Both my daughters sent me a list for each one of my granddaughters and what they want as presents for Christmas. I casually looked over the lists and immediately notated one glaring spec: all the presents were over $40, with some over the price of $57. We’ve had a pre-approval amount of no more than $25 per gift for years. Now, with inflation, my daughters are passing these higher prices onto grandma.
Ain’t gonna fly. Grandma, who is on a fixed income, says ‘no”.
All of us have had to cut back lately, on a lot of things. Christmas presents aren’t a necessity. They’re not even a need. I haven’t gotten a Holiday Present in years. And yet I survived. I do intend to get each one of my granddaughters ‘a little something’ for Christmas but NOT at the detriment of my own financial survival. I’m certain when my grandchildren grow up and mature, they will look back on this time and see my choice was a good one. Grandma is mostly concerned about food security these days. She’s also concerned about keeping a roof over her head, gas in the car and heat in the living spaces of her life. My Little Pony will have to survive on its own.
Thank goodness I have a fake Christmas tree, still looking none for the wear over time. I’ve also got tons of decorations I’ve collected over the years and tons of Christmas lights to decorate my home’s exterior. In other words, other than the Holiday Dinner, there really is nothing else I will be spending any of my money on this season. I’ve got it all or as much as anyone would need.
I’ll be saying ‘no’ a lot this holiday season. And be a lot better off because of it.

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Christmas is the one time of the year that we spend a lot on our kids and grandkids. My husband and I grew up in families with very little extra money, but our parents always managed to make Christmas magical for us. My parents saw to it that we got that one special gift that we were wishing for and our grandparents, aunts and uncles filled in the rest of our bounty. I remember so many wonderful Christmases and I hope my daughters remember the same from their childhood.
I start putting away a little money each month all year long. If I get a little unexpected money it also goes in that fund. By Christmas I have enough money to spend about $100 each on my two daughters, my one son-in-law and the three grandkids.
I don’t spend money on them the rest of the year. I try to spend a lot of time with them and make a lot of special memories, but my grandkids know that other than a small birthday gift, they are not to ask us for things. I’ve always kept a special box of garage sale toys at my house and when they came to visit, that’s the first place they headed. I also had a craft box full of “junk” and lots of tape and glue where they could create whatever they wanted. I miss those days when they were little and always begged to come over! Now they are 17, 14 and 10 yrs. old.
I’m sure you will find something to make your grandkids Christmas special, too. Just visiting grandparents, baking cookies together and reading Christmas books is so much fun! Maybe you could make each a little apron to use when baking with you! Have fun and enjoy them. Unfortunately, they don’t stay little for very long.
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Glenda, that’s a great idea about little aprons for the granddaughters to wear while they bake cookies! Woo Hoo. That I can do! THX.
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I think it’s better to spend time together with granddaughters than to gift some useless gifts.
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I agree. Thanks for your comment!
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Tablecloths or sheets make great aprons too. Sincerely, Lara
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The grandkids and I are planning on doing salt dough ornaments this year besides baking cookies. Perhaps you can use some fabric remnants to make ornaments.
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