By Niamh Casey
The festive season is the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also expensive! So for a student, it often means making sacrifices and a clever budgeting plan to be able to afford this costly time of year. So here are four easy and budget friendly ideas for this Christmas season.
- One of the best parts of Christmas is the amazing selection of Christmas movies to watch. From classics like Elf and Home Alone to new releases every year, the choice is ever – growing. You could get together with your friends and watch different Christmas movies together. Everybody can take it in turns to be the host, and each week that person can choose the movies they watch or take a vote! This is a fun and festive way to enjoy the Christmas season without have to get dressed up and go out.
- If you want to get together for a meal with your friends, a fun and cheap way of doing it is by arranging to meet at someone’s house and then everybody gets assigned a dish to make. This makes the meal more personal and people can choose to be as dressy or casual as they like! It is a great way for people to put their own personal touch on the occasion and people can get creative with their dishes. Going out for a meal can be super expensive and booking somewhere during Christmas time is nearly impossible. A meal at a friend’s house saves a lot of stress and expense, so is far more enjoyable.
- One of the biggest expenses of Christmas is buying gifts for everyone. So, instead arrange a group gift. This means that everyone only gets one gift but everyone else has pitched in. This means that the group chooses what to get each person and then they all pitch in some money. You can set a price limit to suit your budget as well. Everybody loves to save, especially around Christmas, so this would definitely be something to consider doing. It also makes the gift more special to each person as the whole group decided on what to get for you, and the gift becomes more sentimental.
- A great idea for a group outing is to visit the Christmas market together. The markets are one of the most festive atmospheres of the season. The different smells and stalls really put people in the Christmas mood. You can set yourself a spending limit too, whatever suits your budget. This way you can still feel like you can partake in the activity by buying yourself a drink of something tasty from one of the stalls, or even something that just catches your eye. Doing this with a group of friends is even more enjoyable and it would definitely make a great memory.
