Stress free Christmas on a budget – the “guy” way

Yesterday I wrote a blog post on how I deal with the stress and expense of Christmas.  I was inspired by my phone conversation with a girlfriend as we were lamenting how much we had to get done in a very short time.   On top of everything else a girlfriend sprung a last minute wedding on me and now I’m hosting a Bachelorette party on Dec 21^st.  But the guy she’s marring is perfect and I’m over ridden by her joy.  

When it was all said and done yesterday I went off to meet an old friend for a visit.  A bachelor friend who is amazing in every way.  When I started in on my Christmas rant, he raised his hand and shut me down.  Let me tell you how this works he said.  I listened and here’s what I gleamed from his tips for a stress free Christmas. 

1.       Exterior Illumination is fun:  He takes his time and spends hours in all the Big Box hardware stores looking at boxes of lights.  He knows every shade of white LED lights and never makes a mistake on his purchase.  He over spends, gets home, measures and takes half back.  After all you can never have too many trips to the hardware store.

2.       Shopping is fun and cheap:  He has a list and does his pre-cruise of the stores weeks and days in advance.  Then at 5:00pm on Christmas Eve he hits the stores.  According to him, stores start marking down their prices for Boxing Day late on Christmas Eve.  The stores are empty by now and he has the run of the place. (I didn’t know that)

3.       Groceries and Liquor:  After shopping he hits the grocery and liquor store.  No over spending here because time is of the essence and you have to stick to the list

4.       Entertaining:  Easy Peasy – Call all your friends in early December and book a lunch or dinner out and everyone pays their own.  (ha! No way was he getting away without paying for my drink)

5.       Decorating: After the exterior illumination he pulls out the pre-lit, pre decorated tree and plugs it in.  And then he goes to town on the interior lights.  More trips to the hardware store, more heaven on earth.

6.       Special Events:  Everything he needs is on his 60” plasma screen TV.  (I got an invite to drop by and watch “Elf” with hm.)

7.       Christmas Dinner:  Okay I got him on this one.  He goes to family but said he would love to host one.  The Royal York Hotel does Christmas dinners and raises the money for charity.  (I did not know this)

Could I have this kind of Christmas? I started to think about it and how my family would react.  There are some take aways for sure but the thing I learned was the value in keeping it simple.  The only one that would miss all my effort is probably me.  If he’ll come over and do my “exterior illumination” I think I can take it from there.  I never do the big box hardware store unless I have to.