Christmas in August

The movers are coming today to start packing up our house. They plan to pack us up today and tomorrow and then load everything into the truck on Friday. I figure that I'm going to be super busy for the next week or so, and I don't know when I will "lose" our computer (via packing). I had planned all year to do a Christmas in July series, but the timing worked out better for a Christmas in August series. Basically, I plan to repost some things I wrote around Christmas last year because there are things that we try to do especially at that time of year that we should really try to do all year long. Also, it's a good time to start thinking about Christmas, especially if you plan to make any gifts. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Who I'm NOT Buying Christmas Gifts For

(This post was originally published December 20, 2010.)

(To be grammatically correct, the title of this post really should be: "For Whom I'm Not Buying Christmas Gifts. I know that, but it sounds kind of funny, don't you think?)

Buying gifts for people at Christmas can get expensive. It seems like you have to buy something for everyone, and it can be hard to find the perfect gift for each and every person on your list. We have a secret: we don't buy gifts for many people. It saves a lot (a lot) of time, money, and aggravation.

It is actually easier for me to list the people for whom I do buy gifts than those I don't. I buy gifts for John, and we buy gifts for our children and three of my in-town nieces and nephews. That's it. How do we get away with it? Why do we not buy gifts for my parents, siblings, and the rest of my nieces and nephews?

• My parents do not need anything. They do not even want much, and what they do want, they buy for themselves. Since there is nothing they need or want, we make a donation to their choice of ministry in their names. This gift makes them happy, and it helps out a worthy ministry. (I do have a small gift for each of them to open, however. Shhh! Don't tell!) While it doesn't save us much money, it saves a lot of time and aggravation.
• All of my siblings and our spouses used to buy gifts for everyone else, and that got expensive since I have two brothers and a sister. We decided to draw names, and that worked well...for a few years. One year when John and my brother-in-law exchanged gift cards to the same store, we decided it had gotten a little ridiculous. Then we started playing the "White Elephant" (aka "Dirty Santa") game. We just quit doing that a couple of years ago, and I'm not sure why...but it's kind of nice not to worry about it.
• There are a bunch of nieces and nephews in our family (eleven to be exact), and again it's expensive to buy gifts for all of them. So we draw names. How does that work since John and I have three children but my younger brother has two? Well, you draw the number of names that you have children. We draw three, and my brother's family draws two. The children still get gifts, and we still have the fun of picking presents out, but it's limited. And let's be honest; they don't really need a toy from every aunt and uncle.

Do you do anything similar to cut costs for Christmas present-buying? What other methods do you use?