Fresh off the completion of another holiday season many of us making a vow to spend less on gifts next year. The problem isn’t necessarily with gifts within your immediate family, it’s with the extended family celebrations with inlaws. If you’re in a situation with step families, the problem can grow exponentially. If you’re having similar thoughts, the time is now to come up with a plan to reduce your holiday gift spending for next year. Here are 4 ways to reduce holiday gift spending.
No Gifts
The most extreme choice is simply to throw it out there to your extended families that next year you’d like to just get together and enjoy the holidays without giving gifts. Chances are if you’re thinking it, someone else is too.
Secret Santa
If you want to keep the gift giving tradition as a part of your extended family celebrations, consider doing a secret Santa exchange. Not only is it fun because you don’t know who is buying you a present, but it reduces the financial commitment because you only have to buy one present.
Dice Game
This fun alternative again requires every person to buy exactly one present, but adds an additional game component to the festivities. Everyone puts their present in the middle of a circle of people, and a single die goes around the circle. If you roll a 6, you pick a present. Once everyone has a present, you open them. Then the die goes around the circle a few more times, and if a 6 is rolled, that person can exchange presents with someone else.
Men’s and Woman’s Gifts
To really make it easy, every adult brings along a gift suited for someone of the same gender. The presents are put in a box or pile, and people just take turns picking a present from the appropriate pile. Everyone gets something and you don’t even know who it came from.
The holidays are supposed to be joyous and fun, not stressful mentally or financially. Retailers might disagree, but gifts are not the main focus of the season. By using one of these alternatives, you can take some strain off your mind and your bank account really enjoy the holidays.
How about you, Clever Friends, have you reduced your holiday spending in recent years?
