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Mom's $100 'Thriftmas' budget for four kids goes viral on TikTok with creative thrift store finds
By Taylor Penley
Published November 25, 2025
Pennsylvania mom-of-four Jade Wagler is going viral for her $100 "Thriftmas" budget, showing how she’s stretching every dollar and keeping a close eye on price tags this holiday season.
"We have budgeted $100 for Christmas for our four children. Is that insane?" she asked in a viral TikTok posted on Nov. 7.
Wagler cited her family's refusal to go into debt over Christmas as well as their hopes of going on a nice vacation next year.
"With how expensive everything is, you almost can't have both, and we would rather travel. So ‘Thriftmas’ is what we're doing this year," she added.
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A worker dressed as Santa Claus collects donated clothing from customers. (Dragos Condrea)
The video racked up more than 155,000 likes and over 3,000 shares – something Wagler told "Fox & Friends First" she never expected.
"It's exciting that it reached so many people because I know that it's content that can help a lot of people this year," she said Tuesday.
The key to keeping costs down while holiday shopping, Wagler said, is to be aware of sales at local thrift stores, including color-coded price tags.
"A lot times it's 50% off or sometimes you can find those items for a dollar instead of the original price they had it listed for," she explained.
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Pennsylvania mom-of-four Jade Wagler joined "Fox & Friends First" on Tuesday, Nov. 25 to discuss her viral "Thriftmas" TikTok video. (Fox & Friends First)
"Find a thrift store that you love," she continued.
"I know a lot of people struggle to find one that works for them. Um, have a couple that I like and a couple of that I don't like to go to."
Wagler's video showed several thrift store finds she purchased for her children, including an alphabet toy for one of her younger children, a musical jewelry box for her 10-year-old, a book, a unicorn hoodie, an educational game and a toy shopping cart.
The finds totaled $14.50, leaving her with $85.50 to spend going forward.
In the comments section, many users praised the idea of combating overconsumption while others criticized the frugality and suggested Wagler purchase gifts in increments throughout the year.
"I was doing well with it [the comments]," she said.
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"I am human though, so the amount of negative comments that were coming in did start to affect me. I think that it's hard to see people not choosing kindness, especially in the state of the economy that we're living in."
"We've been through a lot in the past year. My four-year-old son had two surgeries, and it has left it hard to financially be able to afford a huge Christmas this year, which is why we're looking forward to setting aside most of that budget."
https://www.foxnews.com/media/moms-100-thriftmas-budget-four-kids-goes-viral-tiktok-creative-thrift-store-finds