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Are you changing your gift buying habits this year?Holidays are usually a busy time for shopping, but with the current sagging economy, are you changing your gift buying habits this year? How so? By turning DIY? Will you continue to shop, but perhaps more selectively? Tell us your story. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/102/313109129_9dea941841.jpg?v=0 Photo: shopping at the Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle, by Bre Pettis. Note: We may contact you for our on-air coverage.
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38 Answers
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My family is doing 'Reduce/Reuse/Recycle Christmas this year. All elements of the gift need to fit into that mantra. We will either give away something of our own to another family member (Mom will certainly divvie up some of the family silver or china); we must use recycled wrappings thus less money spent this year and less impact on the environment. We've had 'theme' Christmas for many years now, but I am hopeful that this one will start a trend in our family to be more frugal. No need to go ever the top anymore.
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I will be cutting back significantly, not only because of the economy but in protest of the over-the-top commercial aspect that Christmas has become. Christmas should be more like Thanksgiving in celebration - family and friends spending time together and giving thanks for one another and the blessings we have. I know too many people that think spending money on others, especially their children, is a show of love. Love is quality time and doing things for each other, not buying crap made in China which ends up in thrift stores or the landfills anyway. I believe in gifts but only if there is thought and meaning to them regardless of the holiday. My parents don't necessarily give gifts on holidays, they show up with things that they know we would like or need at any time of the year. That is love.
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I am completely changing my habits this year. This year I will shop exclusively at Farmers Markets, the Fremont Outdoor Fair or at small or home-based businesses where you can actually negotiate with the sellers or buy more items for a discount. I will not be going to big retailers or malls this season - it is time to keep shop locally and keep the money at home. I will also be crafting and cooking my little fingers to the bone to give homemade gifts to family and friends - these things are much more meaningful in our troubled times.
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This year I'm only buying gifts for my boyfriend. I have 3 families that i'm to celebrate with but only one will get any gifts. Both my dad's and mom's families are execpting not to get any gifts. From now on its is either gifts made by me or no gifts at all. Last year craze shopper almost ran me off the road and into the ditches 4 times and I wasn't even going shopping at malls I was near. To me alot of people have forgotten what the holidays are about so I choose when and if I want to celebrate.
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My situation is good and my family members need very little. So this year, instead of gift, I will make donations to shelters and programs in the towns where my family lives (back east). If I can't find a suitable charity, I will make donations to Heifer -- I think my farming family will appreciate that choice.
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Normally, everyone in our family buys a gift for everyone else. This year, some of us aren't doing as well financially, so we've decided to draw names for gifts--I'll get a gift from my brother and give one to my sister, and around the circle it goes. This will cut down on the number of non-wanted/not-needed items we all take home, and cut down on expenses as well. I've found this has actually made gift buying more fun, allowing me to focus on what my sister would really love instead of trying frantically to shop for everyone. What did I decide on? A donation in her name to Heifer International.
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I gave up the usual gift giving a few years back. I now give gifts through out the year when I see something that I think people would like. At Thanksgiving I give to the Heifer Fund in the name of my granddaughters. I also knit replicas of these animals. As the girls grow, I will share the story of the Heifer Fund and I am hoping that they will be interested in learning how to knit; another gift that I can give them.
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I've been accused of being un-American for advocating thrift, especially at the holidays. Given the current American economic situation, even those who have criticized me on the TNT “In Your Neighborhood Blog” in the past for not supporting the economic machine, may be getting creative this year.
Seattle Flight Service, where my husband works, is living on borrowed time. Because of this we are doing everything we can to save money and pay down debt before Lockheed Martin closes the facility which could happen at any time. Always thrifty for ourselves, but tending to be more generous with others, we are shopping almost exclusively at Goodwill and Craig's List this year. My grandson loves Legos. After nearly collapsing in the toy aisle at Target when I saw how much they cost, I got the bright idea of looking on Craig's List where I found a perfectly good boxful of Legos for half what I would have paid for the same amount at Target. True, this box of Legos did not come with directions for building the Millennium Falcon or a castle, but he has an imagination and will be thrilled.
Besides saving myself money, buying used goods makes me feel like I'm putting money into the hands of people who can really use it and not into the hands of corporations. Shopping Farmer’s Markets and local crafts people achieves this, too. If you’ve got the money to spend, giving tickets to local theatrical events is another way to support our local economy and keep waste out of the landfill.The gift of your time in the form of cooking a meal or washing a car for someone are gifts that are the right color, fit perfectly, and do not require dusting.
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We are buying handmade gifts off of www.etsy.com for everyone in our family. My husband and I are spending time looking for something perfect for each person. This way, we are supporting individuals as well as giving a one of a kind gift.
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I'm not sure we can buy gifts for anyone this year. My husband was laid off mid-october and hasn't found work yet. Our son turns one on December 24th, and he'll probably get a cupcake and one of his regular toys wrapped up. But I've felt good about cutting our family expenses by almost 30% while accruing only interest on our credit cards. Practically, I am making bread instead of buying it, driving less, and am watching our energy and water consumption closely.
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I tend to shop all year long, picking up things as they catch my attention, so I don't have a mad rush to shop for the holiday season. My in-laws and I have a ritual that we give each other a majority of white elephant gifts, so that also saves me money. I also make homemade soaps and lotions to give as gifts.
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I'm putting together a kit for a waffle recipe that requires a couple of special ingredients-I'll put those ingredients, which cost me more time hunting them down, than money, plus the recipe--it should come out to less than $10.00 and a lot of caring.
I also like to shop for cheap jokes at Archie McPhees--laughing helps!0 0
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We are only buying for the kids. We are not buying for any adults. We are however, the adults, each putting 20$ in a pot and donating it to a charity. We will decide which charity at our Christmas gathering.
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Yes, I normally buy gifts for quite a few people and I also donate to a number of charities. This year, I will donate to chariities in the name of the adults on my gift list. Most charities are hurting this year. They need the help more than my friend Hazel needs another scarf.
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I just received an email that was a request from my aunt to give "stocking stuffers" for our family Christmas this year. (My uncle owns a business directly linked to Wall Street) I think the economic slowdown can be a great catalyst for rethinking the meaning of the winter holidays and shifting priorities towards family rather than gift-giving.
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We are definitely tightening our belts this year. My husband has been out of work (in the mortgage business) for two months. We are making some gifts, buying other small, practical and eco-friendly gifts. I'm not sure what to do for our three kids. Is Santa recession-proof?
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This holiday season, my boyfriend and I promised to visit his family in North Carolina. It’s too bad that we made this decision back in June because now ticket prices are sky-high, we spent $1500 on our tickets to go back visit his family. Now I feel grumpy and am definitely not spending money on presents this year. I work in architecture and the economy has been really rough on our industry especially with the mortgage and credit crisis, I feel like everyday I should be lucky that I still have job. And with that said, the feeling that one day I could come into work and they will let me go is huge so I can’t spend hundreds of dollars on holiday presents this year as I have in the past. We told our families this and to please not gift anything to us.
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The difficult economic times are not unique to the past year. My husband and I have weathered three layoffs during the George W. Bush administration and were forced to cut back on holiday spending several years ago. Though we both have good-paying jobs now, we will not be buying lavish presents for each other or our families. Instead, we've saved up money throughout the year and will give charitable gifts in honor of our relatives, along with small gifts for the kids in the family. I don't see this practice changing much in the years to come, though the size of the donations may depend on how we're doing financially.
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I've always valued personalized gifts such as pictures or hand-made cards over store-bought items, but often felt a little guilty that I didn't "buy" gifts (although things like printing photographs and card supplies do cost money). This year I feel more justified in my original inclination, so although my habit itself won't change, I feel more comfortable giving non-traditional gifts. Especially in this day and age of email and information overload, a hand-written card is very valuable and I would be happy if my friends/family considered this as a gift rather than a store-bought item!
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Handing Down Family Heirlooms - Several years ago my mom asked me what I wanted for the holidays - I said "nothing" (I really don't NEED anything!). She pressed me, everytime we talked, so I mentioned always loving a camera from my father’s Leica collection. That year my favorite gift was the camera and each of my siblings got something just as wonderfully sentimental to them! A gift that was shopped from the heart, via a cabinet, closet or the attic in her house, something of meaning (value notwithstanding).
For my friends I make things – vinegars, cookies, etc., and have parties where we cook together and have a hell of a time. I do buy somethings during the holidays from friends and others in my town who own small businesses.0 0
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After working through college with the help of student loans and entering into a competitive job market with slow growth, I have as little spending money now as I did 8 years ago, albeit I don't live with my parents and now pay my own bills (including a very modest mortgage on a condo that I can still afford). My spending habits this year are going to be the same as every year: making crafty gifts on the cheap.
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Even though our financial situation is pretty stable we are changing the way we give gifts during the holiday season. Most of our family lives out of state and to simplify the gifting process we are going to make donations to Kiva in each family members name. We have a new 6 month old daughter so most if any money spent on gifts will be for her and we will try to shop locally for those staying away from the big chain stores. My wife and I will probably exchange one medium range gift and call it good. I think we will enjoy the spirit of giving instead of receiving this year to those less fortunate than ourselves.
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I've never been a gift buyer. The economic situation seems to be helping my gift-giving. Consider a recent birthday present I gave to a friend with lower back pain, a Sharper Image massager that was thrown away by a nearby beauty products store, apparently because Sharper Image went bankrupt. She says it relieves her back pain better than the massages she's been paying for.
So for us dumpster divers. the economic collapse means more fun in the trash. For our friends, it means cool gifts. For the rest of you, there's a little less garbage to haul away.
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With a new baby and tight economy my wife and I are going to make homemade gifts. We are going to make homemade quarts of ice cream based on a family recipe for seasonal cookies.
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My fondest Christmas memory is from the 1976 holidays when almost all of the adults in my family were out of work. We all had to live in my Aunt Betty's log cabin in Idaho where it was crowded and noisy, but we were all happy. That year my father took all the little kids under the age of 12 Christmas shopping during the tree lighting ceremony in our town of Wallace. After seeing Santa and the festivities he gave each of us two dollars to shop at a real dime store. We must have spent about an hour in that little store looking for things to give to everyone in the family. We were really creative. Everyone received pencils and paper, little black combs, crayons, coloring books and candy. Plastic bracelets for our mothers and colorful earrings. We even found some really ugly ties for our fathers in a bargain bin. Later, that evening we also made toys for each other out of bread dough and dried them on the hearth. We colored our gifts with the markers, made decorations out of paper bags and newspaper and had a lot of fun. It was the best Christmas I have ever had because we gifts from the heart. I've always tried to recapture those memories and this year our family is doing a cookie exchange for the adults and one toy for each child in the family because money is scarce for everyone. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a new Christmas tradition and more wonderful holiday memories.
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Yes. Although I will buy the usual token gifts for my two grandchildren, I am cutting back by 40% on my usual generous contributions to their college funds, and by 50% on my gifts to my favorite charitable institutions (The Seattle Public Library and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center). I am a senior, on a fixed income, whose portfolio has dropped by nearly 40% since the beginning of 2008.
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Of course, ever since I saw "What Would Jesus Buy" I've always shopped locally (not bought plastic crap from China). This year however I will be attempting to give experiences and no gifts whatsoever. I'll probably get a few things but for the most part I want to do things like...tickets to the zoo or even a ride up to the space needle. Despite living here all my life I've never been up there.
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[Peets 1 month ago]
We have a close group of friends, and we stopped buying gifts for each other a few years ago once we started having kids, and instead bought Christmas gifts only for the kids. We now have about 20 kids in our ever-growing circle, mostly toddlers, and decided this year to forego giving gifts to each child. Instead, we have a gift exchange, 1 child gets 1 present, but all the kids get small $1 stocking stuffers. We hope that it will be less stressful on everyone, especially in light of the financial crisis and the uncertainty of employment for the new year.0 0
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Yes, my husband and I are retired and have lost a significant portion of our retirement. In the past we have been very generous with cash gifts to our children, but not this year.
Our extended family plays a game at Christmas where everyone brings a one gift that any adult in the family would like...new of course and then we trade it around and everyone ends up with something they like. (That way my adult children don't buy gifts for all their siblings.) This year we are still playing the game, but the gift they bring has to be used....ie, garage sale, goodwill or something we don't need anymore. Besides that we will be giving the children modest gifts.
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My son has been blessed to grow up without the influence of tv commercials telling him he has to have something. His wish list is small - a hula hoop, some comic books and lots of chocolate. We are spending more time together as a family making Christmas decorations out of recycled materials around the house, which has been a lot more fun than I anticipated. The grown-ups here just want to get a new bed and stop sleeping on a air mattress on the floor and maybe a pair of slippers to keep our feet warm.
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Hifer International seems more and more a good option: friends and family will get as a gift the satisfaction of families in the World made more indipendent in their name
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My gift buying habits will not be much different than the past several years. I have for a long time watched my money on Christmas spending, even before the economic downturn, before frugality became fashionable. I do not have that much shopping to do, as in our family we each buy our own gifts, wrap them, then open them for everyone to see at our celebration. All of us have pretty much what we need, and we as individuals are the ones who know best what we want for Christmas. The remainder of my shopping is for toy drives i.e. Toys for Tots and Giving Trees put on by my church, businesses and community organizations. This way I can concentrate on buying gifts for those who otherwise wouldn't have much of anything. Also I like to do my shopping at holiday bazaars, craft fairs, farmers markets, and small neighborhood businesses - something I call Alternatives to the Malls. The most important thing to me, however, when it comes to holiday shopping, is to have fun with it.
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Probably, want to find good-quality used in some cases.
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[rose 1 month ago]
My family has never been big gift-givers. So I probably won't change that this year. What I HAVE changed is how I purchase everyday items -- anytime I need something, I try to get it through FreeCycle, first. It's amazing to me how much I have avoided having to buy -- a jewelry box, a cat carrier, a daily devotional book... Plus a lot of the junk in my home has found a new owner who will actually use it. I've also switched exclusively to borrowing books from the library, rather than buying them. I find it a much more peaceful way of going about life.0 0
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Yes! My Mom taught us that Christmas was too commercial, so we have agreed that we won't give much but donations to charity in the recipient's name. A good one is Heifer International, where the money will allow poor people to start a home business, so you're buying the equivalent of a sheep, or a rabbit, etc. Family fellowship is more important to us anyway. I make some small gifts (under $20) so that we have something to unwrap under the tree. I knit my sister a scarf, made another sister an embroidered scarf. My brother will replace the roof on my carport for my present. We all want things that are too expensive for anyone to provide, so we keep the costs down that way. I'm giving that brother a ornament sized kyak to commerate he & his wife buying themselves one for their present to each other.
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Every year my husband and I wrack our brains to generate a "wish list" of our Christmas wants to send to his family. We then have to further brainstorm to figure out what to buy his very comfortable parents, sister, brother-in-law and kids. Inevitably, we buy them a book or CD, a gift card to REI or some other impersonal item that is supposed to show we care. The moral of the story? If you can't think of it, you probably don't need it. We don't need any more stuff and, really, neither do they.
This year, we are putting the kabosh on gifts of any kind for friends and family. Instead, we are putting all of our gift money towards "adopting a family". We have also asked those who might buy gifts for us to do the same. I think it will be much more fulfilling to channel all that gift giving toward some individuals for whom certain gifts could really make a difference this year. Our friends are already on board...now we just need to break the news to the family....
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As with all other postings I've read, we're cutting back on gifts for family and friends. And when we do spend money, it will go to charities. We're teaming withe some friends and adopting a family from the local food bank. More people need help, and fewer are able to give this year. And "gifts" for family and friends will include items given in their name, such as a "milking goat" or "bee hive" thru such agencies as World Vision, Heifer International, and Episcopal Relief & Development. It's definitely about "needing" and "appreciating" this year; not "wanting" and "getting." I'm thinking that for my two kids, ages 6 & 9, it will be the best Christmas yet.
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For the last three years, as our family has expanded most of us have really only been buying things for the kids anyhow. This year will be no different. It's become increasingly important to our family to be more philanthropically generous than materialistically so as well, so I may donate in the name of a family member rather than get a gift. As much fun as it is to get a package from Mom or Dad, it's more joyous to see the kids happy.
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