Inside Or Out: Frugal Ways to Make Your Home Look More Festive

Decorating your home can definitely be an unexpected cost during the holiday season as you start racking up the cost of a tree, the poinsettia, the ornaments, and the Christmas lights. It all adds up and you haven’t even totaled the cost of all the presents you bought. Everyone is struggling to save money during Christmas, yet you don’t necessarily have to go all out in order to have a beautiful looking home. This year, instead of spending money on unnecessary decorations, consider trying a few of these frugal tips to help make your home look all around festive.

The first thing to remember when decorating your home is that buying a new item doesn’t necessarily make it better. Try DIY decorations that can remake something old into something new. This will not only create a unique and original item for your house, but will also provide you and friends with a fun activity to do. If you have any broken, or old tree ornaments, try placing them in jam jars, or mix them in a bowl to create an accent piece for your mantel, or table. Consider looking through your jewelry box for any items you don’t wear. Create ornaments from these pieces, or tie them with ribbon to placed as garland down your stair railing. Another easy decorative DIY decoration would be to find tall tree branches to be used in a lovely vase. Spray paint them gold, or silver to create a beautiful arrangement.

Sometimes the best way to stay frugal during the holidays is to visit your local thrift store. Another person’s trash is another’s treasure. Look for any hidden gems that may be hiding in the glassware section, or furniture section. Ask when any sales are going on to save even more. Try to keep an open mind and to think about how objects can be turned into decorative items for your home, or tree. This can be anything from old dishes to vinyl records.

The most important thing to remember is that this holiday season is not about giving and receiving gifts, it’s the thought behind it that counts. If you are having difficulty affording things during this time of year, try using newspaper as an alternative to wrapping paper to cut on costs. This will look unique under your tree and help reduce paper waste. Consider knitting, or crocheting stockings to be hung on the fireplace. This will not only provide your family with a memorable Christmas gift for years to come, but will also look adorable all lined up across the mantle.

Lastly, sometimes all it takes to decorate your home frugally is some experienced shopping. Try planning ahead for next year by hitting up all the sales the day after Christmas this year. Most stores have phenomenal sales, reducing Christmas decorations to at least half the cost of what they were full priced. Just prepare yourself because lines are going to be long and customers are going to be grumpy, but it’s going to be well worth the wait.


Kyle Simpson writes for Trucker to Trucker where you can find information on commercial truck financing and check out the latest deals on trucks across the country.