Growing up, all Christmases meant Dad out of work. Living in a Northern state and having a Dad in construction meant a lay-off yearly. My parents had a rule that each of us had to make at least one gift for someone else in the family each year. I now recognize they'd coordinate it so each person was covered. They'd help us...I remember the year we made dresser boxes, a year with embroidered tea towels, even the year my hope chest showed up...funny, don't remember many of the "toys" from the store. As I got older, it was the "homemade" gifts I looked forward to most. The small "store" budget usually went to something we could use together as a family...a new sled, board games...even a colecovision one year [still not sure how they pulled that one off!] Kids adapt and will accept what you treat as normal. If you approach Christmas as a hardship and that its "lacking" so will they. If you are positive and approach it as an opportunity to get back to the point of the holiday, they may grumble a bit, but it will have meaning and who knows, you may decide that the more toned down Christmas is the way to go every year. Goodness, I'm not that old but still remember that "treats" were really confined to Christmas and Birthdays. We lived for Easter and Halloween as that was the only time we really got candy. Seems like now, any old trip to Target is cause for a new toy, or a treat or something no wonder there is all kinds of pressure to up the ante to make the holiday "special," Best of luck to you....
