christmas_presents2.jpgNotice the somewhat jarring displays of Christmas items at retailers soon after Halloween? Americans love their stuff, but even too much commercialism can sour the most ardent consumer. There is a growing sentiment that Christmas, in particular, has been usurped by business owners trying to make a buck off the public’s sentimentalism. Not only is this putting more Americans in debt, but also the trend is undermining the very spirit of the holidays. More and more families are choosing to downsize their holidays in favor of experiences that produce lasting memories, instead of more commercial products that can end up in a landfill when all is said and done. Here are a few tips to help you downsize your holidays and save some cash too.

Secret Santas

Choosing one name out of a bag, to give a present to, is a very popular activity in the office where you don’t want to give a present to everyone. You can take the same practice and put it in place in your family. For a really fun type of Secret Santa, you even add twists in which the presents are not distributed to the giver, but put in a pile on the floor unwrapped. Then, every person in the group writes their name on a slip and puts it in a bag. The first person to choose, gets to choose their present first from the pile – with the caveat that the person whose name gets picked second from the bag chooses either chooses a present from the pile or a present someone else chose before them. This makes a very entertaining game and Christian groups love this because it exemplifies the Christian saying: ”The first will be last and the last first.” These types of games are very fun and entertaining and limit of $20 per gift can be put on the presents put into the grab bag.

Gifts from the Hearth

In this day of capitalism, the homemade items become more valuable. There are fewer people who know how to sew, who have time for crafts, or who are even willing to baby sit on occasion without being paid. So, if you know that these types of presents will be appreciated, then spend some time doing what you love as a hobby and then giving these out as presents around Christmas. A gift from your hearth is a way to show that this present is personal and made with that person in mind.

Examples of gifts you can make that are great to receive are holiday foods like peanut brittle and fruitcake. Not everyone likes fruitcake, but those that do will appreciate it. Sewing blankets and making dried flower arrangements too are also popular. If you make your own beer or wine, this can be a great novelty for the holiday parties.

Set a Budget

If you can’t seem to get away from the holiday expectations that spending as much money as you can is the sole aim of living, then you might want to set a budget and stick to it. Write down the number of people on your list and divide your budget by that number. Now, you know how much money per person you have to spend. If you end up spending more on one person, unfortunately to stick to your budget, you will have to buy a less expensive gift for someone else.

Another way to lessen the sting of gift giving is to buy things that come with rewards for the buyer. You can make all your Christmas purchases through ebates.com and reap a substantial rebate that gets mailed to you in the form of a check each quarter. So, essentially you have discounted the retail price of their gifts. Just make sure that anything you buy online gets free shipping, as this will easily eat up any savings on the presents you buy online.

The Great Escape

People whose children have grown up and who have no great desire to spend time with their relatives or shopping at malls during high tide can plan their great escape ahead of time. There are a number of great travel deals that you can use to pamper yourself during Christmas to off-peak places where there are no crowds and no one who demands that you light up your house or participate in gift-giving. Just be sure to prepare your family ahead of time by announcing this year that next year will be different. It gives them time to get used to the idea.

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