Gift giving around the holidays is always a stressful time of year. We have to make sure we check everyone off our list, spend hours waiting in line or shopping online, and make sure it’s within our budget.

Does it really have to be that way? Can’t we all just enjoy one another’s company instead of being materialistic?

Give Experiences

I like to give friends and family members experiences for Christmas gifts. I’ve found that I’ve made more memories by giving experiences than a fleece sweater.

I look back on recent memories and they all are experiences rather than a shiny new object. Why? Because it’s living life in the moment.

I’m not materialistic and with getting items for Christmas how can you possibly love every item that you get?

I’ve also given vouchers for experiences. For instance, if there is something going on in the spring or summer I’ll tell that person we’re going and it’s on me. This spreads the amount of money I have to spend on Christmas gifts throughout the year instead of one month.

If you want it, you’ll get it

If found that in my personal life if I want an item bad enough I’ll just simply go buy it. I’d rather do my own research on an item than have a family member purchase it for me. Plus, there is something rewarding about saving your own money and working towards your goal.

Tell your loved ones that if they are going to get you a gift to pitch in together and buy a bigger item rather than a few smaller ones. This will help you get what you truly want instead of a bunch of littler items.

Or simply tell your family that you don’t need anything this year and would rather just enjoy the time and experiences together.

Draw a name from a hat

Instead of buying a gift for everyone in your family you can put everyone’s name in a hat and each person draws one name. Then you set a price limit on the gift that each person will spend.

This limits the amount of gift giving of each person. They can concentrate on one really good gift versus dividing their time amongst other gift giving.

Dice Game

What my family does is each person brings a $25 gift to family Christmas. They put the gift in the center and then we roll dice for a predetermined time, usually 20 minutes.

Once you roll doubles you can go grab a gift from the center and open it. Then you continue to roll the dice in a circle.

After you already have a gift open and roll doubles, you can either trade your gift for an unopened one or steal someone else’s.

You continue to roll the dice from family member to family member until time runs out.

The key to this game is to bring a quality item that you wouldn’t mind going home with. We’ve run into a problem in the past where some family members bring terrible gifts and then get upset when they are stuck with that gift.

Want Need Wear Read

Around the holidays I know families that stress about what to get their kids. What I’ve heard in recent years going around is something they want, something they need, something they will wear, and something to read.

This brings the gifts to satisfy both what you would be spending on the child anyway with buying clothing and books but also, makes the child happy with what they want that year and what they truly need in their life.

Gifts should be thoughtful and practical. We don’t need to have extra items around the house just because a holiday dictates we should pass around gifs.

What do you do for gift giving around the holidays? Let us know!