Balloons, snacks, and Ramen are brilliant. We always look for books from my older kid's favorite series and DVDs at Goodwill and other thrift stores. We also replenish cheap art supplies like markers, crayons, and paper at Christmas, as well as small electronics that need replacing (e.g. broken flashlights, too-small headphones).

Christmas cookies and movies are things my kids look forward to. Also a big Christmas breakfast instead of a fancy dinner - much cheaper and more crowd-pleasing.

Girls: cute sleeping masks, lush soaps, new socks, all under $20.

I would visit five below and spend some money there. Fleece blankets and pillows are cozy and take up space under the tree. Buy the family a $20 sled. Check little free libraries for books you can wrap up. Buy nothing Fb group has a lot of stuff. Wrap up their favorite snacks or ramen. Dollar store for mugs and hot cocoa. You can do a lot with a little! Make a budget and stick to it. It'll be ok!

My gift budget is $166 per kid. I know that's kind of random - but I have 3 kids, and decided $1,000 for the year - which is $166 for each kid for bday and Hanukkah gifts.

I agree with the PP that you could add things like this that you might be buying anyway:

We’d get new toothbrushes in our stockings, new pajamas a size up under the tree, our favorite sugar cereals we didn’t usually get with a bow on the box. All things she was going to have to buy anyway, but it extended Christmas morning a bit to wrap them up.

Also you could check out your local buy nothing site.

Every year I give my kids a coupon for date with mom doing an activity of your choice. If you live in the DC area - you could certainly make it doing something free or cheap.

Do your kids still believe in Santa? Asking because maybe you could transition to doing a secret Santa exchange in your house and get them excited about the gift giving too. Each child could pick another one and then give them like $50 to get a present for their family member. Then you could also just stuff their stocking with the things like another person said like balloons and silly things. Maybe board games, puzzles, a stuffed animal. I don’t know how much you can spend but I think you can make it work. Don’t beat yourself up. Make it joyful and they don’t know what stuff costs.

Sad that Christmas has become almost exclusively about the gifts.

It really doesn't take much to make little kids happy. My kindergartener told me that he wants balloons for Christmas, because he loves to bat them around. Think of all the little trinkets they bring home from parties and how excited the kids are. If you go to the dollar store you could put together a really good stocking for under $10.

For gifts - I have a running spreadsheet for things that we have given for the last 6 years
I reflect back on it for some things that have been loved more than expected (high return for cost).....
blankets to wrap yourself in for watching movies.
Popcorm popper and large container of popping corn
A fishtank (only if your kids are interested)
Hoodies

Other good fillers are flashlights - big candy bars - New charging cables - fun bars of soap.

I would tell at least the MS kid if you think it really will feel different from other years. You don’t want them to (1) worry too much about your finances (we are going to be homeless!!!!) or (2) assume that it’s about their poor behavior or your poor relationship.

There is good debt and bad debt. I assume you mean high-interest credit card debt?

If there's a cash crunch right now because you're paying off debt, pat yourself on the back!!! You're doing the necessary work to get yourself to a better future.

It's OK to tell your kids there isn't a lot of money right now, unless they still believe in Santa and you've been doing Santa-driven presents. My husband was laid off when our oldest was 7, and we told him we couldn't afford much for a while. He wasn't perturbed in the least. Kids enjoy cheap activities just as much as expensive ones.

I think you can go light on presents, and give them free or affordable experiences instead. Be happy and play with them with the toys and board games they already have. Have movie night at home, with the one streaming service you haven't cut off. I suggest Netflix. Have board game night. Go to the library, read them books out loud, make all the voices, act out some scenes - my kids loved that when they were in elementary. Make meals from scratch and have them help out. I know some people will frown on this, but one New Year's Eve, we made mocktails with the kids. None of us tolerate alcohol, and we on't have any in the house, but it was something new and exciting and the kids loved it.

Buy nothing group, and a lot of small little gifts for each kid.

There are a ton of free activities and you can drive around looking at lights. You can bake together and make new decorations. Have family movie nights to watch holiday movies. Have a special breakfast and nice dinner on Christmas. These things will make the season special. As for gifts, make a budget and stick to it. Be guided by what your kids want - if it’s a bunch of small things do that and if it’s a large gift do that.

Also, do a lot of Christmas crafts and activities on and before Christmas.

Bake and decorate Christmas cookies, string popcorn garlands, play Christmas music, make pancakes for breakfast, go for a hike, make peanut and seed covered pinecones to hang on trees for birds, get matching PJs and take cute pictures, watch Christmas movies. Make your kids set table for Christmas dinner, pray together, write letters to baby Jesus etc. Dollar store gifts like sidewalk chalk etc are great.

I’d set a reasonable budget for yourself for each kid, ask them for lists, and stay within the budget whether that’s one bigger gift for the middle schooler or a few smaller ones for the elementary kids.

My mom also did a fabulous job making it look like there were tons of gifts without going over budget. We’d get new toothbrushes in our stockings, new pajamas a size up under the tree, our favorite sugar cereals we didn’t usually get with a bow on the box. All things she was going to have to buy anyway, but it extended Christmas morning a bit to wrap them up.

Let me start off by saying that we are aware of our financial mistakes and are correcting to fix it.

How do we have a good Christmas when we are in a lot of debt? We have three kids. Two are early elementary age and one is middle school. I have no idea what to do or say as Christmas is coming up. We can not afford a lot of gifts. We can not afford big gifts. We are by no means in need though. Should we do just one large gift for each kid? A lot of small little gifts for each kid? Sit them down and seriously let them know that this year will look different?

Please be kind. We know Christmas is not about gifts but we have kids that we would love to give gifts to.