There are days when we enjoyed our college days, going around with friends, partying, having fun and so on and never ever bothered about Christmas lights, decor, trees, etc.. But when you are married and have your own kids then its entirely a different matter and especially when you find your streets with no lights and no Christmas spirit then you end up joining town light parade to imbibe christmas spirit. But I am sure many would admire light works at town parade and want to attempt one by themselves but you may think who has time, inclination, money and energy to do this? so its better to enjoy the work of someone else's than to attempt one by themselves.
But lets get in to some new ideas this Christmas and know how we can save your money, energy effectively this time of the year.
#1 Opt not to decorate (or even celebrate).
When you are going through your college days single it does not seem to be a big thing in your mind to get yourself in to parties and all late night activities. My holidays usually consists of exchanging simple gifts among ourselves mostly.
it was a decade ago my family started to celebrate holidays more cheerfully. The point I got to make here is, there no need for you to get in to decoration when you dont see any need to do so, or you can make it simple.
#2 Attend someone else's parties, watch other people's displays.
So if you are not ready to decorate on your own or hosting parties then it goes to sat that you are spending less, which is a good thing. If you still want to celebrate it simple attend office parties or other's parties. Though some corporate parties are no longer free of cost you can ignore them and try other options like attending to your spouse's.
The other option you have is you can drive the neighbour around, where you can see extensive grand light displays. There are several streets around which are famous for Christmas setup.
#3 Prepare and lay out your decorations yourself.
It can be of real fun if you can decorate yourself, you dont need to spend a lot of decorating things around. You can move out with your family to fetch a tree from a tree farm yourself and decorate it with lights and some simple ornaments and it will be a great fun when done with all your family members.
#4 Use the most energy efficient materials.
It is really advised that we get used to using new light technology for holidays (i.e) LED mainly which has lots of advantages like
1. they consume 10 times less energy than other normal lights.
2. They are more durable than other normal lights and stays upto 20 times longer than mini lights.
3. They are comparitively cooler than other lights which lowers the risk of fire breakout.
4. Replacing large bulbs with LED will save power to a large extent.
5. Finally we must know that less energy used = less power plants constructed
apart from these the only one disadvantage of LEDs is that, they cost twice as much as normal lights, but its worth that money since they are more durable.
#5 Go with less.
This is mentioned previously you can make your decorations minimally. Instead of a 8 feet sky scapper tree you can go for a 5 feet one and and use less lights and ornaments to decoarate it and place a little table somewhere which are really cute. These things will reduce your cost to a large extent. Dont go for huge decorations tempted by your neighbours.
#6 Finally, stay safe!
I am sure you must have came across many terrible stories which tell us how easy it is to loose your life savings during your holiday celebrations. It is almost certain that Holiday's has its own hazards, which we have already in this article.
To stay safe try to follow these tips
1. Just make sure before you purchase your lights that it has the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label. To make sure it meets all UL safety requirements.
2. Upon purchase just make sure you are buying the right set of lights for indoor and outdoor use.
3. Before installing your lights check for the flaws like frayed wires, damaged sockets, or cracked insulation. If you find any try to replace the entire set.
4. Make sure all the outdoor cords are weather proof. Try to keep the electrical connections off ground.
5. Never overload your electrical circuits
6. Remember that hot bulbs can ignite dry tree branches so make sure to water the tree branches and try to keep the electrical cords away from water.
7. Light your tree only when are around to enjoy its beauty
8. Always try to keep a fire extinguisher handy and also make sure that smoke detectors are working properly and try to replace their batteries with a newer one.
9. Turn off your Christmas lights when you are off to bed. Timers can be of a great help with this process
10. Make sure your artificial trees are resistant to flame.
11. Take the lights down after your holiday gets over don't get it on till the next season.
DIY Finances: Financial Responsibility - DIY Finances: Great Money Saving Tips for the Holiday Season.
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