Welcome to No More Spending; how we manage our budget as we attempt to pay off our mortgage early, move abroad, and reach Financial Freedom by 2020. You can read more about this site here and subscribe to get all the latest updates sent to you by email or RSS feed here.  Thank you for visiting!

12 October 2009

Christmas Habits

Its that time of year again when our thoughts turn to Christmas shopping. Last year I attempted a back to basics approach, which, to a certain extent worked, but it didn't go far enough. This year I'm trying again.

I want to break the habit of just putting a voucher/cash in an envelope and sending it to four family members. This is not a loving Christmas gift, it is a habit. They, in return send us a money/voucher or a small gift. What is the point?

I really don't want this to come across as ungrateful, because it's not, it just seems a pointless exercise we are all doing for the wrong reasons. The question is am I brave enough to ring these people and stop the cycle? If I am, how do I do it?

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5 comments:

  1. I agree that it is rather silly to just send vouchers or money. If you don't want to spend a lot, consider making all your gifts. People will be really touched and you will most likely have lots of fun making them. Alternatively, try to research some fun days out near where they live and purchase tickets for that. I once gave tickets to my brother and his family for a zoo near them. They were thrilled as they had been meaning to go for ages but never had.
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  2. I approached my siblings in the summer about drawing names so we would only have 1 gift to buy instead of 3 others.

    They all readily accepted this change and were relieved someone brought it up. Maybe the people you exchange gifts with will be as well.
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  3. We have a rule in our family that once the kids are 18, we don't buy anymore! Unfortunately Beloved's family don't do the same, so we are stuck buying for nephews, nieces well into their twenties, plus their partners, plus their kids!! I wish we could just say stop!
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  4. In our family we don't do Christmas presents for extended family and sometimes within the family. Christmas is more about everyone coming home and spending time together.
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  5. I hope you post what you decide to do. I struggle with this as well.
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