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Affordable Holiday Activity Ideas
For many people, the holiday season is filled with shopping, celebrations—and stress. Family gatherings and finding the right gifts can be a source of joy and stress at the same time.
Financial concerns are a top cause of stress during the holidays. It’s estimated that one third of Americans will go into debt to cover their holiday expenses.
The American Psychological Association reports that 58% of American adults say spending too much or not having enough money is a top cause of stress over the holidays, especially for those earning less than $50,000 per year.
The Value of Traditions
One way to deal with holiday stress is to focus on the importance of any traditions you’ve grown accustomed to, while also establishing new ones.
Many families have their own traditions that involve getting ready for the season, such as decorating the house and baking holiday treats. They may have favorite recipes that were handed down through the generations. Keeping these traditions alive is a cultural touchstone for many families and there are good reasons to maintain them. Fortunately, there are many traditions that don’t have to involve spending a lot of money. Starting new traditions can be just as meaningful as keeping those of the past, as long as the focus is on spending quality time and bonding with family and friends.
Here are some ideas for new holiday traditions:
Community Events
Many communities offer free or low-cost events such as parades, tree lighting ceremonies, concerts, and farmers markets or Christmas markets. These events often have activities for kids and grown-ups. Your local city hall or county office may have information online or at government buildings.
Religious and civic groups often have some kind of holiday performance. Local schools, churches, synagogues, community centers, or theaters offer a chance to mark the season without spending a lot of money.
Community Events in Telluride
Telluride offers several ways of celebrating the season:
Dec. 4: Telluride Noel Night includes lighting the ceremonial Ski Tree and holiday discounts in stores.
Dec. 14: Mountain Village Holiday Prelude offers train rides, sitting with Santa, ice-skating, etc.
Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Torchlight Parage from the top of the Gondola into the town of Telluride.
Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve Torchlight Parade features skiers and snowboarders with torches, while fireworks fill the sky.
Community Events in Ouray
Holiday events in Ouray include a Dec. 7 Yule Celebration, with holiday shopping, a decoration competition among local merchants, and an Elf on the Shelf scavenger hunt. There’ll be fireworks on Dec. 31.
The Wright Opera House is hosting a gingerbread house decorating workshop, the Miracle on 34th Street musical, a Children’s New Years Eve Pajama Party, trivia nights, and other events.
Community Events in Ridgway
Events in Ridgway include the 40th Annual Holiday Art and Gift Sale on Dec. 3 and downtown shopping on Noel Night Dec. 6.
Community Events in Silverton
Events in Silverton include the Dec. 7 Holiday Bazaar, with shopping from local vendors, and the Mistletoe Market on Dec. 13, with local artists offering handmade goods for the holiday season.
Community Events in Mountain Village
Mountain Village will hold its Holiday Prelude celebration the weekend of Dec. 14 to Dec. 15 with train rides, visits with Santa, ice-skating, Christmas caroling, and other festivities.
Community Events in Montrose
Candyland Christmas Parade of Lights
Date: Saturday, December 7, 2024
Time: Starts at 5:30 PM
Location: Main Street Downtown Montrose
Tree Lighting Ceremony
Date: Friday, November 29, 2024
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: In front of the Visitor Center (107 S. Cascade Avenue)
Garden of Lights
Dates: Saturday & Sunday, December 14th & 15th
Saturday & Sunday, December 21st & 22nd
Thursday, December 26th
Times: 5:30pm – 8:30pm (admission closes at 8:00pm)
Admission at the gate (No advance ticket sales):
- Adults (18 and up) — $8
- Kids (Ages 4 to 17 years) — $4
- Kids (Ages 3 and under) — Free!
Location: Montrose Botanic Gardens(1800 Pavilion Dr, Montrose CO)
Community Events in Naturita
Affordable Holiday Activity Ideas
Family Movie Nights
For many families, no holiday would be complete without their own personal list of TV specials and movies. Many of them still air on broadcast TV, cable, or are available for streaming. You might also check with your local library to see if they have anything available.
If movies like Home Alone, Elf, a Christmas Story, The Polar Express and Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas aren’t part of your holiday traditions, you could start a new one and watch these leading up to the holidays, or during family gatherings.
A batch of popcorn or a favorite holiday snack can add to the occasion. You might also put up a few strings of an inexpensive fairy lights or Christmas lights in your TV room to create a cozy atmosphere.
Crafting Decorations
You could also create some inexpensive holiday decorations like garlands, wreaths, and centerpieces using pinecones, old holiday cards, scraps of paper and fabric. You can find all sorts of inexpensive decorating ideas on social media, especially Pinterest and YouTube.
Baking Together
Baking and decorating cookies can make for a fun and tasty holiday afternoon. You could also try out new holiday recipes together, or teach the next generation how to make an old family recipe. By getting the whole family involved, you could turn a holiday chore into a party—along with your favorite holiday music. You could also package your homemade treats into festive boxes or tins and deliver them to friends and neighbors.
Winter Walks and Hikes
Even if you have to bundle up, getting some fresh air and exercise can always boost someone’s mood and give the family something to do together. You might look for a local nature walk or scenic trail, or find a place in your community where you can walk around the neighborhood and check out the holiday decorations. You could also turn this into a type of scavenger hunt by offering a list of items to find or things to observe, such as different types of trees, animal tracks, or interesting ice formations.
Snowman Building Contest
If there’s enough snow, you could challenge your family and neighbors to a friendly snowman (or snow woman) building competition. You could provide inexpensive accessories for people to use, such as hats, scarves, buttons, or lumps of charcoal.
Simple prizes could be awarded for whomever builds the tallest snow creation, the most creative design or the best use of accessories. You could either let people come up with their own ideas, or create different categories or themes, such as animals or holiday characters.
This would also give you something to share on social media so you can interact with friends and family who couldn’t be there for the occasion, and maybe let them vote on their favorites.
Focus on the Fun
Everyone gets stressed out over the holidays, even if everything goes right (and it often doesn’t). Make sure you keep your focus on spending quality time instead of quantities of money. By planning some simple and inexpensive ways of celebrating the season, you can create the kinds of bonds and memories that can last for a lifetime.
We’re Here to Help!
However you spend the winter holidays, all of us at Citizens State Bank wish you a joyful and stress-free holiday season and our best wishes in the new year.
We’re here to support you whether you need to set something aside or need a loan. We offer multiple personal savings options, such as regular savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), etc. We also offer five types of personal checking accounts, Visa credit cards, home mortgages and home equity loans (HELOCs).
Stop by a branch in Naturita, Ouray, Ridgway, Silverton, Telluride or our newest location in Mountain Village today to open a new account or speak to a lender about our lower-interest debt consolidation options.