Thrifty Christmas Eve Thursday-Blogmas Day 24

Reader Joann's homemade wreath.
It's beautiful!

     For a wide variety of reasons, Christmas in a pandemic  has been a lot more thrifty for my family. One of the biggest savings has been not exchanging gifts in either DH's or my family. Even a  modest $25 gift can be a $250 expenses if I include what we and our adult children would spend. I saved a lot with no office gifts to my team, colleagues, and boss, though DH still bought a sizeable gift card for his, who gifted hm the equivalent to a local restaurant. The two of them are literally keeping their store from closing, and so the  quid pro quo gift exchange was about mutual appreciation. 

     For food and drinks, while I bought a little bit of "cheer", it's been nothing compared to what we normally would buy for my immediate family (with DS home), and to take to both extended family. Same with food. I can't imagine what my sister spends hosting Christmas Eve, as I know with just the appetizers and my contribution to the main meal, plus drinks, what I spend. Many of the nieces and nephews with their kids come and go open house style, maybe bringing along a bottle of wine or a cookie plate, but not food. When we are in full force, this at last count 77 people, but probably closer to 50 in the home at one time. That's a lot of ham, buns, meatballs, veggie trays, and mini-sausages.

     My guess is many other families, especially if large, are saving money in these ways as well. We didn't increase our spending in other areas so it has been a thrifty Christmas by my definition.I've had a couple swap outs for some expenses, like sending GrubHub to my son since we won't be taking him out, plus the meat, cheese and treats delivery. We're getting take out today, so that is different, but less than I would spend on the food that is brought to my sisters.

     A big money saver has been the lack of December Happy Hours with friends and work. We would be sure to be meeting friends this Saturday, a respite from all the family time. Trivia last night would have been a festive time, with snack trays and pizza along with our beer and seltzers. I plan when life resumes a little more normal and I can dine with colleagues, to treat my team for a lunch out, but that is looking like a pretty far distant future with working from home at least through June. Even then, likely we will also phase back having multiple people in the building at one time.

  

     Yes, it has been a different kind of Christmas for us all, financially as well as where we are spending our tie and resources. Here's a few of my top thriftiness for the week in time, resources, and money.

• Several weeks back, reader Joann shared here homemade wreath. It is so beautiful and I appreciate her sharing it with me, so I can share with all of you. Seems a fitting gift for Christmas eve. 
• With carryover from the 2019 flex account and because DH had to defer his colonoscopy, we had enough  to fully cover the out of pocket for DD2's wisdom teeth extraction. Home admin this week is getting that receipt, plus two others sent in so we have the reimbursement before the Visa bill comes in January
• Since DD2 can't have rice for a while, I froze the remaining curry she wanted as her last meal. From what we read, any grainy items should be avoided for 7-10 days until the stitches dissolve, then she can better enjoy her favorite meal again.
• Both the vegan butter and a vegan cream cheese were on sale at our local grocery store. I like to have things DD1 can enjoy when she comes over. I may freeze 1/2 the butter as even on sale, it is pricey and we won't use it that fast. I still have a stick from Thanksgiving. 
• Even though not local, I sure appreciate being able to use the free shipping to his door for DS's gifts from Kohls. While the second and third  parts were delayed, he reported yesterday all successfully arrived. 
• His gifts this way will not be here for Christmas as he shopped, even online, late. He typically he does his shopping on Christmas Eve morning, or day before depending on when he flies in. He transferred money to me to get his grandma a gift card, so thought that far ahead! 
• Other than a few rolls of scotch tape and one square gift box for the bamboo knit socks for my MIL, I didn't buy any gift wrap, using what I had left from last year. I hadn't bought much then either, as the year before (after Christmas 2018) I got loads of all at half price or better. 
• Both supper Tuesday night and lunch and supper yesterday were leftovers/fend for yourself meals, using up a lot of bits in the refrigerator. I froze one large cooked chicken breast as well, ready for a hotdish this weekend. 
• 
  Even though we are not exchanging gifts, I made loaves of pumpkin bread for DH's siblings family, our niece and her husband, and for the two  young men nephews. I used the five holiday loaf pans bought last year or year before on clearance, and at most have about $5 worth of ingredients in total. Our hometown bakery sells equivalent size loafs for $4.99 each. I even had enough batter for to mini loaves for DH and DD2.
  
• For the 10 year old twin niece and nephew, I had clearanced stocking stuffers from last year I put in small gift bags. The other sibling from that family is our God son, so he got a traditional gift. The new baby got a holiday/winter pajamas ( bought on clearance but still adorable) and a couple $1 pop out animal board books. My kids loved the pop out books. 

     I'm going to give the house a power clean once everyone gets up (vacuum noise and cleaning bathrooms  clanging) before DD1 joins us for the day. DH needs to our gifts up to his mom's. We got an icy snowy mess-some accumulation and drifting though not the massive dump of snow. The scraping is going to be a pain not to mention the icy roads. It's going to be darn cold for the 9:30 PM  outside church service, but I'm guessing won't be more than 15 minutes. It will be nice to gather despite the cold. They've added two additional inside services as the ones originally scheduled filled up so fast, which puts a lot of extra work on the pastors, staff, and volunteers cleaning in between and I thank them all for that allowing those that feel they  need to be inside a church the opportunity to do so as safe as can be possible. 

      Our day will be spent with board games, watching a movie or two, opening  perhaps one gift, and food and relaxation until church.Then, home for some of that  mulled wine. How will you be spending today? However you do, I hope your able to connect in person, by phone, of online with those you love. 

Merry Christmas to All!