Buying Christmas presents for everyone can get quite expensive. There are a lot of ways to save money when shopping for everyone. This is a guide about saving money on Christmas presents.
We found that the best strategy is this: we spend all year both searching for gifts and spending extra time with the people we love so the gift means more. It is easy to work a little O.T. or use a credit card and buy off someone. Gifts mean a lot more if they meet your interests even if they cost 1/2 as much. Plus! you get time with the people you care about and less at work.
With an expanding family that includes children, grandchildren (four new babies in the last two years!) our family has come up with this way to deal with holiday gift giving. None of use credit cards! We are not credit card people. So there is no horrible 'after Christmas' debt.
Guys buy for guys, girls for girls. The gifts go into two baskets, and everyone lucky dips. If you don't like the gift you have drawn, you are perfectly free to swap it with someone else, if you can find someone who wants to exchange with you.
It has its funny moments. One year a family member who had just started a diet, drew a large box of chocolates. She didn't look at all happy, but found someone who swapped the chocolates for an ornament she wanted.
We also contribute to the Christmas food, each family member brings cake, salads, whatever to share at the host family's table. All this does help to keep rising costs down for everyone.
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