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The time has come to start thinking of the holidays.

*groan*

I know, I know. I’m not happy about it either, especially since I just found out my 19 year old brother is getting married to a 35 year old woman. This on top of the fact that we all hate my sister’s husband. Yeah, the holidays going to be fun!

So, with that in mind, the time has come to consider how much you’re willing to spend on gifts this year. Unfortunately, the economy is pretty much going to dictate what we can and can’t afford to spend, as we no longer have the luxury of putting everything on credit cards. And if you’re like me, you probably spent way too much last year and really need to cut back this year.

The thing is, most of the gifts we buy are things that go back to the store or end up in the trash. Sure, it’s the thought that counts and our loved ones probably don’t want to hurt our feelings, but I’d rather not spend the money on something they don’t want or don’t need. Fortunately, there are plenty of things we can do to avoid overspending and still have a nice holiday season.

Set gift expectations now

First things first. If you can’t afford to spend a lot of money on friends and family this year, let them know now. My close friends and I have all agreed that this year we’re spending solely on our families and we will make it up on each others’ birthday’s. But, because we’ve discussed these expectations, we all have a general idea of how much we’ll be spending. The same holds true with family.

Try different gift ideas to help save money

Since most of the gifts we give generally tend to be discarded, it’s probably best to give homemade gifts. First of all, they’re usually way cheaper. But secondly, they’re more thoughtful and typically better appreciated. As I mentioned, my friends and I agreed that we wouldn’t exchange store bought gifts this year; however, I will probably take the time to bake each of them their favorite cookies.

Cheaper holiday shopping

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we feel obligated to still purchase gifts. Not to worry, there are ways around this as well. Unconventional gift giving sessions like White Elephant, Yankee Swap, Secret Santa’s, and plain-ol’ drawing names are great ways to still participate in holiday gift giving and keep your wallet intact.

For those who are unfamiliar with these different forms of gift giving, let me give you a quick overview of how they work!

White Elephant:

Most people have heard of this and some participate in many different versions, but the way we’ve done it in our family is that everyone agrees on a price limit - ours is usually no more than $100, sometimes less depending on the year. Everyone buys one gift within the price range and they wrap it up with no tags to indicate the giver or the receiver. Come time to exchange the gifts, everyone tosses them in a pile around the tree, then each person draws a number. Gifts are chosen in numerical order and that’s your gift for the year. You can exchange with each other if you want to.

Yankee Swap:

I’ve heard this as a different version of White Elephant, but it’s always been called Yankee Swap in our family - no clue why, sorry. Basically it works similar to White Elephant; however, once the gifts are in the pile, that’s where things go very differently. The first person picks a present and opens it. The second person picks a present and can either choose to take the first person’s gift, or they can open the one they chose. If they take the first person’s gift, then they have to give the one they chose to the first person. This continues down the line; however, as it moves down the line, the person has their choice of any of the opened presents so none of them are safely yours until the last person has gone. It sucks to be the first person and it’s usually awesome to go last. Our family draws names to determine the order, but you can do the number thing here as well.

Secret Santa:

Most people are familiar with the Secret Santa’s. Each person draws a name, but keeps the name secret. You can do this one of two ways. Each Santa gives one gift only, or they can do a week’s worth of gifts, but the gifts start small and work up to the big gift. Those trying to save money will go for the one gift rule.

Draw names:

Same as Secret Santa except it’s not secret.

Those are all the things we’ve done in our family. I tend to be very bad at this because I like to give gifts, especially to my niece and nephew. But, I do like homemade gifts and so I can find ways to save money. Homemade certificates always go over pretty well. My sister loves getting those because it usually involves a day of babysitting the kids so she can go out. But, I’ve thrown in a day of free maid service, massage, and other little things the receiving party might enjoy. I try to have fun with it and make it meaningful. After all, the holidays are about spending time with your family, not about who can spend the most money or give the best gifts.

What about you guys? Have you thought about the holidays at all, or are you a last minute kind of shopper? Are there any other alternative gift-giving ideas you can think of to help save money?