Christmas has different meanings to different people. Some celebrate it from a spiritual perspective, others see it as an excuse to spend time with family and indulge in food, wine, and gifts.

Whatever your approach, here are the top ways to celebrate the holidays:

Stuff to do on your own around Christmas:

• Volunteer at a local soup kitchen
• Go see a play, concert, or ballet
• Rent movies
• Put together a ’singles Christmas party’
• Take your nieces and nephews ice skating (or to the beach if you’re lucky!)
• Do some Christmas decorating

Activities for One, Two, or Many!

Whether you’re on your own, spending time with a significant other, kids or extended family… here are some great activities to keep you busy.

• Make your own Christmas ornaments
• Make your own Christmas Cards, here is a nice idea
• Make a cool looking Christmas Wreath, for less traditional DIY wraths, use stuff around your house. Here is a geeky “PC Junk Christmas Wreath”
• Here’s where you need help, but worth the effort: set up musically controlled and synced Christmas lights.
• Dig out last year’s Christmas cards, and do something creative with them.
• Make your own Christmas gifts

Holiday Fun with Kids

If you have kids, keep them busy with some fun Christmas themed activities

• Make magic reindeer food
• Track Santa with NORAD
• Bake Christmas cookies
• Go ice skating
• Sing Christmas carols, if you have a piano and a fireplace it is an even more perfect ‘Christmas-y’ event

If you’re still at a loss for what to do, look at this list of 150 ways to save money and have some fun during the Holidays.

With tough economic times pinching the budget, at-home dates are bound to grow in popularity. However, you don’t want to sit on the couch staring at each other either.

Keeping your date indoors isn’t the only way to save money at home, but it’s a great start when you need to save money or reduce your debt load.

Here are some cheap indoor dates

• Not great in winter, but when weather permits stargazing is a great opportunity to just be silent, or talk about whatever is on your mind. In winter, take out a blanket and sit by your fireplace.
• Get a DVD at your local library or Blockbuster, and have a movie night at home. I prefer this to going to the theater anyways, because I love snuggling up on the couch with a blanket and some good food.
• Hold a poker night or play a (sexy) board game.
• Hold your own wine & cheese tasting: instead of shelling out big bucks, get a variety of different cheeses and some different wines, and set up your own wine tasting. Light some candles, and you’ve got yourself a romantic, and relatively cheap, evening.
• Pamper each other with a foot massage or back rub. Get some nice massage oil, light candles and take a relaxing bubble bath together. Life is stressful enough, just taking your time to unwind together can really help set a great mood.

An evening in doesn’t mean you are not having fun. I can think of many times I’ve gone out, spent money, and had a lousy time. Staying home, and setting up an evening filled with activities you like, you can have a load of fun, while taking the pressure off your pocketbook.

Of course there is nothing like balance. You can’t stay home every single date-night, and you can’t expect to go out every night either. Tipping the balance a bit more towards the home-front, can definitely save you a bundle of cash.

What do you like to do on an ‘at-home date’? What is your main reason for going out instead of staying in?

Are you between the ages of 15 and 29, and are you interested in a more cultural date than your standard “dinner-and-a-movie” package deal? There are some great programs if you live in the Toronto area. Here is a list of three cultural treats that cost $20 or less per ticket!

Dance Break

Dance Break is a membership program that allows you to buy tickets to the National Ballet for $20. It is accessible to 16 to 29 year olds, and completely free to join. As long as you are one of the ticket holders, you can also purchase an additional ticket at the same price for your date, regardless of his or her age.

Extra bonus: you get the best seats in the theatre, excluding the Grand Ring. Regularly, you would have to pay over $100 for some of the seats you can access at only $20.

The catch: you can only purchase tickets on the day of the performance, so they are subject to availability. But really… there’s always some extra room!

For an overview of the 2008-2009 program from the National Ballet, go here.

T-Soundcheck

The Toronto Symphony (TSO) has organized a program called T-Soundcheck. If you’re between 15 and 29 years of age, you can sign up to buy tickets to the TSO for only $12! Sometimes there are even special promotions that are cheaper. Right now, you can buy tickets to Mendelssohn & Haydn at $6 a piece!

In addition, there is also an option called Tsoundcheck plus. These are ticket packages where you get to choose four concerts to go to. These packages are available if you are between 15 and 34 years of age. You get to pick between main floor, mezzanine, or balcony seating for the concerts, and you are automatically assigned the best possible seats.

Dating someone older than 29? Not to worry; as long as you are below the age of 29 you can purchase an extra ticket, at the same low price, for anyone else accompanying you. Regardless of your date’s age! If you can’t find a date, you can even take your mother instead, and just pay $12 for the ticket.

You can find an overview of the 08-09 concert season here.

New Age: Canadian Opera Company

Although at the Canadian Opera Company everyone under the age of 30 can purchase $20 tickets as well, it appears from their website that each ticket holder has to be under the age of 30. This is a considerable difference between the other two programs mentioned before.

Nonetheless, it is still a great deal and if you must take someone who is older, you might be able to get a rush ticket on the day of the performance for the same price.

Benefit: You can buy your ticket a week before opening night. For each performance about 150 seats are reserved for the New Age program. The seats are in sections 3D, 4C, and 5B.
The Catch: If you are on a date, both of you have to be under the age of 30 and bring valid photo ID.
Because the seats available are restricted to certain sections, you have a better chance at getting a great seat with the t-soundcheck, or Dance Break, programs.

Opera for a New Age tickets are available in person at the Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto, or through COC Online using the Promo Code “DEAL.” Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m.

Have You Attended?

Have you gotten cheap tickets through any of these programs? Where you happy with your seats, and which one is your favorite?