by Hope
I’m starting to think about the upcoming holidays. Last year we went out for our holiday meals due to our tiny kitchen and lack of dining table. We are in the same predicament this year, but I’d really like the holidays to be more special somehow.
Here are the ideas I’ve come up with so far:
- Find a soup kitchen to serve and eat in for the holiday day itself. *I’d really like to do this, but it must be somewhere we can all work which I haven’t had luck with in the past.
- Find a place to rent and have a kind of “displaced” family potluck inviting everyone we know, focusing on single moms, seniors, singles etc. Might be able to tie it to some sort of fundraiser or food bank collection. Make it an event which I think would be good for me emotionally but might also bless others.
- Take the kids to a hotel with a pool and just have a bunch of junk food.
- Do a fancy feast somewhere, dress up…
I don’t know, but I figure I should plan something now to budget and get something lined up.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
You’ll have both Thanksgiving and Christmas to consider, so two of the ideas may work. Can you rent out the clubhouse at the apartment complex? I like the idea of having a big potluck. This might work well for Thanksgiving as to me Thanksgiving is all about appreciating those around you and lots of delicious side dishes!
Christmas is a good time to do a bit of a getaway if it is in the budget. Do you have any financial objectives that you’d like to hit by Christmas? If so, make the Christmas getaway a reward for the sacrifices the family will make to meet it.
No financial goals by December, January is when I expect to make some decisions about what we will be doing in April and thus how I will spend the money I am squirreling away now. But I’ve already got Christmas budgeted so with this much time, I’ll have to see what I can do without my already earmarked money.
I’ve heard soup kitchens usually have way too many volunteers on a holiday. It’s the one time a year people really think about volunteering. If you are wanting to volunteer better to do it on a day that isn’t a holiday. I second the above suggestion to see if you can use the clubhouse in your apartment complex.
I don’t think the clubhouse at my apartments is available, they said so when I tried to get it for the kids’ birthday party last spring.
But there are lots of options around here, maybe I can get a deal with this much notice. There have to be others in our situation who might be interested.
I third the clubhouse idea and second the Christmas getaway. More and more we’re giving experiences instead of physical gifts. A getaway could be the family Christmas gift.
Yes, I’ve been thinking of a ski trip for Christmas since we are just a couple hours away from a couple of ski places. Maybe with this much time, I can do something with the money I’ve already budgeted for Christmas presents.
I like the idea of a low-key but fun Christmas. Hotel pool and junk food would be awesome!
As for volunteering if you can’t do it on the actual holiday perhaps sometime during the holiday season? I’m sure they could use help on a non-holiday. Or perhaps shortly after the New Year.
How about a picnic? Spread a blanket out in your living room. Grocery stores offer holiday meals for a set number of people with turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, etc. If you have a microwave, you could reheat these dishes.
Oh, how I used to love picnics! Unfortunately with our tiny space + 4 animals, an indoor picnic would be a comical disaster. I can picture it now – us trying to lay out food, dogs circling, little dog jumping in life trying to look silverware, the kids asking what they can feed the big dog, someone’s favorite dessert being wolfed down when they turned their head.
And we don’t have a microwave 🙁 Another thing we gave up for this tiny space.
I do appreciate the thought, in other circumstances I would and have jumped on it.