Six Strategies to Beat the Stress of Holiday Gift Giving

Illustration for article titled Six Strategies to Beat the Stress of Holiday Gift Giving





Buy Experiences, Not Things





Gift Cards Aren't All Bad





Don't Buy Yourself Stuff




Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better



Regifting Isn't As Rude As You Think












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I've really come to dislike the experience of giving and receiving gifts during the holidays. There is so much pressure to (a) spend money you don't have and (b) thinking of the perfect gift for someone. Yes, some gifts are thoughtful and appreciated, but my parents are in the habit of buying unneeded crap just for the sake of giving. So we end up with a lot of stuff taking up space and stuff to regift etc.

My siblings and I (the only people I really exchange gifts with) are adults and aren't really lacking for anything. We're not wealthy by any means, but just content with what we all have. Trying to pick out gifts for them ends up either taking too long to find the perfect gift, or completely missing the ball altogether. My wife and I each get something we really want but usually wouldn't spring for (a dvd box set or custom framing), and call it a day.

So the last couple years I've done low-cost homemade gifts. Last year it was cookies-in-a-jar and homemade hot cocoa mix. Everyone loved them. One year I took a pottery class and everyone got a mug. This year I'm customizing the game Cards Against Humanity to involve family words/names/places and printing it out and packaging it up nice for each family. I'm buying gifts for my nieces, but otherwise I'm just not into the whole buying gift thing any more.