christmas decorations – TAPE PARADE

I’m used to having no money at all and it’s very hard to justify spending lots of money this time of year when typically (for me anyway) it’s a low-earning month due to holidays. So for anybody in the same boat.. here are some of my top tips to have a great Christmas without spending anything!

1. Go Outside

With the “luxury” of being freelance (I’ve put that in quotes because it is not as easy as everybody seems to think) I’ve taken the last two weeks of December off, and I’ve spent most of each day out of the house. Why not meet with friends to walk around your town centre for free and look at the decorations? London is always decorated beautifully for Christmas and it costs nothing at all to go and marvel at the displays outside.

2. Decorate With Everything

I do get a pang when I see people with beautifully dressed trees and roof to floor co-ordinated decorations, but at the end of the day we can’t all afford that! We’ve decorated our house using chocolates we received as a gift, Santa pegs, ribbon (also good for accessories) and these milk bottle top/wine cork decorations my Mum made back in the 70s as a poor student with zero cash. I also did a run to the pound shop and came back with Christmas coasters, bows, and angel chocolates – for a fiver I’ve decorated the whole of our house. Thank you!

3. Dress Festive

I can’t tell you how annoyed I get at Christmas fashion being plastered everywhere. Like people really want to spend their hard-earned cash on something novel they will wear once! This year I grouped all of my festive* clothes and have been wearing them exclusively; I was surprised both by how many christmassy items I had and also how festive I felt just tailoring my wardrobe a bit. See also: Christmas hair. DOES NOT COST A PENNY.

*anything sequinned, red, green, white, cream, gold, silver, sequinned, featuring a deer/polar bear/penguin, adorned with pearls, or velvet.

4. Say “Merry Christmas” To Everybody You Pass

This began as a joke and now we all feel super-festive and the whole street knows of us as “the christmas house”.

christmas decorations christmas tree presets wrapping decoration minimal colour

5. Christmas Music Everywhere

This costs NOTHING to play all your favourite Christmas tunes! If you ever need a break from excessive novelty music just switch to Ella or Frank and you’ll still feel suitably classy. I blogged earlier this Slogmas about festive music so have a listen here if you like.

That concludes my advice for having a fun Christmas that is easy on the bank wallet! Let me know your favourite cheap Christmas tips below as I’m always on the scout for new ways to avoid spending that crucial dollah.

Here’s a few snaps from my recent trip to Oxford! Christmastime is one of my favourite seasons to visit new places. I feel like people try harder to be friendly, everything is decorated to look a bit nicer and you appreciate a warm and friendly shop or cafe that bit more. It’s no wonder most of my travelling happens during the colder months!

I have to say, the Oxford buildings remind me a little of the Cotswolds; fat yellow bricks and purple slate roofs, with windy cobbled streets running between everything. It’s all very “quaint British” to my eyes which a lot of people consider people to be a hallmark of this country. It’s funny, a huge portion of my American family are obsessed with the UK’s streets and buildings: I’m hardly the biggest fan in the world and yet I’m the one surrounded by it!

These photos were taken in a few different areas; some in various shops around Oxford, the covered market and of course a couple of the beautiful buildings. It was really magical to be able to see the Christmas lights and festive displays in the shops. Even without decorations the old buildings with their decorative lattice work looked pretty special anyway!