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Christmas Without Consuming?
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Hi everyone!
Have any of you tried to have a thrifty Christmas with little to no spending, especially on gifts? I’d love to hear about it! Are any of you very intentional about your kids’ gifts?
Thanks!
Dana
Well, I always TRY to do this, but have never actually accomplished it. My normal pattern is to buy small gifts all year and stash them away to spread out the cost. But, by the time Christmas arrives, I have purchased way too much. Mostly junk, too. So I’m anticipating some great ideas….that might help me *next* year. 🙂
This won’t answer you question about little to no money but I put some money away every month into a special account just for Christmas. I know not every one may be able to do that, but whatever little you can put away to save up does help so you are not scrounging for money durring the holidays. My children also have no problem with used toys. Exspecially if it is something they really want. I just bought my son a Lego Train off eBay for about 1/3 the cost of a new one. They also only get one “big” gift from us and then some stocking stuffer type things. The “big” gift is really what they want the most that is reasonable and I don’t object to. My 3 year old is getting an asortment of nail polish. She is in the really into princess and dress up so she will be thrilled with this. That plus some bubbles and chalk and a few other consumable things the kids love will be the extent of their Christmas from us. The Grandparents do contibute a bit as well and they are very happy with Christmas. I spent more time on traditions durring the season like making cookies, building ginger bread houses, making decorations for the tree and the house. I have found a few more that are more religous bent that I want to start incorperating as well. I think the traditions that you do togeather as a family are more important and what the kids remember the most than the gifts. I hope that helped a bit.
We actually don’t do gifts of any kind at Christmas…but for those who do…I just got a catalog in the mail that I think is SUCH a neat idea! From World Vision (don’t know anything about it – would have to google to make sure it’s reputable – but it’s a catalog of gift ideas to send to people in need – you could the giving instead of receiving this way. Most of us have too much stuff anyway! So, they have things like chickens, ducks, goats, shares of a cow, a well, a pig…medicines, etc. to be sent to someone overseas or here in the U.S., from whomever you say.
I try to do certain things that are completely “intentional” like certain books I want the kids to have for the future, ornaments, etc., then the rest is just what they’ve been asking for. We do have a budget for the holiday season and I really try to stick to it. (We also set aside $$ throughout the year to make this time not so bad on the checkbook.) I love to Christmas shop but I know that in the past we have “over done it” and it was just more stressful. At the same time, my dh likes our dc to at least get some things that they want (we don’t buy them toys/games throughout the year), so we kind of splurge during this time. My oldest is at a point where he just asks for a couple of things (video games, usually) so we get him things that are more practical, like for his room, things he wouldn’t even have thought of.
I’m not into doing homemade gifts for family (who we don’t spend much on anyway, we’ve all agreed on that), but I do bake or make candy for my dc’s teachers/neighbors/friends.
Don’t know if this helped. I’m sure others will chime in with some ideas.
Just wanted to say that World Vision is very reputable…the vast majority of donations go directly to needs. Great place to give:)
momto2blessings, have you given to World Vision then? I google searched them in the past and didn’t find much on them, so was a little apprehensive on donating to them. Our family would love to though if we knew the money truly goes to these people in need!
We give only 3 gifts at Christmas to each of our children. Our Christmas is much more toned down than what many others do. The children receive a lot more gifts from grandparents and extended family. They get more gifts from us for their birthdays. I shop sales and thrift stores with a budget.
It irks me to see the towns and stores already getting out the Christmas when we have not yet enjoyed Thanksgiving. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
We give to Gospel for Asia at Christmas – similar idea to World Vision, but 100% of donations go to the mission field:
http://www.gfa.ca/about/financial-integrity/
Their Christmas gift catalogue is here:
We have not given to World Vision but they are a reputable Christian organization endorsed by Women of Faith and Casting Crowns. 85% goes to children and families in need.
Last yr we gave to Voice of the Martyrs in a family members name. This yr we are participating in Operation Blessing w/ shoeboxes. We are including our pic and address hoping we might get a reply!
As for gifts, we always say we are going to do just 3 but we end up doing more! This yr we are going to Orlando so maybe 1 gift a piece and that is it!
Here’s a bit on their financial accountability: http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/about/why-donate?open&lpos=top_drp_AboutUs_Accountability. Yes, we’ve given in the past. Hubby is very particular about who we give to, and this is a place we feel comfortable with. It’s fun to get together w/other families w/kids and have everybody donate anonymously whatever they feel led to give….then you can give more significant gifts and the kids feel a part of all that. Or any size gift is great, too, of course:) Blessings, Gina
This year the kids are saving coins along with the rest of the kids in our co-op and they are going to all decide on something to pick for World Vision. I have also heard it is very reputable.
As for Christmas, we never have very much money to spend so what we are doing this year is: they are getting one big gift from Mom and Dad (we have been saving aluminum cans for a microscope)and a game. Then they will each get one thing that they want. The girls want roller skates and the boys want more legos/transformers. Then one small thing in their stockings. (although it usually turns into two or three but I am really sticking to it this year for lack of funds). I say this every year but we are really trying to stick to our budget this year. They also get small things like an ornament from a Grandmother every year and then their godparents get them something as well. (we have a list that we can put ideas on so that they get what they want). It usually works pretty well.
I would love to be able to set aside money during the year for Christmas but funds I set aside always seem to be needed elsewhere. I do start buying in August or September so that helps too.
We stick to a small budget usually between $25 and $50 and this and birthdays are the only time the kids get gifts. Anything else they have to earn money for through good old-fashioned hard work. This year the budget is $50 per child (remember I have 7 children, this is a big stretch for us). We make the kids aware of the budget when they start working on a gift idea list for us, the ones old enough to pay attention to prices, and we aim to get things they’ll like and use for more than a week or two. 😉
A few things that help with their attitude on money/gifts:
– we’ve never done Santa. We focus on Christ and his gift to us, then explain that since it’s his birthday we’re giving gifts to celebrate (becuase that is how we choose to celebrate gifts in our own family, so it makes sense to them). Each child also chooses a gift to give to Jesus, something they will work toward for him.
– any catalog or sales ad that comes in the house hits the trash can asap.
– We keep toys in the house to a minimum (give away things regularly to others) so the kids really appreciate and use what they get.
We’ve done homemade before too – the kids work so hard to create things for one another and special friends. Love it! Handicrafts in action.
We are planning to take a family vacation in the spring, so that will be the bulk of our christmas gift, though the boys will be able to request one large gift of a certain value and then we’ll get some other smaller things — like books, maybe a new bedding set and stocking type stuff. They usually get clothes from grandparents and gift cards from aunts and uncles. I am planning to suggest that the grown-ups don’t exchange gifts this year outside our immediate family. Well, maybe homemade gifts would be nice — ornaments, cookies, that kind of thing. It was really wierd last year with every one exchanging gift cards of the same value for the same place. What’s the point?
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