Gift-Free ChristmasIf you’re scrambling to get your holiday shopping done in these last few days before Christmas, you may want to consider a radical idea: A holiday without presents.  It may sound dismal at first, but consider that it would also be debt-free, stress-free and waste-free.  What would that be like?

You’ll still get the holiday songs, family togetherness, great food, and cheer.  Plus, if you have a new baby she’ll never know the difference and won’t remember either way.

If you’re not willing to give up presents entirely or if you have older kids that would protest the shift, it is nice to at least reduce the gift hullabaloo.  In our extended family we simply draw names for nieces and nephews and skip gifts for adults.  The price limit for children’s gifts is just ten dollars so we have to be thoughtful and work within a small budget.  It has made the holidays so much more relaxing for all of us!

Families who really love gift giving can experiment with homemade presents or perhaps give gifts of experience such as children’s museum memberships or tickets to a children’s concert so that you gather memories instead of stuff.

Does your family have any strategies for limiting the gift giving craziness?  Do you find that it’s tricky to reduce holiday gifts when you have older children?  We’d love to hear how you manage it!