As many of you know being broke during the holdiay season plain old sucks. Commercialism runs rampant even during tough economic times and although there are many ways to save and be budget concious during the gift giving season, the majority of us still tend to think that we have to give gifts out like we are made out of money. The truth is fellow broke people, that what we should do is take a step back and re-evaluate who we are going to give gifts to.
If you have kids you know that they are definitely #1 on the list, unless their actions over the past year have earned them only a piece of coal. Seriously speaking even with the kids, you'll have to take that proverbial step back and re-evaluate what you are going to be giving them. For instance, I know my youngest son, Seba, wants a Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express, 16 gazillion Thomas Train figures, a pet toy dinosaur, more trains, more trains and more trains. I am getting him just one of those things. The other things he wants have been assigned to grandparents, uncles and aunts. I dont need to buy him everything he's asked for and to be fair I have asked that everyone keep to a spending cap because we aren't the only ones who are broke. I know that the grandparents will go that extra mile with the grandkids but when it comes to my brother and his family, they have just as many bills as we do and it wouldn't be fair to expect any pricey gifts from them. In order to keep the season a happy one, make concessions and agree to spending caps in the family.
What to do with people outside of the immediate family? That can be a troublesome issue when it comes to co-workers for many people. If no one in your office has suggested it yet, try doing a "secret santa" with your coworkers with a cap of $20-25 dollars. Another way to celebrate in the office is to have an office pot-luck, where everyone can bring a dish from home and that is certainly a way to save some cash.
As for all those other people in your life, believe me - they understand that the economy is in the proverbial toilet and they will be happy enough with a holdiay card from you. And if they aren't? Well a big BAH- HUMBUG to them.
What do you do in your family or in the office to keep your holiday spending down? Leave us a comment! - Gina G.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Great blog ladies! You know a thing I so too is if I want to get someone a thoughtful gift and I know they aren't able to buy others a gift. I will give them the gift of a good cooked meal. I will make a whole dinner, take it over to their house, with drinks and a dessert and present it as a gift. Many people like this because they don't have to worry about getting food for that day, cooking or cleaning afterwards. It works out nice. Of course, some people are very materialistic and might not appreciate this gift. Depends on the person.
ReplyDeleteI had an "a HA" moment when I went through our "toy room" to donate away the things the kids no longer play with. I figured out a lot of the toys we've bought were things we (mostly I) THOUGHT they'd enjoy...and they really didn't. All in all, they always seem to come away from gifting holidays latching on to one or two toys anyway...so better to spend effort on finding one special thing you know they will love than getting a room full of stuff they won't even end up playing with...broke or not!
ReplyDeleteThis year I made a lot of gifts. It was a big money saver and I felt like it was a lot more personal.
Oh and P.S....where's my stinkin card???