When money is tight or times get hard, celebrations are usually the first thing to go, but that’s when they matter most. Keeping traditions alive, even in a smaller form, helps a family’s morale and sense of normalcy. This covers 15 practical ways to keep birthdays, holidays, and special occasions meaningful without spending much, including building a “celebration stash,” giving experiences instead of things, and the one prep most people never think to make: a plan for keeping celebrations going when the usual options aren’t available.
When the budget gets squeezed, and whose isn’t these days, family celebrations are usually the first thing we cut. The birthday party shrinks to cake at the kitchen table, and the Christmas list gets shorter. Some years, the whole holiday feels like one more bill with one expense after another, piling up.
I’ve had those years. One Christmas, I was living in Germany, making almost no money at all and could only afford to send my family one box of lebkuchen, wrapped in a German newspaper. Later, tight times hit us as a family when our business was struggling, and most of my holiday shopping was done at the Dollar Store.
What I learned is that kids rarely remember what something cost. They remember the Valentine’s Day candlelit dinner and the stack of books that only came out only in December. Those things cost very little, and most of them can be planned months ahead.
And, you know what? Looking back after many years, even I have a hard time remembering if a particular Christmas was lean or not. I remember the Christmas mornings with jelly “donuts” made from a can of Pillsbury Grands biscuits and riding our bikes around the neighborhood at night, looking at Christmas lights.
This article covers how to celebrate special times when money is tight, from stocking a small “celebration stash” to finding gifts that don’t strain the budget. If you’re shopping for gifts right now, my gift guides are a good place to start.
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Table of contents
- Amy’s Story: A Tornado and a 9th Birthday
- Why Celebrating Helps in Hard Times
- 21 Ways to Celebrate Good Times in Tight Times
- Food that feels like a party
- 11. String up the lights.
- 8. Check discount bins whenever you’re at the store
- 9. Begin giving the gift of experiences , rather than things
- 10. Have special read-aloud books that are only read on certain holidays
- 11. Set special dates and traditions of your own
- 12. Candles make any celebration just a little more special
- 13. In truly hard times, sacrifice a little bit each day in order to provide something special later
- 14. Plan for attrition now
- 15. Remember that your attitude sets the stage for any event
- Bonus: This is second only to decorations in creating a party atmosphere!
- Help! These are great ideas but I didn’t plan ahead and I need something now!
- Let Me Help You Shop For Gifts!
- A Final Thought on Celebrating Good Times in Tight Times
- Want More Useful Ideas From Survival Mom?
Amy’s Story: A Tornado and a 9th Birthday
This story comes from Amy VR, a longtime Survival Mom contributor.
“My family lived in northern Alabama and experienced the April 2011 Tornado Outbreak. We saw one of the tornadoes from our front window. I worked on clean-up and recovery after the storms; the damage and loss were devastating for so many people. Even those of us who were spared direct damage still had to deal with days (and for some, weeks) of no power.
While we were thankful for being spared, there could have been a “mini-disaster” of our own because the day after the storms was my daughter’s 9th birthday. We were stuck at home and unable to go out for birthday fun as planned. Thankfully, I had already purchased her presents and had a dessert mix on hand, so we were able to plan a last-minute family celebration at home.”
Celebrating Doesn’t Minimize a Tragedy
“Now, please don’t misunderstand. Missing out on a planned birthday party in NO WAY compares to the loss of property and life that was experienced due to these storms. My daughter understood what was happening and was not upset in the least by changing plans. But it made me think about a long-term disaster, losing a job, or a TEOTWAWKI event. It will be important to celebrate birthdays and holidays even in the midst of a crisis when at all possible.
My daughter’s 9th birthday is what triggered my desire to add holidays to our family preparedness plan.”
Rotate the Celebration Stash
Amy kept a small stash of birthday and holiday supplies on hand. When an occasion comes around, use what you have and buy a replacement for next year. Nothing goes stale, and you’re never starting from zero.
A basic celebration stash in a bin might hold candles, a cake mix and frosting, a few rolls of wrapping paper, and one or two small gifts bought on sale.
For example, I buy a bag of Halloween Candy on November 1st on sale and add it to the stash. After Valentine’s Day, I purchase a box of Valentine’s Cards with the candy included. Not only will kids enjoy these, but they will have them to share with others in the neighborhood who might not have planned to celebrate.
Why Celebrating Helps in Hard Times
A birthday cake during a job loss or serving a simple meal by candlelight doesn’t solve a difficult situation, but it does give everyone a few hours where the hard stuff isn’t the center of attention, and kids notice that. Adults, too.
Celebrations also give a family something to look forward to. When the week ahead looks grim, “Friday is pizza and movie night” is a small thing to hang onto. I’ve written before about emotional resilience, and keeping some joy in the house is part of carrying that load.
My husband’s birthday fell right in the middle of the main Covid lockdown in 2020. Most restaurants were closed, but we were able to get slices of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and ate them in our parked car! Sure, a bigger celebration with family would have been fun, but this birthday was more than memorable. Good times during difficult times.
21 Ways to Celebrate Good Times in Tight Times
Food that feels like a party
1. Bake from scratch
A homemade cake mix costs a fraction of a bakery cake, and it’s easy and cheap to make. Kids love helping, which turns the baking into part of the celebration. Out of eggs and oil? Try a soda pop cake: stir a box cake mix together with one can of soda and bake it as the box directs.
2. Pick a signature dish
Many families have one food that shows up every year, like cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning or my Pillsbury Grands jelly donuts. Choose something cheap enough to make in any year, good or bad.
3. Let the birthday kid choose the menu.
4. Find a cheaper version of a favorite treat.
If a favorite holiday recipe has gotten expensive, test a simpler one now, before the holiday. One year, I fell in love with an extravantly expensive chocolate-mint bar — until I added up how much the ingredients cost! A box of brownie mix with a few York peppermint patties was just as good.
A Dutch Baby pancake is fun and special and doesn’t require any “fancy” ingredients. If your family likes this one, especially if you have two or three toppings on hand, make sure everyone knows this recipe will now be served every year on this special day. It’s that easy to start a new family tradition.
Gifts that don’t strain the budget
5. Keep a running gift list all year.
When someone mentions something they’d like, write it down in your phone. By December you’ll have a list of ideas you know they want, and time to watch for sales.
6. Buy in bulk when a deal is good.
When wrapping paper or favorite candy goes deep on sale, buy enough for several occasions and add them to your celebration stash.
One year I was able to buy a massive amount of pink tulle at an unbelievable price. When it was time for my daughter’s 5th birthday, we strung swathes of tulle from the center chandelier in the dining room to each corner of the room and let them drape to the ground. It was an amazing setting for her little-girl tea party. Lots of glamour for a few dollars.
7. Check the discount bins
Clearance shelves and end caps are a good place to find small gifts, so make a habit of looking every time you shop. Thrift stores work too. A used copy of a favorite book with a note written inside the cover becomes a keepsake.
For example, buy a few holiday decorations when they show up in the discount bin at the store., including paper plates and napkins. Sometimes all it takes to make a meal or holiday special is eating it on Christmas Barbie paper plates! After the particular holiday is a great time to purchase for next year at a steep discount. You can find discount bins in the meat and bakery departments at grocery stores, too.
8. Give an experience
A picnic at a favorite spot or a homemade coupon for one-on-one time often means more than another toy. You can also set up a scavenger hunt around the house that ends with a “redeem later” card for a treat. It stretches out the fun and moves the cost to next payday.
A friend of mine, Debra, started the tradition of taking her son to McDonald’s, not only on his birthday (April 9th), but each month on the 9th. It was their dedicated time together, and even when things got busy, they both that that “date” to look forward to.
9. Sign up for birthday freebies early.
Many restaurant loyalty programs send a free birthday meal or dessert, but some need you signed up weeks ahead before the offer shows up. Set them up at least a month before the birthday. Here are a few to try, but double-check they’re still valid before heading out to get your free treat. (Valid as of October, 2026.)
- IHOP Rewards: a free stack of buttermilk pancakes. You have to be a member before the 1st of your birthday month, so someone born on the 28th needs to join weeks ahead.
- Dairy Queen: a birthday offer, which isn’t always a free Blizzard. You need a $1+ order in the app within the 45 days before your birthday, and you can’t change your birthday once it’s entered.
- Starbucks Rewards: one free drink or food item. You have to join at least 7 days before your birthday and make a purchase that earns Stars first. Basic members can only use it on the birthday itself.
- Firehouse Subs: a free sub. You need a $1+ purchase in the past 6 months, made at least 7 days before your birthday, and you have only a 3-day window to use it.
- Chili’s Rewards: a free dessert. You have to buy at least $5 in food or drinks, and it expires 10 days after it arrives. Chili’s doesn’t state an official sign-up deadline.
- Panera: a free bakery treat, or a free You Pick Two for paid members. It isn’t applied automatically, so you have to pick it when you order.
- Baskin-Robbins: a free scoop or a coupon. You can add up to 5 family members, but not every shop accepts it.
- Cold Stone: a birthday reward that appears 7 days before your birthday and expires 7 days after.
- Smoothie King: a free 20 oz smoothie, but only for members who have reached the top spending level.
10. Shop with a list of practical ideas.
If you need ideas, my gift guides are full of useful gifts at a range of prices:
- Gifts for preppers: practical, creative and buy-it-for-life ideas
- Skill-based gifts for kids and teens
- Practical gifts for the women in your life
- Gifts for the prepper-minded men in your life
- Clever gifts for the non-preppers in your life
11. String up the lights.
Twinkle lights make any room feel special, and they aren’t just for Christmas. Dollar stores and after-holiday sales are the cheapest places to buy them.
Throughout the year, keep notes of anything someone mentions that is a potential gift idea. It may already be a frugal buy, but you can also be watching for killer deals on things that cost more.
When my son was 7, he decided he was manly enough to use Axe shower gel and shampoo! So, on Christmas morning he woke up to find sample bottles of Axe products in his stocking, along with a well-wrapped piece of the Limburger cheese he had always wanted to try! Gifts can be practical, and fun, and don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
8. Check discount bins whenever you’re at the store
You never know what you’ll find in the discount bins. Make it a habit to check them whenever you’re at a store that has one. Keep a list on your phone of things you’re wanting or hoping to find. You’ll use your time more efficiently and your money more effectively.
9. Begin giving the gift of experiences, rather than things
I learned this a few years ago when my sister-in-law and her partner treated my husband and me to a magical dinner at The Melting Pot. While I so often forget gifts and who gave them, I’ll never forget that evening. I’ll bet it’s the same for you and your family.
A gift of a “girls’ day out” is something your mom, sister, or daughter will remember forever, or a “guys’ day only” for father and son. This is a gift of time and attention, things we all too often do not give to our loved ones in this fast-paced world.
10. Have special read-aloud books that are only read on certain holidays
We’ve always had a book basket filled with Christmas books that is pulled out only in the month of December. You can also do this for:
- Independence Day
- Easter
- Thanksgiving
- any holiday you want!
11. Set special dates and traditions of your own
Dates and simple traditions give kids something to look forward to and help bond the family together.
For example, families with adopted kids often celebrate “Gotcha! Day”, the day their child officially joined the family. Or make it a family “rule” that, “We don’t listen to Christmas music until December 1,” or “Our family always has a family bike ride to the park on Mother’s Day.”
It also establishes what makes your family unique, as in, “Our family only eats pizza on Fridays!”
12. Candles make any celebration just a little more special
Stock up on candles and enjoy a family candlelight dinner on birthdays or Valentine’s Day. Any holiday, really. Kids have seen candlelight dinners in TV shows and movies, but to have one in their own home??? Wow! And, the nice thing for Mom is that it doesn’t even matter what’s on the plate! Check thrift stores for inexpensive candles and other things mentioned in this list.
13. In truly hard times, sacrifice a little bit each day in order to provide something special later
I’ll never forget learning about one of the moms in the ill-fated Donner party, who was stranded in a tiny cabin surrounded by snow that came up to the rooftop. She set aside tiny bits of food for weeks at a time just so she could tell her kids on Christmas morning, “Today you can eat all you want!” Even nickels and dimes add up when saved over a period of months.
14. Plan for attrition now
Sooner or later your stash of wrapping paper and ribbon will run out. How could you creatively wrap presents in the future?
Christmas ornaments will eventually break, fade, or become otherwise unusable. How could you decorate a Christmas tree when your stash of ornaments dwindles?
The products we normally use to make holidays special may not be as easily accessible in the future. Therefore, it would be smart to stock up on your favorite items now and plan for alternatives down the road.
15. Remember that your attitude sets the stage for any event
If you’re feeling depressed because the money isn’t there for expensive family traditions, the whole family will feel the loss instead of looking forward to a fun, new tradition.
Moms are wired to give and to want to give the best they possibly can to their kids, but consider this. Is it possible that we’ve put too much emphasis on things and other material distractions? Have we forgotten that we are what our loved ones want more than anything? I’ve seen parents sitting with their kids at expensive birthday parties, immersed in their iPhones or trying to impress the other adults by showing off their own new “toys”.
Bonus: This is second only to decorations in creating a party atmosphere!
Music! You’ve probably already got a lot of music available to you. Create a party playlist with music appropriate to the occasion. Instant atmosphere! Here’s an old favorite to get you started:
Help! These are great ideas but I didn’t plan ahead and I need something now!
First of all, don’t panic! You can’t help anyone if you freak out. More than likely you’ll just put everyone on edge. See #15 above.
If you find yourself in the midst of a shelter-in-place and haven’t planned ahead for some of these events, look around the house for something you can make. If you know how to knit or crochet, draw or paint, weave, make jewelry, etc, you can have supplies on hand to create a nice gift. The ability to bake cakes, cookies, or brownies and a few balloons or streamers will help create a festive occasion. Be sure to have craft items for children so they can get involved in decorating and making gifts for each other.
Let Me Help You Shop For Gifts!
A Final Thought on Celebrating Good Times in Tight Times
A difficult future is going to be made easier if family bonds are tight and the love is strong. There’s nothing quite like traditions and holidays to establish and reinforce those bonds, and tight times shouldn’t mean the end of these celebrations. Survival Moms are creative enough to overcome anything!
What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate good times in tight times?
Originally published May 19, 2015; updated and revised by Team Survival Mom with contributions from Amy VR.
Wonderful list!! Lots of great things to keep in mind even when we're not in dire straits. Events and things aren't special inherently, but we can MAKE anything special! 🙂
It is great fun to decorate your Xmas tree with popcorn and holly berries. All you need is a needle and thread to make the strings. No need for lights and it turns out beautifully
My lil bird in the city just said she has absolutely no money to spend on Christmas presents this year, so I shouldn't buy her anything. This is an area where MOM'S pep talk comes in handy. It will be still Christmas with or without presents. It's not about buying things that make us happy or content, it's the giving from the heart that fulfills and creates the sweetest smiles.
I didn't understand this part of point #3: " Look for them in the after-Christmas sales and be sure to stock up before the LEDs take over completely."
Why would I go out of my way to try to buy non-LED, inefficient, short-life, fragile lites when I could be stocking up on a great cheap prepper asset ?!? Maybe its just a typo or maybe I'm misreading this.
LEDs don't twinkle. LOL
It's my own personal preference. Incandescants say, "It's a party!". LEDs say, "The government made me buy these. They're better than nothing. Whee."
Knitting is another way to make Christmas gifts. Bright new mittens look great on a Christmas tree. I don't knit a lot, but my kids have always taken great care of the mittens and scarves I made for them. (love in every stitch). For mittens, I use a technique called thrumming, which looks like little white hearts on the outside, and is all thick and fuzzy warm on the inside, great for our Canadian winters. The kids have told me they love it that their mitts and scarves are original, handmade just for them. My mom lived in Europe during terrible times in the 1940s. She said women would undo the yarn from old sweaters and things and knit brand new things from the old yarn.
Its a great idea to start inexpensive/ free traditions before time get rough. Then our families will feel the loss a lot less when money isn't there. Thanks for the great list!
Making presents for each other has always been a tradition in our family. One year my brother made my daughter a cradle, or my sister knitted a blanket for my parents, or my mother emborderied pillowcases for my kids. These are gifts that are appreaciated and meaniningful.
Family time, cheap, easy and fun. Playing together, those are inexpensive traditions as well.
Gift bags! They can be reused for years. 🙂
How about cloth gift bags? Made from holiday fabric, or heck just family stockings, nothing says it has to be wrapped under the tree, just stuff the stockings and lay them under there.
If you are not up to making cloth gift bags, you can use fabric from a stash for wrapping, skip the tape, tuck the rough edges under and tie with string, ribbon or even paracord. for larger presents, a pillowcase or even a bedsheet works well. One year I wrapped my daughter;s “better” present in a thrift store tee shirt–a two in one present! Also, if you give some kind of survival type item with every holiday, they will be prepared without much budget strain!
It’s been a rough year for us. When Mother’s Day rolled around my (grand)daughter was upset she couldn’t buy me what she wanted to. We had a long talk where I reinforced the fact that memories are the most important things to me. That morning she presented me with the most wonderful letter of her memories of the 2 of us together. From age 3 to 14, it was WONDERFUL!!! Then she informed me I would always have it to help me remember even if I started loosing my memory some day.
I laughed and cried at the same time. Those are the kinds of gifts we all need.
Some really helpful ideas. Preparing for emergencies with food storage and other survival skills is obviously important but building frugal financial habits is indespensible. It is more likely that you will go through a time of financial uncertainty than your house will be destroyed by a tornado. There are some really great ideas here and it will teach kids such valuable life lessons to see their parents setting these examples.
I have a party box I put together for ” hard times ahead”. I found rolls of party streamer for a 25 cents, I bought red white and blue mostly but other colors,too, balloons, Little hanging signs with Happy Birthday, and Happy New Year ect, this is my happy box. I even have napkins and pretty party plates, this box cost less than $10 to put together. I have a box I have for just Christmas too. Both boxes are carry sizes.
I had my kids choose which kind of cake with which kind of frosting we will have on their birthday. I also got a ‘birthday banner’ (a cheap mylar one) to hang for all birthdays. I got some eyerolls from teenagers, but as adults they’ve told me how special it was to them. I just got another birthday banner to use for my grandkids, who I do after school daycare for.
A few thoughts, in no particular order:
We have a pair of birthday hats that look like a cake, complete with candles. (we have twins, so we needed two) The birthday person is always photographed at the dinner table, candles lit on the cake, in the hat.
One year, in December, I needed to fly across the country to say goodbye to a dear friend. As mom, I generally do the Christmas stuff; decorating, shopping, wrapping. When I returned home, I was in a panic about wrapping. So I used gift bags. Paper, fabric, reused Amazon gift bags. Since then I have invested in cloth bags and a wrapping paper organizer to have all the bags, ribbon, wrapping paper, scissors, tape and tags all in one place. Bags, and ribbon and tissue paper gets reused.
Experiences! We get together to bake Christmas cookies and decorate them. Yes, it’s messy, and my little niece eats more frosting than ever lands on a cookie, but we have fun. Christmas music plays, all the decor is up and we have created memories.
Homemade gifts. I don’t know how to knit or crochet, but I can cook and bake lemon, shortbread cookies for my mother-in-law‘s favorite gift. A loaf of good, crusty, homemade bread, and a jar of homemade marmalade makes my father-in-law happy as a pig in mud, as does a pot of his favorite potato soup. None of us need more stuff. Books, however, are the exception. Search used bookstores and libraries who often sell donated books for gifts.
I love those suggestions. Thank you!