For many families, Boxing Day can be a strange transition from the buzz of the holidays to dealing with all of the recycling left behind from the big day. There’s actually a lot of great things you can do on Boxing Day though that will help make your holiday even better and will add memories to this special day that your kids will want to pass on to their own. This doesn’t mean you have to go wild and spend even more money to have a great time. In fact, there’s lots of great low cost and free things to do to ensure Boxing Day doesn’t ruin your holiday budget. You may even find that some of these ideas will help keep the home in working order as you struggle to get ready for the New Year with your family. So, don’t let Boxing Day pass you by as this could soon become one of your favorite ways to unwind after the holiday rush.
1. Go Through Your Items
With an influx of new items in the home, you may find things to be a little crowded, to say the least. So, take Boxing Day for face value this year and use it to declutter a bit. In fact, Boxing Day was a time when the elite would box up their old items to give to their servants as gifts. You can use this same premise to inspire the kids to get busy in their own rooms. Everyone can go through their clothes, toys and other items to see if there’s anything they don’t really need or want anymore. These items can be tossed in a box and donated to those who may actually need them. If you ended up with duplicate gifts and have no idea where the gift receipts went, then these items might be perfect for donation too. That is, unless you still have Secret Santa parties to get through. It doesn’t matter if you take your items to a thrift store or donate them to a nursing home, as they will find their way to a home that will appreciate them. If you want to save money on this, simply ask for a receipt of items you donated. You can use it as a tax write off in the upcoming tax season.
2. Plan Meals
Chances are, you probably have a huge stash of holiday leftovers in the refrigerator. This can be overwhelming, especially if you still haven’t gotten over the turkey and ham sandwich epidemic after Thanksgiving last month. This could often lead to waste, but with a bit of planning you should be able to avoid it altogether. Try sitting down with the family and coming up with creative ways to use the excess food. Sure, heating up leftovers for a day or two may be great, but you can also come up with casserole ideas and so much more. Once you’ve made a game plan get the items together and start to freeze them. This will make for fast meals when you’re busy or will simply cut down on your grocery bill. You may even feel a bit of success as you conquer the leftover problem without throwing half of it out! Of course, if the family wasn’t entirely keen on the meal then you might consider fixing up plates or making sandwiches with the food, to pass out to those in need. Make sure you know the laws in your area though, so you don’t get fined.
3. Holiday Shopping
Boxing Day is also known for its extraordinary deals. This might be the perfect time to grab all of the items that you missed out on, especially if they were holiday specials. Many toys and jewelry that were must have gifts only the day before will actually take a cut in prices, so retailers can move them off of the shelves. Apart from these items, holiday décor is sure to be on your must-buy list. Items like Christmas trees, holiday lights and ornaments will be reduced significantly. Of course, if you can hold out longer then you may wait because the clearance price will only keep reducing. Holiday baking kits, candy and holiday specific foods, like ham, will reduce in price to give you some great grocery steals. You might even find some awesome clothing deals like ugly sweaters or holiday inspired pajamas for next year’s holiday fun.
4. Host a Party
The holidays can be pretty demanding, especially if you try to plan around everyone’s schedule. Rather than host a party on Christmas day or even Christmas eve, reserve this time for your family. Boxing Day is actually a great time to have the rest of your group over to celebrate. Your holiday décor will still be up and you’ll have plenty of food to go around from the previous day’s meal. In fact, you may even consider asking people to bring along some of their leftovers for a potluck event. If you received new music or movies then this may be the time to bring them out to. The same can be said for games that can keep people entertained. You may even consider exchanging small gifts, crafts or have a gifting trade to help keep the price of your party down.
5. Share Gifts
Most people want to spend some time exploring their new gifts, which can be turned into a great bonding experience for the entire family. Parents can sit down and play with their children to see how their mind thinks as well as what their interests are. It is also a good time to show children that it’s okay for adults to play too. Other than that, you may want to break out any board games or video games people may have received as this can help the family bond together even more. Of course, reading is always a great option too and will help children see that it is a fun activity, which should help them stick with it for the rest of their lives. Other than that, you may want to catch up on movies or listen to music together, especially if someone received new items. Sharing one another’s gifts can really allow everyone to get to know each other a lot better overall, which is sure to create lasting memories.
6. Create Christmas Album
With all of the Christmas fun finally over, it may be time to look through all of the amazing footage you got during your holiday adventures. Whether you traveled, or just hung out with family there’s bound to be some great memories that everyone will want to look back on in the years to come. So, gather up your family photos and pick your favorite items to immortalize. Many photo stores will actually sell photo albums at a discounted price on Boxing Day if you want a printed album, but if you want to save even more money you might want to consider adding them to a scrapbook instead. This will allow you to take your time to write in memories, or will allow each person in the family to create their own custom page. This bonding experience will help make the warm memories concrete, especially when you look over what you wrote next year and the years to come.
7. Volunteer
Since you got to enjoy your lovely holiday, you may want to use Boxing Day as a time to give back to your community. Usually, major holidays are pretty booked when it comes to volunteering, but Boxing Day can be overlooked. This means you should have your choice of places to volunteer with. You can choose anything from soup kitchens to visiting a nursing home though, so let your heart guide you to the perfect volunteer service for you. Make sure you include the kids with some of the volunteer activities too, so they see it is important to give time as they grow. You never know whose life you will touch in the process, especially since many people are still lonely during this time of the year.
8. Choose a New Year’s Resolution
Since Christmas is now over, you may want to take Boxing Day to look at the next big holiday in your life. That is, New Year’s. Coming up with a New Year’s resolution can be a real pain, but it can be important to at least think of ways you’d like to improve your life in the future. This will show your children that making improvements is crucial to growth. So, you may want to sit down with the whole family and discuss the ideas you’ve been thinking of. This will allow the children to engage in the process and come up with their own handy ideas. If you don’t have a family then consider doing the same thing with your friends. This will help you work up a support system before the New Year begins too. Of course, if you’re at a loss for what to change in your life, you might want to review some healthy options to help get you on a brighter path in life.
9. Write Thank You Letters
Now that everyone has received their gifts and are settling in and enjoying them, you may want to take the time to properly thank those that sent them. You can go about this a few ways, so you may want to experiment with different methods to see which suits you better. The old-fashioned way is to fill out thank you cards and send them through the snail mail. You can find lots of great designs in stores at a price that won’t leave you hurting. If you want to save some money though, you can make your own thank you cards via a printer or by handcrafting. These can also be mailed or hand given to those who took the time to shop for you. If you don’t want to go either route, then there’s many online services that will allow you to email personalized thank yous to every person who sent you something. Of course, you can also get the kids in on the fun, which will show them to express gratitude. You can even get them to send a thank you to Santa Claus himself.
10. Get Out of the House
Chances are, if you have been cooped up with the kids all week or the weather hasn’t been cooperative then you may have some cabin fever going on. Try to choose some cheap ways to keep everyone entertained outside of the house. For instance, you can go for a nature walk depending on the weather. This may end up becoming a snowball fight though, but it will also give you a chance to catch up on snow angels and snow men. Apart from that, you may want to see if there’s any ice skating in your area as this is always a great winter adventure for all ages. If you’d prefer to stay in the warm then catching a movie might be a lot of fun, especially since many people may still be out of town for the holidays.
Boxing Day doesn’t always have to be thought of as just the day after Christmas. With these ten ideas, you should be able to make plans that will make the whole family happy while creating traditions that the family will anticipate as the years pass. With any luck, you’ll get through the day without any extra spending.
