6 Frugal Holiday Traditions You Can Start This Year

The holidays often come with an inherent pressure to spend money, whether it’s buying gifts, hosting parties, or expensive travel to join family and friends.

Holiday traditions can have frugal roots, however, and it’s never too late to start some new ones. These can go on to become the most memorable of any traditions — without the need to spend a lot of cash.

Jennifer Kropf, personal finance educator and owner of Wealthy Woman Finance, highlighted this point by saying, “The holiday season is a joyful time to focus on togetherness, acts of kindness, and appreciation for loved ones rather than excessive commercial pressures.” 

She prioritizes quality time together over costly gifts or parties, as do these other experts who recommend six frugal holiday traditions you can star this year.

McKinzie Bean, personal finance and business mentor and owner of Moms Make Cents, explained a favorite holiday tradition of hers — a book exchange.

“The book exchange is a nice no-cost way for families to share their love of reading over the holidays and get to know each other better in the process,” she said.

The idea is simple: everyone picks out a book they already own and have enjoyed that they think someone else in the family would like. “It could be a recent fave, [or] could be an old favorite you think they should discover,” she said.

Since you’re using books you already have, it doesn’t cost anything to participate. Just wrap up whatever book you’ve chosen to give and exchange it with another family member.

“You can do a blind swap where the books get wrapped up, and people choose one from the pile at random. Or you could assign each person another family member to specifically select a book for, almost like a Secret Santa kind of thing,” Bean said.

She suggested that when you do the actual gift swap, have each person explain why they chose that book — what they loved about it, learned from it, or why they think the other person will enjoy it. Then, “Try to set aside some holiday downtime for everyone to curl up by the fire with their new used books, too. Swap thoughts after everyone has had a chance to read them.”

When it comes to holiday traditions on a budget, Michael Dinich, financial advisor and founder of Wealth of Geeks, suggested that some of the most memorable ideas require little more than time and creativity.

“For example, one of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid was our annual viewing of ‘A Christmas Story.’ Even now, just the sound of Ralphie begging for an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle brings me right back to those cozy nights by the tree,” he said.

Many streaming services offer free trials during the holiday season, providing an easy and affordable way for families to rediscover beloved classics or introduce kids to new favorites.

Most people have participated in one of these white elephant gift exchanges at some point, but you can make it a more intentional activity, Dinich suggested.

“My friends and I started a White Elephant gift exchange in college, inspired by the scene in ‘Love Actually’ where characters choose randomly wrapped presents. It became a hilarious way for us broke students to participate meaningfully without financial pressure,” he said.

Years later, now that he and his friends have scattered across the country, he explained, “Our group has evolved the game into an online crapshoot played out over GIFs and memes. Traditions don’t need expensive trimmings to create memories.”

If you enjoy cooking and so do others in your family or friend group, you can take after Debra Borchert, author of Soups of Chateau de Verzat, and host a soup party.

“For the past 19 years we have hosted a Souper Soup Party where we serve soups from different cultures,” Borchert explained. “Soups are inexpensive to make and they can be kept warm on the stove top.”

She said that interesting soups can also be great conversation starters. For example, “How’d you like the butternut and pear soup?” Guests can also bring desserts or other traditional holiday treats to share, she suggested.

Many families have a tradition of taking the family to a budget-busting performance, according to Tanya Peterson, consumer finance expert and vice president of brand with Achieve. Instead, she recommended you check local schools or faith-based organizations for high-quality, less expensive alternatives.

“For New Year’s, check local news for updates on free activities in your area,” she said. You could alsoget a neighborhood group together and print out a selection of carols, then surprise neighbors with an old-fashioned caroling party.

Kropf has found that giving back makes for a rewarding tradition during the holidays.

“Volunteering as a family is a great low-cost option we try to make part of our holiday routine,” she said. “Lending a helping hand to those in need allows us to teach the kids important values while getting into the spirit of the season.” 

Peterson echoed this, adding that in addition to local charitable organizations or hospitals that might need help, you can also send personalized cards and messages to members of the military through several organizations, such as the USO, the Wounded Warrior Program and Holiday Cards For Our Military.

Your frugal traditions can be as unique as you and your family. The most important part is that they emphasize meaning over money.