In 2010, I wrote this post at the end of November on my Blogger blog. My mandate was to save money last Christmas, as it will be this Christmas as well. There are some great ideas on here, and ones that I’ll do again this year, so enjoy!
In 2009, my friends & I went frugal on the gift giving– not necessarily giftless, because it sucked the fun out of what we wanted to do – and gave ourselves a budget of $5 for the supplies we needed. Then we set out & made each other crafts.
Crafting
Crafts are fun and relatively easy. It doesn’t have to end up looking like a preschooler made it.
Crafts could be anything from making & painting your own picture frame, to creating a little scrapbook for the person, to making jewelry, wreaths, throw cushions (if you know how to sew), or soaps and body scrubs.
I made earrings with sterling silver & semi precious stones. I Googled a how-to, went to the nearest beading store, bought the (surprisingly inexpensive) supplies, & set off to work. They looked amazing so I made a pair for my mom & MIL as well.
When crafting something you’ve never done before, I urge you to use Google or Youtube to find out how to do the craft.
The best part about crafting, is that it can be a social thing! My friends & I got together with our supplies and some rum and eggnog, put some Christmas tunes on, and had fun!
You can comment or email me if you need any ideas, but this year I’m getting a ton of ideas from Pinterest (add_vodka, yo!)
Swap
The year before crafting, my friends & I decided to do a swap Christmas party. We all went into our closets, found some things that were nice and in good condition but we just didn’t wear anymore (around 5-10 items, as there were 5 of us), packed them up & brought them to a mutual friends house. We made appies, had some rum and eggnog (reoccurring theme), and spread everything out for people to “shop” from. We then made a game where whoever won – whoever could name 5 Christmas songs first, or whoever knew all the lyrics to one, etc – would get to pick an item first.
This is a great idea only if you have similar sizes as your friends (we all did) and similar tastes.
It was fun because, sometimes, with my group, we’d buy things on sale and never ever wear them, yet our friends could find something that we wouldn’t wear, that they’d wear all the time. This would work well with friends, but not necessarily family.
CDs
I have to accredit this one to my brother. A few years ago when he was broke, he still wanted to get us all gifts. He looked at his Itunes, looked at his friends’ Itunes & CD & DVD collection, & burnt us all CD’s & DVD’s that we didn’t already have.
This was great because a) it’s already been bought, so you’re not doing the artist any disservice and b) it’s free! Plus, its very personal.
This is legal in Canada, though I’m not sure about the States. I know you guys have pretty strict laws on piracy, & I’m not even sure if this counts as piracy, unless you download the stuff.
Photoshop
People love photos of their family and friends. I found this one on the internet, and there are many photoshop tutorials around. I did this for my mom last year.
I went and found a great photo of her dog that she didn’t have already in her house.
I logged onto photoshop – if you don’t have it, download a trial or use your friends – and got to work.
I made it so the dogs red collar stood out on the black & white photo. Her decor colour is red, so it looks fantastic, & it was super easy. Then, I’ll go & send it to Walmart to get printed out for $.20.
I’ll put it in her card so she can put it in her favourite picture frame at home. It was an almost free gift.
Volunteer
For a truly giftless Christmas, I would recommend volunteering at your favorite charity on Christmas day or Christmas eve. I know it is very cliche, and something I am sure everyone has heard before. But it’s a good idea to get your mind off of your giftless Christmas, and you’re really giving a gift to others. Salvation Army is a great cause around Christmas, and I’m sure they could really use the help.
Charities
If the reason you’re doing a giftless Christmas is not because of money – maybe you just want to celebrate in a different way in which consumerism doesn’t dominate, charities are the best.
I’ve wanted to do this for years, where we all donate x amount to each others favorite charities, or, if we don’t know each others favorite charities, charities that we believe the other person may be interested in.
Could you imagine the nice feeling you’d get knowing that your giving your gifts, which you really don’t need, to something bigger than you? To a child in a third world country, or to a women’s shelter?
I’d love for somebody to sponsor a woman in India, Africa, or the Middle East for me in lieu of a gift. I’d love to know that, because I “gave up” something I didn’t really need in the first place, a woman got to go to school, or educate her children, or start a small business, or move her family to a safer area.
Bake-off
When I asked about a giftless Christmas on my blog earlier this month, somebody emailed me about a new family tradition where they did a bake-off.
Their family would get together, & everyone either had to bake or cook something, & they all had fun sharing the food & comparing, etc.
Then everyone got to take home leftovers.
Just Stockings
My family decided, that instead of a 100% giftless Christmas, we’d do just stockings. We’d all get a stocking, & everyone else would put one thing in the stocking. It had to be under $10 (or a couple things for $5, etc). I gave lottery tickets, and assorted things for the rest of the fam. It keeps the cost down, since I have 6 people to buy for, that’s only $60. That, I can do.
What do you do to keep your holiday costs down?
Really great ideas! My family goes all out for Christmas. I’m hoping this year they will understand that we are all penny pinching. I may just do the photoshop thing because 1) i love photoshop and 2) everyone loves pictures!
If I do that, then maybe I will splurge on some pretty personalized cards. I love a good card. Add that with some baked goods and I’m sure it will be great. I do have $500 saved up for gifts that I saved all year but I don’t know if I want to spend that much.
I think that’s a great idea. Or even get a basic frame from the dollar store or a craft store and paint it or decorate it to put the picture in! I think these types of gifts are so much more special.
I’m going to keep my holiday costs down by asking people for gifts that are either 1) experiences, or 2) practical. For example, I’m going to ask the bf to learn to make my favourite dish as my christmas present, so that he can make it for me when the craving strikes me. From my friends, family, I’m asking for gifts like matching socks (I can never have enough of these), laundry detergent and paper towels. These things are not very gifty, but to me they’re the best kind of gifts: I know I want them, I know I will use them, they’re cheap, and they will not be sitting in a box in my basement a year from now because I don’t like them but don’t want to throw them out as they’re gifts 🙂
Practical gifts are great. Every year, for stockings, we fill them up with things that we can use and need, like toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, batteries, shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitize, hair elastics, etc. It’s a great way to keep costs down since you’d have to use and buy them anyway!
Great ideas! I just wanted to add that burning DVDs/CDs in the U.S., even if the copy you’re burning was legally bought, is copyright infringement. My parents and I got into an argument about this because they thought it was only illegal if you SELL the burned copies, but the notice at the beginning of our DVDs actually says “the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures, video tapes, or video discs” is a criminal offense. And, technically, it is “hurting” the artist because they’re making less money off their work if you burn copies to give to friends/family instead of buying them again. Just tossing that out there!
I found a really cool (and cheap!) body scrub recipe on another blog that I’m thinking of doing for David’s family since he likes to get little gifts to give out to EVERYONE. (I actually don’t care for this tradition because the gifts are so cheap – because we have to buy so many – that I don’t think anyone really appreciates them. But he loves it, so we’ll keep doing it.) 🙂
Interesting! I didn’t know that. Here, it’s legal (for now) to burn if you don’t sell. Well, I wouldn’t say “legal”, I would say that it’s a grey area – there’s no laws against. I can see where you are coming from regarding hurting the artist, but I would personally never buy a CD. They are a huge waste of money for me, so if it wasn’t burned I just wouldn’t listen to it. Then again, I’m not a big music person in general. I’ve bought albums off of iTunes just because I like the artist and want to show my support, and have never ever listened to them. I’m crazy like that!
I saw a couple of body scrub recipe’s on Pinterest that looked really cool, and the best part is that they’re all natural! You know what goes into them so they don’t dry your skin out at all!
I am just a Zumba newbie but I bought some great videos for beginners and now I am having so much fun!