How Much Do You Spend on Holiday Decorations?

Is last year’s stuff good enough?

There are, ultimately, two kinds of holiday decorators:

1. People who re-use the decorations they already have
2. People who re-envision their decorating scheme and buy all new stuff

And sure, there are variations on both of those themes, you could DIY an Advent calendar instead of buying one—though it’ll still cost you money—and some years your holiday decorations come directly out of your child’s backpack.

DIY or BUY: Advent Calendars

But I’m curious whether more of us Billfold readers are “re-use” people or “re-envision” people. Is this the year where we put the same decorative cookie tin in the same place on the kitchen counter, or is this the year where we say “I think I want to go with a silver-and-gold theme” and head out to the Silver and Gold Ornament Store?

Also: if you do the exterior light and decoration thing, do you keep those the same every year, or are you always on the lookout for newer, fancier lights (remember when everyone started doing the icicle lights that looked like they were actually dripping?) and better outdoor decorations? Can you even re-use an inflatable Santa for more than a year or two before it starts to fall apart?

I’m not much in the mood for holiday decorations this year—and I’m even less inclined to pay for them—but I put out a few things I already had and said “okay, good enough.” What about the rest of us?

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