I love the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree as much as anyone else, but I quickly realized that $30-$40 a year adds up fast. A good artificial tree costs around $200 and will last as long as ten years. My artificial tree is actually 13 years old and is finally showing a bit of wear, but paid for itself long, long ago. Ideally, you should shop after Christmas sales to get a really cheap tree or should look for a pre-owned tree that someone else is getting rid of. However, it doesn’t make sense to buy a live tree now and an artificial tree a month later if you can put that live tree cash towards a nicer artificial tree.
When you choose your new artificial tree, you should pay close attention to the number of tips, color of the lights and decorations already on it. Sometimes, a tree is very cheap because it has fewer tips and doesn’t have the nice, full look of a more expensive tree.
I personally prefer a tree that looks real, but many people like bubble trees, colored trees, or metallic trees better. Just keep in mind that something that looks fashion forward this year may look dated two or three years from now. If you end up shopping for a new tree because the old one quickly became outdated, you lose the budget friendly aspect of artificial trees.