Money Saving Tip #198: Pictures with Santa

If you are a parent of young children, chances are you love getting your child's photo taken with Santa Claus every Christmas season.  I am no exception!  If you take your kid(s) to the local mall to get their photo taken, you will be forced to purchase their photo package.  Their photo packages usually start at around $20-30 for one sheet of photos.  And, they don't let you take your own photos unless you buy theirs.  The other HUGE drawback to the mall Santa is that you are forced to wait in a huge line.  If your kids are young, they will probably get tired and cranky just before you get to the front of the line. 

Instead of rushing to the mall for your Santa pics, turn to your local community instead.  Just this morning, I passed a Christmas tree lot that advertised Santa pics.  You can find local churches and community centers that host a Santa event for a fraction of the cost or free. 

Last year, one of our local high schools hosted a Breakfast with Santa event to raise money for the band.  For $5 per child, each of my kids got a pancake breakfast plus an individual photo with Santa.  So, for $15 all my kids had a breakfast, and I got 3 photos.  This year, we went to our local Parks and Recreation Center and paid $10 for all the kids to get their photo taken plus access to the craft show.  Plus, I took about a dozen of my own photos on my camera.