The end-of-year celebrations promise to be costly for families, especially since inflation has reached unprecedented heights. How to enjoy good times with the children during these few days without straining your budget? Our advice and tips.
Christmas is fast approaching and with it the desire to spend time with loved ones during these few days of rest. But the end of the year also rhymes with sharply rising expenses as inflation gallops and the price of fuel has a heavy impact on family budgets. How to take advantage of this period while watching your wallet? Our ideas and tips.
The transport and the cheapest family reunification methods
Transport
Taking a few days off during the holidays requires a substantial budget. In addition to housing, it is necessary to take into account the expenses related to transport and food without forgetting outings. If the only way to take advantage of advantageous prices for travel by plane or train is to book your tickets in advance, you can save money by making carpooling if you don’t have a large family. And even so, you can carpool twice, with one adult in a different car. As a family, it is just as interesting to share the rental of a mini bus or a small van.
Rental, accommodation
Regarding accommodation, you can take advantage of the holiday auction. If there are no dedicated sites, individuals auction stays on ebay, for example if they have a last minute impediment. You can also look at guarding sites (as move-voyager.com) where people who have already planned their Christmas stay, are looking to have their house looked after and maintained. In general, this is done in the form of an exchange of good practices, or else at a very low cost. And if you even see no problem in giving up your own home for vacation time, you can just as well do a home exchange with people who want to visit your area and you theirs. The website homeexchange list a whole bunch of such offers.
Another solution, the vacation rental which is becoming a real trend for sharing the cost of accommodation and making new friends. The website colocationdevacances.com thus offers 30% of stays to families. All you have to do is register on the site, indicate your centers of interest and a destination among the offers offered in France, Spain or Belgium or choose your future vacation teammates by consulting the different profiles on the site. .
If you don’t travel, what are the outings to do in your environment?
You don’t have the necessary budget to leave? And if you take the opportunity to explore the richness of the local heritage? Parisians will be spoiled for choice to rediscover their city in a different light by visiting the catacombs for example or by taking a guided tour like those offered by Under the cobblestones which allows you to discover the districts of the capital thanks to original guided tours.
Others will be able to find ideas for visits by going to the‘VISITOR CENTER closest to their home. Associations of enthusiasts often offer original and often inexpensive visits unknown places in our beautiful French regions. Finally, it is not because winter is approaching that you have to store your bike in the garage! If the weather is good, Don’t hesitate to ride it with your children and explore accessible and adapted bike paths or trails!
What original animations to do this year?
Outdoors
Could you do Christmas markets ! Please note that the products offered are not necessarily cheap and it’s more about strolling and enjoying the atmosphere here than shopping. That said, you can still have a good hot chocolate or a waffle there with your children, and do some rides and entertainment. If the temperatures are not too cold yet, you can also do forest walks to collect leaves or pine cones that your children can decorate for the holidays. Do you live by the sea or in the countryside? you can also take advantage of large expanses such as meadows or beaches to watch the kites dance in the air! You can also organize a photo rally. Equipped with a camera, your children have the task of photographing a list of objects, people, colors or places indicated in advance according to their age. The fastest will win!
At home
If you prefer indoor activities, there is also something to do. So you can organize a escape room or a treasure hunt Children love to solve puzzles and all it takes is a little imagination to transform the house and slip clues everywhere. How about rediscovering playmobils and Legos? Thanks to the technique of stop-motionyou can make stories in the form of small movies that your children will love and remember for a long time.
They also love huts built inside or parades organized with their disguises. Finally, who says long winter afternoons also says board games! Monopoly, cluedo or risk appeal to young and old alike!
What are the little gifts that always please? (to dad, mom, uncle, aunt, children, grandpa, grandma)
As Christmas is going to be cruelly marked by inflation, we have to celebrate it under the sign of originality and tips. Here’s how to organize a Christmas worthy of the name, even memorable, without selling Grandpa’s kidney and Aunt’s eye. Who knows, it might even turn out to be the most successful Christmas ever!
homemade gifts
are inevitably the cheapest (not necessarily the most beautiful, let’s admit it) but certainly the most appreciated because they can be personalized at will. Many sites offer ideas so don’t hesitate to take inspiration from them. You can thus manufacture and offer a personalized candlea holiday decor under a bell or a box full of memories which will please the elders!
Second-hand products
They are also more and more trendy, with their ecological benefit. Unearthed for example on Vintedthey allow you to offer a unique piece that perfectly matches the personality or passions of its recipient and shows that you have devoted time and attention to unearthing something personal, instead of wasting money on more common gifts that will quickly be put away in a closet or resold on the same site! The website SMALA also offers second-hand clothes and accessories but this time only for children, from birth to adolescence. Items are all in near-flawless condition and priced significantly less than new. For Christmas, SMALA goes to gift cards to put an end to missteps when offered a present. Once offered, you just have to use it on the website in a few clicks.
secret santa
Finally, you can also offer your family members to bet on a secret santa. It is based on a simple principle: by drawing lots, each member of the family is responsible for offering a gift to the designated person. All gifts must fall within an equivalent budget, to be defined according to the financial possibilities of each. The Secret Santa allows you to take care of only one person’s gift, to think long and hard about what they might like and to respect the budget dedicated to the end of the year celebrations!