START NEW TRADITIONS AND SET LIMITS
Winter is coming. It’s that time of year where we all spend way too much money on ridiculous gifts. Here are some alternatives, to buying tons of gifts this year. Start new traditions and set limits on spending on lame gifts that no one cares about. Here are some terrific ideas on gift exchanges, donating to a cause, experiential holiday gifts and crafting. Don’t break the bank!
RE-GIFT EXCHANGE
Just convince your family to do a gift exchange. But not any gift exchange. Make it theme sensitive. For example, a re-gift exchange. Instead of buying something, everyone has to find the worst possible gift or free awful store item they got throughout the year and re-gift it. This will offer you and your family hours of fun and a year of giggling over the pink Victoria Secret bag your Aunt Myrtle received in the family re-gift exchange. This new tradition could really set up a year of fun planning, without breaking the bank. It’s easy to set limits when you don’t spend!
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DONATE TO A CAUSE
If you really want to break the bank but have a big heart… Get your family and friends to donate their time or money. There are so many families out there in need. You can sponsor a family and put together a box full of goodies that they can receive on Christmas Day. Check with your local organizations about what you can do to make the holidays easier for someone else. There are also larger organizations, such as Angel Tree, that can use your help. Angel Tree helps children who have at least one parent in prison. Did you know that one in three offenders in prison is a parent? Giving to various organizations could inspire future philanthropists in your circle of friends. This new tradition could also create valuable conversations throughout the year. And who knows? You may choose to help more organizations during the year.
GIVE AN EXPERIENTIAL HOLIDAY GIFT
So many parents would love a night or even just an hour out. You could offer your personal babysitting services, a dinner out at a local and favorite restaurant, or an evening out at a comedy club to your friends or family members. A family day trip to a museum could be a great holiday gift! Other ideas are tickets to a play, theme park or a bowling alley. It’s not the things that we tend to talk about, it’s the experiences that we remember. Start forging new traditions by offering great memories with your holiday gifts. You can be creative and not go beyond your set limits.
MAKE SOMETHING
Who doesn’t like cookies? And who doesn’t like home-made wine or beer? There are so many things you can make and gift, that people will really appreciate. A calendar of pictures of your little ones may be appreciated by your parents. There are cost effective websites, such as Vistaprint and Snapfish that offer awesome templates for cards, books, calendars and much more. And if you are a crafty sort, knit a scarf. Even if you don’t know how to knit, watch a youtube video and learn. If all else fails, wrap your holiday gifts in magazine pages – it’s a creative way to reuse and, thus, recycle. Wouldn’t it be cool if you were the uncle who made the Holiday Beer and wrapped it in your own papier maché? Now that’s a new tradition that won’t break the bank! And it’s easy to set limits on what you spend when you can spend less!