now that all of the kids are grown and have jobs, we do secret Santa. This helps the ones that are trying to stay in their budget. Great video

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

We've never done secret santa but we'd definitely be open to it.--Tasha

@FleurHarleaux

5 жыл бұрын

ladym34 we do secret Santa as well. Kids are grown. One is in college and the other is going next semester. It's definitely good for the budget. We set a dollar amount and stay within it. We utilize Black Friday.

After years of claiming that we didn’t want exchange presents and then buying presents for everyone anyway, my family has decided to have Secret Santa gift exchange this year with a budget limit even. It’s still amazing to me how excited everyone is about this.

Two years ago we decided to buy all of us season passes to a theme park for our Christmas presents. It was a great present because it lastsall year and we just buy them a handful of small presents apiece for Christmas. It was a great idea for our family because we all love theme parks and enjoy going over and over and knowing it's free!

It is cracking me up watching Tasha try to keep her exuberant holiday spirit bottled up. I can't wait to see what you all will be doing in the next couple months.

Last year was an experience Christmas where we didn't exchange gifts but went instead as a family to the Nutcracker and for New Year's Eve went to ET accompanied by our city's symphony. It was memorable and fun for everyone! No complaints!

Awesome tips! Keto must be going well bc tasha looks amazing, that color looks great on you too.

Me and my husband gave each other years ago the gift of not giving each other any presents at Christmas. Best present ever

@stephiek4876

5 жыл бұрын

noone goingnowhere my hubby and I have done this for years! His birthday is Christmas Eve, so he does get a birthday gift 🎁

@MdMasud-qi7bm

3 жыл бұрын

Epllllllllllll

My fav KZread couple 💕💕 great video Joseph and Tasha! Thank for the tips I need them!

my side hustle is selling my primitive folk art...I ramp it up before the holidays so I can donate more to my favorite charities...my budgeted amount is usually long gone for the year by now...this would also work to earn extra money for any holiday indulgence...it's fun to give random gifts to people who don't expect them from you...I work in a hospital and giving a pizza coupon to the security guards or gift card to the housekeepers makes both our days...

I love the idea of spending time creating holiday memories with each other! I find that so much more meaningful than physical gifts.

I feel that's kinda an american thing... I'd never buy several gifts for the kids. I live in Switzerland and we always got one gift from the parents and one from the grandparents and godfahter/godmother. There also is just one day in the holiday season where we exchange gifts. And everyone's happy with that... So i think starting shopping early or on sales can lead you to buy more, but if it's a cultural thing to have several presents for one person it's kinda needed... I like the idea of making gifts yourself. I plan on giving homemade chai latte syrup to our parents, grandparents, friends... I think it's important to remember that mostly everyone of us has everything needed...

you guys are so awesome!

😍😍😍 great tips!!!

Oh I love the making memories is awesome idea!! Cool 😎 ideas thanks

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!-Joseph

I love your tips. All of them were awesome. I love family oriented things. My husband and I set budgets every year and go over them, largely due to me(guilty). I will do better this year. :) I love the pot luck and white elephant idea. You two are awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. I will share this video with my hubby and extended family.

New subbie here - found you via the financial freedom youtube community and A Merry Life. Such great advice - especially to sit down and get everyone on the same page. This is key. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to watch more! xWBW

Yes to all of this! We love to do the 3 gift rule for our kids : something to wear /to read or do (we are doing chemistry sets this year) /and to play. Our kids also do a semi secret Santa by buying small things for the stocking

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

That's a great way to do it. -Joseph

Love your hair today!! Love your tips and vids.

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Most of the time I curl my hair when I forgot to wrap it and it's looking kind of crazy and I don't want to put it in a bun. Lol.--Tasha

Tasha, can we get a tutorial on your hair?? Love the curls! Did you use a curling wand? Flat iron? Looking good, girl!!!

This!! Kids don't need a bunch of junk. I learnt this when my daughter was around 8 years old and wanted a robot dog. I bought the dog and she played with it on Xmas day and never again. That's the last time I bought a 'fad toy'.

Great tips! I’ve also started cashing in my credit card rewards for amazon (or other companies) gift cards. I live several states away and I’ll either send them the gift card or use it to pay for the presents from the wish list.

We’re doing 2-3 gifts each & a stocking this year. We cut way back last year to 5 gifts each (in previous years we went waaaay overboard) and it still felt like too much! Our kids are all girls, all close in age so they all share/pass down toys, so even 2-3 gifts each feels like A LOT of new toys.

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

Yes! It's like opening gifts becomes a slog after the first few. And the excitement really dies down with each one too. Plus then you feel like you need to outdo yourself every year. Better to get off the treadmill I say!--Tasha

I practically start looking for Christmas gifts in right after Christmas. Christmas themed stuff (mostly candles) is marked down and I do have one big box in my closet where I keep the gifts I already purchased. I do use these candles for Secret Santa type stuff in the office or when I'm invited to someone's house in november/ december. I don't have a family of my own (kids/significant other) but me and my sister are grown up and we can buy the things that we want ourselves. So I'd rather like to spent the holidays creating memories with my parents, niece and nephew and the extended family insted of worrying about how much money I should spent on gifts. I also tend to not buy my niece and nephew that much. I live far enough away so that I don't see them that often, so I take time off from work to visit them around the holidays to spend time with them and I try to gift them something that we can do toether during that time. Like a fun trip somewhere around town where they usually don't go. But they're mostly excited about me coming just for them. My frieds and I get together like two or three times during the holidays. We have the rule that the person who hosts it doesn't have to actually cook anything, maybe he/she makes a simple/basic salad. But the majority of the food and drinks are brought by the guests. If they're leftovers everyone takes what they liked best home with them. Also I try to be done with my Christmas shopping by mid-november, so that I actually can enjoy the holiday season without being forced to go shopping when everyone else is doing it. And I have a set amount of money for Christmas, that I'm willing to spend on the holiday season, which includes gifts but also my tracel expenses to see my folks. I have the money I want to spent for Christmas saved up and ready in January. That means that in december I will have saved up all the money for Christmas that I plan to use in 2019 and in January I will start saving for Christmas 2020.Doing it like that just helps me stay in budget for Christmas and if someone gets a baby or something I can slightly adjust my budget for Christmas without it messing up my main financial goals.

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

That's awesome how well you plan ahead! Great job!--Tasha

I was very spoiled as a (only) child during x-mas. Moving away from home and my first x-mas away from home was a stark realization. Good recommendations. Although, as a kid when I lived at home I was very disinterested all the tradition and holiday building, I'm not sure how my parents could have dealt with that in a meaningful way. As an adult now, I only half celebrate the holidays (still mostly disinterested) but I try to do a little something to build a memory with my partner. His disinterest is hard to tackle. He's willing to participate and tries to make me happy, but he didn't grow up in western culture so there's not really any meaning behind it to him.

I do get together with friends always in a pot luck style . Sometimes we would do pizza parties and every guest will bring different toppings . For gifts I like shopping before hand and on Black Friday . Another item to save it would be to not cook too much , many times at parties so much food gets thrown away .

Great tips. My girlfriend and I are not exchanging Hanukkah gifts this year. We planned it ahead. You all could have a KETO COOKIE Exchange.

I'm very good at budgeting and saving money but sadly my partner isn't. We have been together for 4 years and we live in a tiny apartment. I talk about saving for a house all the time but we'd get there faster if he were more responsible with his money. Do you guys have any advice on how I can get him in on this more with me?

Just found your channel. Y’all are too cute!

Being part of an interfaith family has definitely made me focus now on experiences and traditions over buying presents. Bonus: I did not have to cut anyone to get a fingerling or hatchimal...

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

Those hatchimals are so cute though. I ran through a Target in a crowd to get zoozoo pets once.--Tasha

you two are as cute as a button!!!!

I like Joseph's shirt

@OneBigHappyLife

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks!-Joseph

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