Christmas Gift Giving Ideas
The pressure to have an amazing Christmas holiday with beautiful family pictures, tons of delicious food, the perfect gift for every person on your list, and making cherished memories with your friends and family can create a LOT of STRESS!
It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday rush of trying to create the perfect Christmas season. And it’s easy to go way over budget without a Christmas List and Budget.
Planning your gift giving with family and friends can help you save money and cut down on all the stress of keeping up with Christmas! Choosing a gift giving exchange will help you save money and create memories for years to come.
Set Up a Christmas Gift Giving Exchange
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Talk to your family (and any groups you exchange gifts with) about creating a way to minimize the amount of gift giving. As much as we would like to give a gift to every person in our family, (or maybe only our favorite family members!) a gift exchange can cut down on the amount we spend, give us room in our budget to buy a good quality gift, and reduce holiday stress.
 How to Set Up a Gift Exchange
- Choose someone to be in charge.
- Write the names of each person on a slip of paper or you can use Elfster, a gift exchange generator.
- Pull names and give a name to each person.
- Set a budget as a group ex. Gifts Under $5, Gifts Under $20, DIY only gifts, etc.
- Â Each person buys a gift for the name they pulled
- The gift is wrapped and exchanged on a chosen date
Christmas Gift Giving Exchange Ideas
Family Gift Giving Exchange Ideas
- Pass down a family heirloom.
- Family photos
- Personalized Gifts – monogrammed gifts (ex. rugs, cutting boards, jewelry, baseball caps, etc.)
- Family History – each person write a favorite memory they have to keep in a book or a site like Story Worth
- Family Coupon – Free babysitting, Free Homemade Dinner, Free Car Wash, Free Lawn Mowing, Free Painting
Theme Gift Giving Exchange Ideas
- Antiques
- Aprons
- Art
- As seen on TV
- Books
- Baked Goods
- Blankets
- Cookbooks
- DIY
- Donation to Charity
- Games
- Kitchenware
- Liquor – favorite Adult Beverages
- Movie
- Mug
- Outerwear Accessories – gloves, scarves, hats
- Pajamas
- Pets
- Religious
- Socks
- Sports
- Thrift Store Finds
- Choose one STORE that all gifts must be purchased at
- Travel related gifts
- Wine/Wine accessories
Christmas Gift Giving Exchange Games
Playing games with your family and friends is a great way to make memories!
If you don’t know how to play the White Elephant game, you can find directions to it here. And if your family is like mine…then you all will probably be making up your own rules!
My Favorite Things is another fun way to share the Holiday fun! This works best if you are in a small group, and I would recommend divinding into groups of guys and girls. When we played this with our church small group, all the guys just bought each other a beer. Ha! You set a budget for your group and pick a favorite thing to give to each person in the group.
You set a budget for your group and pick a favorite thing from the past year to give to each person in the group.
Debt Free Christmas Challenge:
We are taking the 12 weeks before Christmas to create a Debt Free Christmas. January 1, after all the holiday crazy, you will be so glad you don’t have to pay for Christmas the rest of the year!
Week 1:Â Debt Free Christmas Challenge
Week 2: Make Quick Cash for Christmas
Week 3: Christmas Gift Giving Ideas
Week 4: Christmas Shopping Tips and Deals
Week 6: Sell Gift Cards Online
Week 7: DIY Crafts to Make and Sell During the Holidays
Yes it can be hard giving gifts when the budget is tight. I love Christmas, but I don’t like to incur debt. We try not to go crazy but do like giving our kids gifts. I think we do better than many. Christmas doesn’t have to be ridiculous to be fun.
I totally agree! I found myself buying way to many gifts last year because I found so many “good deals”. That’s why this year we are sticking to a budget!