The Frugal Christmas

And relax.... Christmas has come and gone. As much as I love the season, it brings a lot of work. This year has been a very different experience for us due to budget cuts (hey, that excuse works for Governments all over the world, so it can fly in this household for a while). You all know that we've been under financial pressure. We entered into this farming venture knowing that things would be tight for a while and we planned and budgeted as best we could to accommodate that. We did not foresee the myriad of equipment breakdowns that have surprised us this year. But as with any other challenge, you have to adapt, and this Christmas was no exception.

Back in October, I suggested to the kids that we could have a 'regular' Christmas with presents and all the trimmings, or we could cut back on all the frills and choose to go away somewhere as a family. They both choose the vacation option. I was both proud and guilty. Proud that they opted to forego gifts but saddened that they both made comments about not spending much time together as a family this year. They're right of course, it's been a whirlwind that has taken it's toll not just on our finances but on our resolve, our bodies, our health and apparently, our relationships.

With these great intentions laid out, we then found ourselves hurtling towards Christmas, facing more financial drains, and really not being able to afford any of it - the presents, the vacation, even the turkey felt like a struggle.  Now, as a family, we are not religious and we are finding ourselves increasingly exasperated by mass consumerism, and so add austerity measures into that and there doesn't seem like there's a whole lot left. But there is! It occurred to me that this Christmas was about refocusing on the family, a bit of repair was called for and so we had to get a little creative in order to maintain the fun and magic of it all.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree - $15!

Our solution to present buying was quite simply a Secret Santa scheme. Instead of framing it as 'frugal' we framed it as 'fun'. Each family member wrote a wish list on an envelope and I inserted a $100, which seemed like a lot to the kids. We then picked one envelope out of a hat. Total $400 on presents for the family, a lot less than we've spent in the past. The kids had a blast taking responsibility for shopping and maintaining the pretense of keeping the name of the person they were buying for secret (they managed it for about 2 minutes and 36 seconds).

Another way we made cuts was by asking the family to be environmentally conscientious. Of course, this fits with the way we are living now so the kids did not find it a challenge or upsetting to go without things like wrapping paper. It made them inventive. They found ways to wrap presents and make them look pretty without buying wrapping paper and gift bags. It also meant that they could spend their $100 budget solely on presents and not any of the unnecessary extras. The whole thing turned into a 'teaching moment' for the kids really. A chance to be thoughtful and creative.

We didn't make cuts on the turkey. I just could not compromise now I know what I know about the food industry. Urban Digs Farm ran a scheme where they sourced produce from local farms and worked with ReUpBBQ in New West to create a meal box. The turkey was huge so we had Christmas dinner from it and boxing day sandwiches. There's four meals worth of turkey frozen and bone broth simmering away on the stove right now. All of a sudden, it doesn't feel so expensive. There was lots of root vegetables in the pack which we didn't really need but there is a lot left. We'll also save the seeds from the squash to grow next year.

Then came the vacation. We really couldn't afford the vacation but we couldn't afford not to go either, the kids had their hearts set on it. We had initially planned to go to the States to make it cheap. However, our permanent residence cards have expired so we couldn't cross the border. I needed to find an alternative and fast. I found a hotel in Victoria that was quite cheap. Thinking Victoria would be a good option, I started looking around. We haven't really been to Victoria, the capital of BC, and taking another form of transport, in this case going on the ferry, always makes it feel like a 'proper' vacation, that you've gone far away.

Searching hotels brought up a few feasible options. I picked one that wasn't the cheapest but appeared to offer the best value. It was a nice resort with lots of amenities and you got the third night free and resort credit. There was a fridge and microwave in the room so I planned to take food to reduce costs. In the three nights away, I budgeted for eating out twice, once using the hotel credit.  Of course, none of this went to plan. Although we remained frugal, there were unforeseen costs. I had miscalculated the ferry cost, stupidly thinking that it was $125 return when in fact it was $125 each way. There was a resort fee at the hotel that we didn't know about upon booking, that made me cross actually. It added another $20 a night onto the cost which effectively cancelled out the resort credit. Also, the weather wasn't great which limited the amount of free, outdoor activities we could do and we did end up paying for a few more activities than we anticipated.

All this compromise is the reality of the life we have chosen, at least for the foreseeable future. It's also taught us about re-evaluating what's important. The kids had a fabulous time on the vacation. Seeing the twinkling Christmas lights in Buchart Gardens reflecting in their excited eyes made me think about the memories that were being ingrained. Ian and I realised that they wouldn't remember what gifts they got in ten years but they would remember the things we did; ice skating on the harbour, outdoor swimming in December, & exploring Japanese gardens.

It's been hard for me. The nagging worry about money has been a constant. But it's only been hard for me. The kids know money is tight but they haven't known any sacrifices. They've loved their Christmas and want to do Secret Santa every year. The memories we've created have been more rewarding than any previous Christmas experience.

We do need to make changes though. I can't carry this worry again all through 2015. We know we have money coming in at the end of February and after that it's not long until the growing season gets going again, but I'm genuinely concerned about the next two months. We are constantly working to make changes, there's really no more cuts that can be made in our lifestyle right now and so we continue to 'speculate to accumulate'. We're in the midst of a huge reclaimed greenhouse deal at the moment that is an incredible amount of work and quite a big gamble, but will enable us to grow all year round in the future if it all works out.

IF we can make it two more months, we might scrap by and finally start to turn the financial situation around and then we can all breath a long, collective sigh of relief. Just two more months to keep your fingers crossed for us.