I know what it is like to have no money for Christmas. I am mom of 4, their dad is deceased and I have run out of unemployment and been laid off numerous times from temporary min wage jobs. We struggle to get by, but I manage some how. I have saved a few dollars here and there when I can and have literally 100.00 saved to spend on the 4 of them. You have to get creative. I have lots of bits and odds and ends from crafts over the years, and pick up free or very cheap items at yard sales. We had no money for a tree this year so I painted one on the window! The kids made paper ornaments and stuck them to the "tree". 99 cent store packet of suction cup hooks and put lights on it! I have lots of jewelry making bits and pieces and broken jewelry from here and there and made bracelets for my girls. 99 cent store again and bought long socks that I cut and made fingerless armwarmer type gloves for all of them. There are websites that show you how to make board type games from things around the house, rag dolls too etc. I am using the 25.00 for each and buying inexpensive things and wrapping them to put in their stockings. That is their favorite part anyway.
Get all your odds and end craftable stuff and let the kids make gifts as well. My kids are very artistic and once made adorable sculptures from basically trash, broken toys, parts from radios and other items, yogurt cups, etc-for my mom for mothers day. She loves chickens so my daughter made a chicken, there was a robot, a bunny and a car. They were amazing.
My point is teach your kids that a gift from the heart, made with your own hands is more valuable than the latest toys in the store. My kids are teens now and they have said that they actually appreciate that they have grown up poorer than their friends in the end because they appreciate things so much more. I am truly blessed and lucky!
I know how hard it is, I have been there for a very long time, I have cried and been sick and depressed over not being able to buy them their hearts desire, but I do the best I can and my kiddos get it, and understand. Use your current situation as a teaching moment. It is hard but pull yourself up and show your children by example that you can make the most out of any situation and will get through it and can still enjoy the holiday. It is a mindset that you can nurture in yourself and your children and in the dire situation so many of us in this country are in right now, I think it is our duty to teach our children how to survive and get through tough situations.
Good luck to you all, I hope that you can find the help youre asking for but if not, maybe some of my ideas will work for you.
