hot chocolate from a gas station (much cheaper than from Starbucks, and just as delicious) and drove the neighborhood enjoying all the sparkly lights. Free!
- Holiday parties with friends. We attended a potluck holiday party this past weekend that was a blast! There was a Santa (who actually gave out presents!!!), an incredible spread of food, good friends, and good times. The host really outdid herself! This only cost us the food that we brought to share (we brought a yummy cranberry cream cheese dip I like to make around Thanksgiving/Christmas).
- Holiday parties at school. Our girl’s school has 2 holiday parties: one on Wednesday and one on Thursday (because many of the kids only attend T/Th or MWF). Since our girls go to school all 5 days they have TWO parties to attend. They were instructed to bring a gift for a big class gift exchange. We’ve got two children, two days of parties = four gifts to bring. Gifts were supposed to be in the $5-7 range. I went to the Target dollar bins and stocked up on little trinkets and I think we were able to put together some really nice gift packages for $5-6 each. One was an Elsa gift (Elsa mirror, bag, and book), one was an art gift (markers, crayons, and paper), one was a girlie gift (sparkly bows, headbands, and matching sparkly clutch), and one was a book gift (4 different books + some holiday window clings). About $20 total for the 4 gifts, which isn’t too bad. I want to go back to Target again when I don’t have the girls with me to pick out some stocking stuffer gifts. They really had some awesome options in the dollar bins!
I have so much more I want to tell you guys! We’ve had some unexpected expenses this month (boo!!!!) and I’m trying to negotiate at my job for a new title and possible raise (crossing my fingers). I will update on both as soon as I am able.
Hope you’re all having a great week! Don’t let the holiday craze cost you a ton of money! Share your cheap/free holiday outings or events in the comments!
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Good luck with the job title/raise! I’m hoping for a similar thing at my job.
Thanks! I’ll probably write more about it once its done. I just don’t want to divulge too much until I know one way or another what the outcome is.
Sounds like your family is really enjoying the season!