Hubby and I lived through "the year without Christmas." He was in chemotherapy so too sick to do Christmas on Christmas. (We did it on New Year's Eve. lol) Plus we we living on $839 a month, so spending a lot of money was out of the question. We made things for each other that totaled $25. (Paper, yarn, and one small store bought present each. I bought him coffee and he bought me chocolate. lol) We got the free turkey through buying groceries at the same store for six weeks.
Since then, we've learned it's not money that makes Christmas. It's want we do together that makes it Christmas. Money isn't so tight anymore, so we usually aim for no more than $200 total, and tend to make it less than that. And we buy a Christmas dinner complete with the trimmings to give to our food bank so someone else can have a free Christmas dinner.
Our Christmas is usually like this:
Christmas Eve we finish up making the Christmas Eve dinner, then watch a Christmas movie. (We usually save A Christmas Story for that night, but sometimes we watch Polar Express.) And at the end of the night, we give one small present to the other one. (He gets his favorite coffee again and he gives me chocolate still. That sets us up to be ready to open presents the next day -- complete with a cup of coffee for him and a mouthful of chocolate for me.)
Next morning, whoever wakes up first has to wait for the other one to wake up before opening presents. (I'd prefer present opening after I wake up, but he's still the kid on Christmas morning so can't wait. lol) Our stuffed animals get involved, because we have no kids. (I usually either make them something or buy them something. Hubby usually plays the part of them opening the packages. Quite funny to see a 60-something year old man talking squeaky-voice to pretend to speak for the stuffed animals, and he usually makes them do something funny like jump into the bag with the present. Also funny to hear the reaction of stuffed animals for things like a new toothbrush or lip balm. lol)
Then comes coffee. I don't usually drink coffee, but he makes me a small cup because there's something worth dunking in the coffee -- either homemade biscotti or pizzelles.
After breakfast there are football games to watch. (Well, he watches them while I play with my presents. lol) And, snacks to eat.
Prayer before dinner, plus time to remember the reason for the day. Dinner is a casserole of the same meal we ate the night before (turkey, stuffing, a couple of veggies, mashed and sweet taters on top for the covering.) Homemade cranberry sauce on the side, of course. Biscuits possible. (Depends if I'm up to it.)
After dinner we start watching one of our favorite movie series -- Star Wars, Harry Potter or LotRs. And then every night between Christmas Eve and NYE, we watch the rest of the series.
Christmas just doesn't stress me anymore. Decorating for Christmas does, but because I want it all done immediately, and I'm not capable of getting it done in less than three days anymore.