December 3, 2022

Home for the Holidays: How To Stretch Your Budget in a Season of Inflation

You don't have to break the bank to celebrate the holidays in style—even in this season of inflation. Prices may be higher on everything from food to gifts to decorations, but there are still plenty of opportunities to eke out extra savings.

For example, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you can save a couple of hundred dollars a year just by sealing your home and boosting its insulation.1 Other small fixes—such as swapping old light bulbs for LEDs and plugging electronics into a powerstrip—can boost your yearly savings enough to pay off some of your holiday budget.

And thanks to a pandemic-era boom in online shopping, it is easier than ever to find deals on new and pre-owned furniture, thrifted gifts, DIY decor, and more. Even secondhand stalwarts like Goodwill have joined the digital fray, making it a cinch to score gently-used treasures at extra-low prices.2

You won't be the only one bargain-hunting your way to a more financially-stable New Year. Multiple surveys have found that inflation is not only chilling people's spending, it's also prompting shoppers to search for better deals and creative ways to reduce their bills.3

Here are some strategies you can use to boost your holiday budget by trimming household expenses:

Hunt for Deals on Groceries

If you're finding it harder than it used to be to serve your family dinner on a budget, you're not alone. With the U.S. food-at-home index (a measure of grocery price inflation) at a 43-year high, many families are struggling to control costs on food staples, such as meat, dairy, produce, and grains.4

That's made pulling off holiday gatherings especially stressful lately. But don't despair: Even with inflation, retailers are still giving motivated shoppers plenty of opportunities to whittle down their bills.

The key is to pay attention to the cost of each item on your shopping list—not just the most expensive—and look for easy swaps and discounts. For example, try buying non-perishable items in bulk, especially when they’re on sale, and only in-season produce. Or trade name-brand goods for less expensive options from a store's private label. As you tap into your inner bargain hunter, you could be surprised by what you save when you’re more mindful of your selections.

And unlike in the old days, you no longer have to clip your way through paper flyers to snag a bargain. Instead, you can save both time and money by scouting for deals online, digitally clipping coupons, and earning cash back through special apps and browsers. For example, coupon aggregation sites, like Coupons.com, and shopping apps—such as Checkout 51 and Ibotta—make it easy to score discounts and cash back on a variety of purchases, including groceries.

Also, check to see if your neighborhood grocer posts their weekly flyers online. If you're hosting a holiday party, the markdowns you find can help you narrow your food and recipe choices, based on what's currently on sale.

2. Prep Your Home for Holiday Guests With Pre-Owned Finds

You don't have to sacrifice style for the sake of preserving your holiday budget either. If you're expecting company this year and would like to add some festive flair to your home, you can do so inexpensively—especially if you're willing to decorate with items that are secondhand.

Thrifting is back in vogue, with an increasing number of shoppers preferring pre-owned furniture and home goods. A recent study found that the “recommerce” market grew almost 15% last year, which was twice the pace of general retail.5 Plus, buying used isn’t just a great way to save money, it also helps the environment by keeping reusable items out of landfills.

Fortunately, it’s become easier to score secondhand deals online. For example, you can scout consumer marketplaces on Facebook, Craigslist, and OfferUp. Or you can take advantage of neighborhood freecycles and “Buy Nothing” groups. And a number of thrift shops now have e-commerce sites, including major chains, like Goodwill.

If you're handy with a paintbrush or have some basic carpentry skills, you can also modernize some of your existing furniture by upcycling it yourself. Or, if you enjoy crafting, search through your own recycling or sewing bin for raw material to make one-of-a-kind decorations.

Don't stress yourself out, though, if you don't have the time or money to dress your home the way you hoped. “A house doesn’t have to be perfect or completely done for it to feel festive or inviting,” designer Justina Blakeney noted in an interview with the Washington Post. “These are family and friends, and they are not judging you.”6

3. Forgo Major Renovations in Favor of DIY Home Improvements

Holidays are always a tricky time to undergo big renovations. But with ongoing worker and material shortages, now is an especially bad time to commit. Inflated costs can add thousands to your reno budget –—and unnecessary stress to your holiday.

Instead of suffering through an ill-timed remodel, you're better off saving this time of year for simpler, less expensive projects you can do yourself.

One winter-perfect upgrade to consider: Build a DIY fire pit so that you and your guests can roast marshmallows and relax in the cozy comfort of your backyard. You can also add some extra ambiance by hanging energy-efficient LED outdoor string lights that change from white to colorful. These are festive enough for the holidays, but also versatile enough to use year-round.

Or, if you'd rather curl up by an indoor fire, channel your DIY energy into a fireplace upgrade. Adding a wooden beam to the top of your mantel can add an extra layer of coziness. Alternatively, re-tiling or painting your fireplace surround can lend contemporary flair.

Just be sure to stick to DIY projects that you know you can do a quality job on—especially if your changes will be difficult to reverse. Feel free to reach out for a free assessment to find out how your planned renovations could impact your home’s resale value.

4. Invest in Home Maintenance Projects That Cut Your Utility Bills

You can save money by completing basic home maintenance tasks[1] , such as swapping your furnace filter and updating your lightbulbs. But if you really want to lower your bills this winter, consider projects that make your home more energy efficient.

According to the EPA, 9 out of 10 homes in the U.S. are under-insulated, which wastes energy and money.⁷ Luckily, there are plenty of DIY insulation projects that you can complete in just a few days. For example, the EPA offers guides on how to:

● Insulate your attic or basement crawl space

● Weatherstrip doors and windows

● Seal areas around the house that may be leaking air, including electrical outlets and fireplaces

The savings you get from these projects can really add up. The EPA estimates that sealing and insulating your ducts can make your HVAC system up to 20% more efficient.⁸ And thanks to new provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act, you can also save a bundle this year by investing in certain energy-efficient upgrades and claiming a tax credit.⁹ Be sure to check with us about any local rebates and incentives that may be available, too, before getting started on a project.

5. Use Expense Tracking to Boost Your Holiday Budget

To avoid overextending yourself during the holidays, one of the best things you can do is track your income and expenses. If your monthly budget is usually tight, you may need to make some adjustments to free up cash for holiday expenditures.

For example, here's a sample budget worksheet that we created. Start by adding in your expenses: Under the “Typical” column, you can list your standard expenses, and under the “Adjusted” column, list any areas where you could cut back on spending.

Then consider how your standard wages may be adjusted this month by extra shifts, additional tips, or an end-of-year bonus. By decreasing your spending and/or increasing your income, you can build room in your budget for holiday gifts and gatherings.

Household Budget Worksheet

Feel free to utilize this worksheet as a template that you can personalize to your needs, or ask us for a PDF copy that you can print out and use right away.

Is Buying a Home Together Right for Your Family? Here's How to Think It Through

April 1, 2026

For a long time, multigenerational living had a reputation problem. It was the option families turned to when something had gone wrong — a job loss, a divorce, a health crisis. Moving back in with your parents, or having your parents move in with you, meant something hadn't worked out. That story has changed pretty significantly. Today, families are choosing this arrangement on purpose — not as a fallback, but as a deliberate decision to share costs, stay connected, and build something that actually works for how their lives are structured right now. According to NAR, 14% of buyers recently purchased a multigenerational home, and the year before that hit 17%. [1] These aren't people making the best of a bad situation. They're rethinking what "home" needs to do. If this is something you're considering — or something a family member has brought up — here's what's worth knowing before you start the search. Why More Families Are Going This Route The honest answer is: it's rarely just one thing. For most families, cost is somewhere in the mix. Buying together means more income earners on the loan, more people splitting the mortgage, and a monthly payment that's easier to justify. But if you talk to families who've actually done it, the financial piece rarely tells the whole story. Caregiving comes up constantly. Nearly half of multigenerational buyers in NAR's research cited caring for or wanting to be near aging parents as a primary reason for the purchase. [1][4] For older millennials in particular, aging-parent health and caretaking responsibilities were a major driver. That's not a trend that's going away — there are now more than 70 million Americans age 65 or older, and the question of how families want to handle that isn't one most people want to outsource entirely. [2] Remote work has also quietly changed the math. When you're not tethered to an office, living near family becomes less of a sacrifice. You can be close without it costing you professionally, which is a relatively new dynamic. [3] And then there's the harder-to-quantify stuff — the daily support, the shared routines, the sense that you're not navigating things alone. For families with young kids, having grandparents nearby can be transformative. For families with aging parents, so can having adult children close. The point is: if you find yourself drawn to this idea, you're in good company, and your reasons are probably more layered than just the numbers. What to Actually Look for in a Property This is where a lot of families get tripped up. They find a house they love, start imagining how it could work, and convince themselves the layout is more flexible than it really is. Then six months into living together, they realize what they actually needed was a separate entrance, not just a second bathroom. The properties that work best for multigenerational living tend to share a few things in common. They take privacy seriously. Not just in theory, but in the layout. Dual primary suites, separate entrances, a finished basement with its own sitting area, or a detached guest house — these aren't luxury features, they're what make the arrangement actually sustainable. If each household can't fully decompress, host their own guests, and keep their own rhythm, the togetherness part gets old fast. Home design professionals increasingly flag this as the most important feature to get right, and it's easy to see why. [5][6] They're built — or can be converted — for flexibility. ADUs (accessory dwelling units) have become a serious part of this conversation as more cities loosen zoning restrictions. A detached ADU gives you the ultimate setup: close enough to matter, separate enough to breathe. If an ADU isn't already in place, it's worth asking whether the lot and local zoning would allow for one down the road. [5][6] They work for the long game. Think about where everyone in the arrangement will be in ten or fifteen years. First-floor suites, wider hallways, zero-step entries, and rooms that can adapt as needs change aren't just nice to have — they're what make a multigenerational home function well over time rather than just right now. [6][7] The short version: the best multigenerational properties support both togetherness and independence. If a home checks one but not the other, keep looking. The Conversations Most Families Skip Here's the part that tends to get glossed over, because the emotional pull of the idea is strong and the practical details feel like they can wait. They can't. Start with the financial structure early. If multiple people will be on the loan, everyone needs to understand what that actually means. Co-borrowers can combine income and assets to qualify for more — but they also share legal responsibility for the debt and share in whatever equity the home builds. That's meaningfully different from being a co-signer, who carries the liability but doesn't own a piece of the property. Knowing which structure makes sense for your family is a conversation to have with a lender before you fall in love with a house. [8] Define ownership clearly. There are several ways to structure who owns what — joint tenancy, tenancy in common, shared-equity arrangements — and each one affects what happens if someone wants to sell, refinance, or passes away. Equal contributions don't automatically mean equal ownership makes sense, and unequal contributions don't mean anyone is getting a bad deal. But these things need to be spelled out explicitly, not assumed. [8] Get it in writing. A verbal agreement between family members feels fine when everyone is on the same page. It gets complicated when circumstances change — and circumstances always change eventually. A written agreement that covers shared expenses, maintenance responsibilities, common areas, and how exits would be handled gives everyone protection and, honestly, usually makes the conversations easier because you've already had them. [9] Talk through the "what-ifs" before closing. Job relocations, caregiving shifts, a marriage, someone wanting to sell — these aren't worst-case scenarios, they're just life. The way a home is titled can affect everything from Medicaid eligibility to how inheritance plays out. It's worth a conversation with an estate planning attorney or real estate attorney before you close, not after. [9] This stuff isn't fun to work through. But families who do it upfront tend to have far smoother experiences than those who assume it'll all work itself out. Is This Actually the Right Move? That depends on a few honest questions. Is everyone genuinely choosing this, or is someone going along with it? The families who thrive in multigenerational arrangements almost always went in with shared intent — everyone wanted it, everyone understood what they were agreeing to. That's different from one party tolerating it because the math made sense or because it felt like the easier thing to say yes to. Are the financial expectations clear and actually fair? Not just the down payment, but ongoing contributions, equity stakes, and what happens if someone needs to exit. These things are much easier to define before the purchase than to renegotiate afterward. Does everyone have a realistic picture of what shared space feels like day-to-day, long-term? Not on a good weekend when everyone's happy to be together — but on a random Tuesday when someone's had a bad day, the kids are loud, and you just want your house to yourself for an hour. If the answers to those questions are honest and mostly positive, multigenerational living can be genuinely great. The data backs that up. So do plenty of real families who've made it work. BOTTOMLINE Multigenerational living has moved from fallback plan to deliberate strategy for a growing number of families — and it's easy to understand why. The financial upside is real, the caregiving benefits are real, and when it's set up well, the emotional rewards are too. What makes it work is going in with eyes open: the right property, the right legal structure, and honest conversations before anyone signs anything. If this is something your family is exploring — or if it's on the horizon and you're not sure where to start — that's exactly the kind of conversation a good agent can help you think through. Getting the strategy right early makes everything that follows a lot smoother. Reach out anytime — even if you're just starting to think it through. Sources 1. National Association of REALTORS® — Making Extra Room at the Table: Multi-Generational Homes in the United States https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/making-extra-room-at-the-table-multi-generational-homes-in-the-united-states 2. National Association of REALTORS® — The "Silver Tsunami" in Real Estate Is Here: Are You Ready? https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/the-silver-tsunami-in-real-estate-is-here-are-you-ready 3. U.S. Census Bureau — New U.S. Census Bureau Data Show Detailed Characteristics of Home-Based Workers https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2025/01/work-from-home-inequalities.html 4. National Association of REALTORS® — One Big Happy Household: How Families and the Data Are Shaping Multigenerational Living https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/one-big-happy-household-how-families-and-the-data-are-shaping-multigenerational-living 5. Better Homes & Gardens — Multigenerational Living Will Define the Future of Home Design, According to Thumbtack and Redfin https://www.bhg.com/thumbtack-redfin-home-design-report-2026-11869197 6. The House Plan Company — How 2025 Is Redefining Multigenerational Home Design https://www.thehouseplancompany.com/blog/how-2025-is-redefining-multigenerational-home-design/ 7. National Association of REALTORS® — All Under One Roof: Trends in Multigenerational Living https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/home-and-design/all-under-one-roof-trends-in-multigenerational-living 8. The Mortgage Reports — How to Buy a House With Your Parents https://themortgagereports.com/77007/buying-a-home-with-parents-or-child 9. Elder Law Answers — Home Ownership When Parents and Adult Children Live Together https://www.elderlawanswers.com/what-are-the-house-ownership-options-when-parents-and-adult-children-live-together-14484

What Actually Makes a Listing Stand Out in 2026

March 24, 2026

The playbook for selling a home has changed fast. Active housing inventory rose more than 16% year-over-year in 2025, and 62% of homebuyers paid below the original list price—the highest share since 2019. The average discount hit 7.9%, the biggest in over a decade. What does that mean for sellers? The days of putting a home on the MLS, snapping a few photos, and waiting for offers are over. Today's buyers are more informed, more cautious, and more willing to walk away. The listings that win are the ones that eliminate friction at every stage. Here is what that actually looks like. Know What the 2026 Buyer Is Filtering For Today's buyer is thinking about what a home will cost them after they buy it. According to the 2026 Design Trends Report, 86% of buyers say flexible layouts help them see past square footage. Dedicated home offices, walk-in pantries, and multipurpose rooms now outweigh raw size. Nearly half of buyers say they will not buy a home that does not feel right the moment they walk in. Energy efficiency is being evaluated as a financial hedge against utility costs, climate risk, and future insurability. Terms like "zero-energy ready" and "home battery system" are appearing far more frequently in buyer searches. Sellers who position features like updated HVAC systems, new windows, or solar panels as cost-saving assets have a clear advantage. What does it mean for you? Win the Screen Before You Win the Showing The online listing is the first showing. By the time a buyer walks through the front door, they have already decided they are interested—or they have scrolled past. 85% of homebuyers consider listing photos the most critical factor when evaluating a property online. Not the price. Not the description. The photo. Listings with professional photography receive up to 61% more views and sell 32% faster Twilight photos used as the primary listing image average 76% more views Listings with video get 403% more inquiries Listings with 3D virtual tours sell up to 31% faster and for up to 9% more These are not small edges—they are the differences that help a listing generate momentum. What does it mean for you? Remove Every Reason to Say "No" In a slower market, uncertainty creates lower offers—or no offers. Every unanswered question is a reason to negotiate down or walk away. The smartest move is to answer the scary questions before they are asked. That starts with a pre-listing inspection. For $300 to $800, a seller can identify and address issues on their own timeline and terms, before a buyer's inspector turns a minor finding into a deal-killing negotiation. Home inspections are the number one reason deals fall apart today. In mid-2025, 15% of pending sales fell through—above the 12% historical norm—largely because financially stretched buyers will not absorb surprise repair costs. What does it mean for you? Price It Right or Pay the Price Overpriced listings don't just sit longer—they sell for less than if they had been priced correctly from the start. 39% of all listings nationwide had price reductions in 2025. The typical home sold for nearly 4% under its asking price during peak season, the steepest discount in six years. A listing's visibility and buyer interest peak immediately after launch. Pricing high to see what happens is dangerous: Every week of inactivity makes the next correction less effective Multiple small reductions signal desperation and train buyers to wait for the next drop A single strategic correction, aggressive enough to restart the clock, is almost always more effective Pricing correctly from day one is not conservative—it is strategic. What does it mean for you? The New Definition of a Winning Listing The 2026 winner is not the cheapest or the biggest. It is the most ready. The difference between a home that moves and one that sits often comes down to strategy, not the property itself. What does it mean for you? We're Here to Guide You If you are thinking about selling—or if you have a listing that is not performing the way you expected—let's talk. A strategic approach to pricing, presentation, and preparation can make all the difference in today's market. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional real estate advice. Market conditions vary by location and individual circumstances. Always consult with a licensed real estate professional before making decisions about buying or selling property. Sources HousingWire – The U.S. Housing Market in 2025 Redfin – Homebuyers Are Scoring the Biggest Discounts in 13 Years Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate – 2026 Design Trends Report Redfin – Why 15% of Home Sales Are Falling Apart HomeLight – What Buyers Want in a Home Zillow 2026 Home Trends Report PhotoUp – Real Estate Photography Statistics RubyHome – Real Estate Photography Statistics Matterport – 3D Tours Study Matterport – Property Buyers Prefer 3D Tours NAR Magazine – Pre-Listing Inspections CubiCasa – Real Estate Listing Trends in 2026 Redfin – Home Sellers Cutting Prices at Record Rate NAR Magazine – Listing Price Reduction Navigation

You’re Invited to Our Free Community Shredding Event!

February 26, 2026

At the Vickie Landis Rentsel Team of Keller Williams Realty Group, we’re always looking for small ways to say thank you to our amazing clients and community. That’s why we’re excited to host a FREE Community Shredding Event this spring! If you have old tax returns, bank statements, medical paperwork, or other sensitive documents piling up at home, this is the perfect opportunity to safely and securely dispose of them. ⸻ Why Shredding Matters Identity theft continues to be a growing concern, and one of the simplest ways to protect yourself is by properly destroying confidential documents. Items like: • Old tax documents • Credit card statements • Bank records • Medical paperwork • Pre-approved credit offers • Anything containing your Social Security number or account information Shredding these materials helps prevent personal information from falling into the wrong hands.

Home for the Holidays: How To Stretch Your Budget in a Season of Inflation