My family's holiday budget is smaller than I'd like. Here's how I'm making sure the season is still magical for us.

• When I was a single mom, I learned a lot about budgeting for the holidays.
• I'm remarried now, but our holiday budget is smaller than I'd like.
• I'm using some of the tricks I've learned to ensure the holiday season is magical for my family.

I was a single mom for seven years, and back then, the holidays were always a little financially challenging. I'm remarried now, but only working part-time. On only one full-time income, we've struggled to keep up with the higher cost of nearly everything, especially groceries.

Our budget for the holidays this year will be smaller than we would like, so I'm resorting to some of the thrifty habits I developed as a single mom.

I'm handling gift giving differently this year

The trickiest thing on a near-nonexistent holiday budget was always figuring out how to get everyone a gift and make sure my son had enough to unwrap on Christmas morning. Now that he's 12, I think it's important that he sees what goes into giving gifts and is more involved in the process. He has always signed the Christmas cards we've given, but this year I'm going to have him help with some of the gift wrapping.

This year, he has also been helping me with a homemade ornament project as a gift for family members. To go with the ornament, I'll be making a few different kinds of cookies and designing platters to complete the gift. I know it's not as fancy as something I might be able to buy, but when it's coming from a close loved one, I think baked goods and homemade gifts can be even better.

For my family, I'm concentrating on their stocking stuffers

For my husband and son, their stockings are going to be their main gifts this year. I love finding items that look vintage, as though they could have come from the North Pole. It takes a long time for them to go through their stockings and discover each treasure.

I still buy a few larger gifts to put under the tree for each of them, but I do so with extreme deliberation, considering the price and whether it's good enough to be one of just three gifts.

Our decorations will remain a priority

I never skimp on the decorations. I think the best part of Christmas is how the home feels once the decorations are out and the tree is up. We still buy a fresh tree every year, which isn't getting any cheaper to do, but I view it as my one splurge for the season. The ritual of going together as a family, picking out the tree, tying it to the top of the car, and driving home has become an important holiday tradition in its own right.

Ever since my son was small, we have also always gone out together and picked out one new ornament each for the tree. That way, our collection would grow over the years, and the ornaments would help us remember each Christmas that had passed. It's something my son loves doing, and it's still very affordable, so it's not worth skipping.

I'm focusing on experiences that are basically free

When my son was young, I had to find ways to fill our schedule with festive activities that cost me little to no money. One of our favorite traditions has become driving around to look at Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music on the radio. We've brought hot cocoa in to-go cups with us before or gotten fast food treats as a special surprise. We also love having themed Christmas movie dinner nights. For example, we've ordered cheese pizza for Home Alone and eaten spaghetti during Elf.

These activities are what make the holidays feel special for us. I learned how to overcome the financial constraints of not having money for "events" and found ways to make Christmas still feel magical. This year, I'll continue to invest my time in holiday traditions like these, especially when my son is young and can still enjoy many of them.

After I realized that Christmas is more about the activities leading up to it than the presents you get, I've stopped feeling bad about not having a lot of extra money during the holidays. I know it's ultimately going to be the memories we're making that my family will remember, not what's under the tree.

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