{shortcode-497059237aa87431581498beff2b275b5b2d8d82}Now that Thanksgiving is officially behind us, it's finally socially acceptable to throw yourself completely into the spirit of the winter holidays. As we all know, the life of a college student is often a frugal one, and unfortunately, that doesn’t change as the holidays come around. Luckily, Flyby is here with an affordable guide to celebrating the holidays in your dorm room:

Kwanzaa

One way to get into the holiday spirit is to set up a Kwanzaa alter in your room. However, some decorations can be very expensive and far out of your budget’s reach. Instead of going out and buying decorations, steal some fruits and vegetables from your dining hall and maybe steal a nearby curtain with a nice pattern. Now you have the beginnings of an affordable alter right at home in your dorm. Just think of the accompanying fruit flies as extra guests.

Hanukkah

What’s a Hanukkah celebration without some good, old-fashioned gelt? Too bad you probably can’t afford it. That’s why a much more economical approach would be to make your own. A large box of gelt online can be upwards of $10, whereas a roll of aluminum foil at CVS is only $5. Buy some foil and get to wrapping! Get your hands on some free dining hall cookies and make your own ridiculously large gelt for the holiday season.

Christmas

One fun, traditional way to get excited for Christmas is to count down the days until the 25th using an Advent calendar, but Advent calendars are expensive. Instead, trade laptops with your roommate and log into each other’s Google Calendars. Then, both of you can set up events on each day leading up to Christmas with a special surprise, like a poem or a song, or just write in their study schedule for reading period. The main idea is to clutter up their calendar so badly that they can’t find their actual homework assignments. They will be so deep in the holiday events that they will have no choice but to focus on their holiday cheer.