According to the National Retail Federation, the average shopper in America will spend $1,047.83 during the winter holiday season (mainly Christmas) on gifts and other seasonal items.
Keep in mind, this is not the only time of year we receive gifts. Most of us receive several presents for our birthdays as well. Not to mention, all the other gift-giving occasions throughout the year: Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s and Father’s Days, wedding anniversaries, baby showers, housewarming, graduation, recovery from sickness or surgery, thank-you’s, baptism, confirmation, other special occasions, and sometimes “just because.”
That’s a lot of stuff coming into our homes from well-meaning friends and family. Multiply those occasions by the number of people in your family and you’ve got a formula for a whole lot of stuff entering your home!
Now, I think gift giving can be a beautiful thing. And I would never want to hurt anybody’s feelings, if it could be helped. But if you’re determined to avoid over-accumulation of physical possessions in your home, then you’re going to have to manage both sides of the gift-giving traffic in your home.
Here are a few ideas:
1. Tell your friends you don’t need a gift.
If you let them know you’d rather get together in person, that’s better than getting yet another decorative candle or coffee mug you don’t need. Change the gift-giving expectation.
2. Request quality over quantity.
If requesting no gifts is going to be a tough sell with some people in your life, encourage them to purchase quality over quantity. This is especially helpful when influencing gifts given to your children. Two $25 gifts are usually less clutter than five $10 gifts.
3. Ask for consumables instead of non-consumables and experiences instead of material goods.
A fruit basket, a gift certificate to a restaurant, movie passes, a bouquet of flowers, show tickets—these are great gifts that don’t burden your home with new possessions.
4. Suggest donations to charities on your behalf.
It feels great to know that the money that could have gone toward a new sweater you don’t need instead went to a school scholarship that changed the life of a child.
5. Let people know what you actually need.
Even after minimizing, you may have some genuine need for new items in your home, such as a coffeemaker to replace the one that died last week. Let people know ahead of time what your real needs are; be specific. Gift lists can be particularly helpful for out-of-town family members, especially when ever-growing and changing kids are involved.
6. Purge guilt free.
As the value of the gifts you receive begin to reveal themselves, eliminate the unwanted ones without feeling guilty about it. You’ve expressed your appreciation for the sentiment—you’re not obligated to hold on to the object forever. Nobody wants to burden you with a gift.
Jeffro says
I’m bookmarking this and sending to family next year. I feel the last few years the amount of presents received had calmed a little. This year, it seems, everything has gone back to the way things used to be. I’m speaking of gifts headed my way, my wife’s way, and the way of my kids.
When I visited back home for Thanksgiving, my mom said, “I got more this year. You’re just going to have to graciously accept it.”
Note: I didn’t bring up any topic related to presents or Christmas.
Apparently, I need to wear a shirt that says, “Remember: I’m a minimalist at Christmas time too.”
Gail Russell says
In a time of busy-ness I appreciate the organized thoughts that you have offered. I look forward each week to the voice of sanity in our crazy shopping world!???
LaDonn Jonsen says
Spot on! We are doing several of these suggested items for the first time this year, as I am so tired of feeling overwhelmed by STUFF!!
Thank You Josh!
jenny Hopkins says
Great ideas, definitely something to think about
Chris Jones says
Well….my husband and I are making donations to charities for our five grown children this year. Young grandchildren : small gifts. I am very nervous after years of uninspired giving. We are in our 70’s and feel good about this change in direction.
Roger Johnson says
Our family has found creating a random list showing the one person each of us will give a gift to (as opposed to everyone gives to everyone) has greatly simplified gift giving and taken a lot of the stress and expense out of Christmas.
Janet Armstrong says
Love this article Joshua! We have adopted most of these as have many of our family members. It actually makes Christmas less stressful, more enjoyable and allows us to focus on the true meaning of the holidays.
Debbie says
While a bit off course of this topic, I increased my charity giving this year in an expected way. Based on something in your book, I took some old class rings, etc. to a reputable shop that buys old jewelry. I was amazed at the dollars he was willing to pay for meltable precious metal. I then put every penny into my charity budget and had fun finding new places to donate. Such a joyful experience from a reduction of unwanted items.
Jeanne says
You have some great points here. I already practice a few of them, for instance…my sister and I never buy gifts for each other anymore. This started when our kids were young and we decided to just buy for them. Now that we are older and the kids are grown, my sister and I take each other out for a good meal on our birthdays and at Christmas we do something nice for each other. Like baking cookies or a day of house cleaning, etc.
I especially love #3 & #5. I’m going to start doing that!
Jack Sheehan says
Spot on Joshua. When I was a child, my parents would buy each of my siblings and I one toy type gift. The rest of our presents were necessary items such as socks, underwear, belts etc.. Times have changed and it just clutters our lives.