The Impossible Task of Saving Money at Christmas Time

Winter is officially here, which means Christmas is around the corner.

You try to plan ahead and get your Christmas shopping started nice and early. This way you space out the blows to the wallet and you can avoid rushing around like Santa with his head cut off (this is exactly what some of you guys are doing right about now). BUT... you end up still buying more gifts when you see something ‘perfect’. This example is brought to you by my Mom, without fail she does this year after year..

OR you budget your entire life out and always buy shit only when it’s on sale but when it is December 24 and you're at the mall or downtown at your local shops; looking at the price tag is no longer necessary and if spending $1 million dollars means making sure your gifts are under the tree on Christmas Day...it's totally fine.

You buy holiday candles but then burn through them so quickly on your own time that there's no candles left to burn during the holidays when you actually have some friends and family over. Oops - better go buy more.

You stock up on SNACKs like Kate suggests as a hot tip to always be prepared to host but then you are feelin' extra snackie and eat all the snacks and cheese and you have to go get more anyway.

You juggle two credit cards. Planning for what can go on each, when the next payment is due and when you get paid next. But this all goes out the window during the holidays, what’s one more night out for dinner and drinks with friends?! After all, we gotta get it in with another lockdown coming.

You try to avoid going to the LCBO because it's a pandemic and you need to buy for a week of enjoyment bending the elbow. But after two nights you need to mentally prepare yourself and your wallet to make another trip back. (we got a batch of 30 bottles of wine made for this exact issue - and if we run out of stock before the end of the holidays...be worried)

You are too cheap to go buy bags of ice but you can’t keep up with the damn ice cube making when consumption is at an all time high. So you go buy bags of ice and it seems like the most expensive bags in town.

You wish you bought a Nespresso because you can't stop dreaming about ESPRESSO MARTINIS. It just ain't in the budget these days, damnit. And I have already made too many purchases that are Christmas gifts to myself. But you buy the Nespresso anyway...

When you let your gas tank reach empty and you've got 27 places to be and the gas station ain’t one of them.

When you are no longer able to identify and place each and every transaction from your bank account...you know you have reached the holidays.

When your boyfriend’s family has a Christmas Tree farm but they run out of trees and shut down for the season...and you didn’t manage to get a tree. You refuse to buy a Christmas tree so you buy a two foot tall potted sapling from DeGroot's Nursery.

If you don't cash in your credit card and Shoppers Optimum points this time of year...welp then congratulations, you make more money than me.

An ACTUAL WAY TO SAVE MONEY during the holidays: Go shopping for your decor in your Mom’s 150 tote bins of Christmas decorations in her basement department store. OR tradesy decor with friends and family to switch up your decor every year or two.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Joyeux Noel. Feliza Navidad. Buon Natale.

Happy isolation with your household!

- Amy