Christmas is a time which cause many people to be stressed about money. Let's face it, it's way over the top. So here is how I cut my Christmas gift list to 4 gifts (yes, 4).
Who do we buy for out of expectation? I had a chat with my friends and we decided that it would help everyone to stop the buying of un-wanted or un-needed gifts.
As a family, we each now write a letter to Santa containing a selection of gifts to a given value. We then each become a nominated Santa's helper and are given someone else's letter. We then buy one gift from the person's list. This maintains the surprise but guarantees they will like it, not return it, and there is no shopping or financial stress.
This is perhaps my favorite. My closest people gift each other promissory notes for gifts that are free: babysitting vouchers, help with decorating, weeding the garden, feeding the pet whilst on holiday. All free and the vouchers can be as Christmas-y as you like.
We also have a get together after Christmas where we swap one gift, which must be below a certain dollar amount and bought from a thrift shop or hand made. The kids all say this is the best day, and get so creative. We use up all the leftovers. We bring our unused crackers, recycle the cards, and play winter games. So we get two lovely family days for the price of one.
Enjoy the holidays!
By earthhat from Scotland
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