How to cut back on gift giving and still make special occasions special?

[Piglet]

Our kids are older, they have been wanting to go to Disney, so we sat down and decided with them that instead of bigger priced gifts (birthday's/Christmas, etc) this year that we would cut back and go smaller and save to do a Disney vacation in January. They are all for it but my youngest is 11 and though she is excited about going to Disney, I"m thinking when holidays come she may find that she is disappointed some. I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Our kids are older, they have been wanting to go to Disney, so we sat down and decided with them that instead of bigger priced gifts (birthday's/Christmas, etc) this year that we would cut back and go smaller and save to do a Disney vacation in January. They are all for it but my youngest is 11 and though she is excited about going to Disney, I"m thinking when holidays come she may find that she is disappointed some. I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

Maybe some fun but inexpensive seasonal activities? Honestly, I don't remember much of what I got for holiday gifts, but I remember doing things around the holidays with my family. Ice skating was always a favorite of mine. I also loved baking with my dad. Maybe some holiday crafting for the whole family? Or putting out decorations together? I loved to help my dad put up the lights each year. Those kinds of memories are the ones that have stuck with me.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Our kids are older, they have been wanting to go to Disney, so we sat down and decided with them that instead of bigger priced gifts (birthday's/Christmas, etc) this year that we would cut back and go smaller and save to do a Disney vacation in January. They are all for it but my youngest is 11 and though she is excited about going to Disney, I"m thinking when holidays come she may find that she is disappointed some. I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

My family use to do this! For birthdays and stuff offer to do something like take them and a friend or two to dinner/pizza and the movies or some less expensive activity than throwing a birthday party. Christmas we did "gift certificates" so things like "You been such a little witch please join your other friends for dinner with the villains in Disney World" (This was way back when 1900 had a villains dinner.) And then you got one "big ticket item" like I got a guitar one year. I find the idea of having more to open and the element of surprise is more fun than the psychical value of the gifts. And you can really stretch some of it out. Like we have one that's really into baking so there was one box with a rolling pin, another with a bunch of $1 cookie cutters, we made one of those mason jars with all the dry ingredients and put it in her stocking. But it knocked off like 5 presents and cost us under $25.

 

[NinaBella]

Our kids are older, they have been wanting to go to Disney, so we sat down and decided with them that instead of bigger priced gifts (birthday's/Christmas, etc) this year that we would cut back and go smaller and save to do a Disney vacation in January. They are all for it but my youngest is 11 and though she is excited about going to Disney, I"m thinking when holidays come she may find that she is disappointed some. I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

Are there any local volunteer opportunities? Where I live, you can volunteer to serve meals to the homeless or at the Veteran hospital, etc. on Christmas Day. I did this when my two younger kids were too young to know what day it really was. Santa would come a day early and the older boys and I would go serve meals at the Veteran hospital on Christmas day. Getting involved in a non-profit organization that would make your family feel good about donating time to a good cause?

 

[QueenIsabella]

Could you give her a few items for the trip for her birthday/Christmas? Maybe a gift card for souvenir money, new luggage (only if that was part of your plan--don't just buy it if you don't need it), a new outfit for the trip, a Disney beach towel, that sort of thing.

 

[barkley]

Our kids are older, they have been wanting to go to Disney, so we sat down and decided with them that instead of bigger priced gifts (birthday's/Christmas, etc) this year that we would cut back and go smaller and save to do a Disney vacation in January. They are all for it but my youngest is 11 and though she is excited about going to Disney, I"m thinking when holidays come she may find that she is disappointed some. I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

I think the first thing is to look at the calendar and figure out which 'holidays' you traditionaly spend for-some people do EVERYONE (valentines, st. patricks, last day of school, k graduation, 5th graduation, middle school graduation....) while others just do christmas, easter and bdays. you can look at the ones you do to see if you want to totally eliminate or just cut back (and if one of the kids has already celebrated a bday this year how will the other react to a drastic cutback on theirs?).

we did this kind of vacation savings when our kids were younger so we cut back on the few holidays we gifted for (bday, valentines, easter, christmas) but still remembered the days-and tried to tie in our trip so they would focus on 'the big picture'. for easter instead of spending way too much on candy, basket fillers....we did a tiny amount of candy in a tote bag they could take or if we were using baskets we already had we lined it with a Disney themed beach towel instead of easter grass. plastic eggs were filled with a quarter and a chocolate kiss or mini reece's cup. the basket would have a Disney water bottle from the dollar store-never spent more than $15 or $20 on each (put the rest of what we normally spent in the savings jar-which was kept where they could see it grow, and they were known to throw in some of their pocket change and easter change as well). for birthdays we explained how much a bday party with their friends would cost-and offered much lower cost alternatives/gave Disney gift cards for future spending money.

since (like you) we always went in January we did a lower key Christmas and most of the gifts were for the trip-new swim suits, pj's, sunscreen...and we always planned at least one activity at Disney that the kids didn't know about that we could do as a 'big gift' for the whole family (or if there are individual things you plan for each kid you could keep one a surprise as their 'big gift').

 

[Piglet]

You all have some great ideas. Reading these made me think that for Christmas it would be fun for them to do a scavenger hunt. They love their stockings with lots of little gifts - so I may make that Vacation Themed and use that as the final scavenger hunt prize. Thanks for all of your ideas!!!

 

[Eureka]

We do smaller gifts now and experiences that all four of us can do together (concert/show tickets, etc.). My kids are teens though and maybe would not have appreciated this when they were younger. But we've had too many more expensive gifts just sit not being used, so finally we decided to not do that anymore.

 

[TwoMisfits]

You're looking to do price, so concert tickets and experiences can add up as much as gift boxes...so, here's the cheap plan

So, my suggestion to make Christmas Christmasy without breaking the bank...
1. 30 days of Xmas movies with hot cocoa - there are enormous amounts of awesome movies available for free everywhere - enjoy them this year as a family every night. If every night doesn't work, have it be a once a week movie night for all of December...
2. Go out to a Xmas tree lighting ceremony - every community has a free one
3. Volunteer for a children's Xmas party. Many locations offer these types of events and would love to have volunteers!
4. Have a week of festive baking - you can either eat your creations or donate them to local police and fire departments (or Church Vigil parties)
5. Play Christmas music in the house, early and often
6. Do a family Secret Santa...rather than everyone buy for everyone in your immediate family, have everyone select a name to buy a $10 gift for...have it stay secret and see what folks do on Xmas - takes the focus off the "under the tree" that might be lesser
7. Go to Midnight Mass - total Christmas experience
8. Save a special "trip experience" as a secret to gift on Xmas - it could be breakfast at Cinderella's Castle or just the FPs to the Avatarland rides (which are free, but hard to get)...

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Any chance your daughter likes to scrapbook? Michaels and hobby lobby almost always have a 40% off coupon and you could get some disney papers, stickers, etc and give her supplies to make a Disney scrapbook about your vacation.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

One year I bought some wooden unpainted ornaments at the craft store. My DD had a few girlfriends come over and they painted ornaments. They talked and played Christmas music while they painted. I covered the kitchen table with newspapers and let them have at it.

 

[MomToOne]

I haven't cut back for DD per se, but because we travel at Christmas each year, I have had to find ways to make the day special without a lot of gifts. (DD gets her "under the tree" gifts the weekend before we leave, which can be as much as a week or even a week and a half before Christmas day).

The one thing I suggest doing is a really great, stuffed to the top stocking. It doesn't have to be expensive items, just things that are meaningful to the person. I put a few "better" items in DDs stocking, but the rest are cheaper items, often in the $1-$2 range. I just challenge myself to get things as cheap as I can, so I pick things up all year long as I see good deals on fun or useful items (I especially like getting used CDs, DVDs and books ). I even wrap a few of the items before putting them in the stocking because it makes it feel more special and it looks pretty, and so DD has something to "unwrap". DD really looks forward to getting her stocking on Christmas morning - almost as much as the under the tree gift day! She was 17 this past Christmas, and still asked me how early she could wake me up to watch her open her stocking

In your case, I suggest you do just stockings for everyone and no under the tree gifts. That puts the focus firmly on the stockings and makes them the special item of the day. Maybe make some hot chocolate and some cinnamon rolls to eat while you open them. Take your time - have everyone watch while one person opens theirs, then move onto the next person only once they are completely done. Throw in a few meaningful items, and a few silly ones, just to get everyone talking and laughing. Maybe even put something like a can of silly string or small nerf gun in everyone's stocking, and have a "war" right there in the living room after everything is open...including you and your DH...you know, the sort of thing that you as a Mom wouldn't allow any other day of the year LOL

 

[cel_disney]

11 year olds are hard to shop for anyway - but some ideas from our 11 year old Christmas gift lists between my sons 11 year old friends (ie, my kid didn’t get all of this!)

Focus on things you would probably by anyway:

New Backpack
New Luggage (target/Walmart have great roller boards and underseat bag combos for $30 that our neighbors kids are loving - they got a surprise Disney trip so the bags were all packed for the trip)
Travel Toiletry set for vacation or sleepover
Luggage Tags
Phone Lipstick Battery Charger
Good Books - The Land Of Stories (preferred by girls and are about fairy tale characters you will see in Disney) and The Unwanteds are super popular here
Gift Certificates/bundles for activities you would probably pay for eventually anyway (skiing, Sports, movies etc)
Clothes
Silly string / silly string guns were huge hits last year too!

 

[LovesTimone]

There are so many creative ways to cut back, but still deliver a great birthday or Christmas....

Cut out the big parties... a couple of friends to spend the night, pizza.....have the kids make their own and this gives you a activity to keep them busy, and birthday cake, pancake for breakfast....

Minor Holidays such as Valentines, instead of a individual boxes of candy for everyone... just pick up 1 nice size box for everyone to enjoy... DH and I would skip a fancy dinner out, and stay in a cook, and watch a movie... Easter, instead of everyone getting a separate basket, everyone get's a chocolate bunny...

Christmas is for me harder to cut back on... I would go with 1 nice gift a want, then a couple of needed items, then a stocking, and in the stockings a gift card for Disney...which will make them all excited.. You could also throw in one for birthdays, and ask family for Disney GC... so they have more to spend while you are vacationing....

Holiday Meals - planning ahead will save you money in the long run...In my family I always host everything, so I decided that while we may use my house that everyone was going to pitch in more, so I would give everyone what they must bring... not a suggestion if they felt like it....Like when my BIL was single - I would send him a text on what to bring... 5 bags of ice in your cooler, how many gallons of tea and soda to bring, then I would reminded him like a dozen times... my brothers family... a corn casserole or whatever in certain size pan, and it must be cooked and ready to go, along with rolls, or dessert... you get the idea... It cut my holiday meal cost way down like over a 100 plus dollars.... I also stopped all the minor holiday meals at my house... this was another cost savings.... also asking who is going to host the next get together, was my way of saying hey, I want to be the one who get to bring a couple dishes and gets to enjoy visiting.................... funny thing is then no one wanted to get together...

The more you involve your kids in the saving for the trip... the more they will see what they are saving for...the easier it will be for them to understand what saving money is all about...One year I made a thermometer, I used some poster board that we already had some markers, and put WDW at the top, then we would weekly on like Sunday night color it in on how much we had in the Disney fund....

 

[Disneyliscious]

I'm trying to think of budget ways that we can still make holiday's special without all the $$. Any ideas???

Use the Holiday shopping season to buy things for your Jan trip. You can buy her gifts, but let the gifts be things you were going to have to get anyway for the trip. She can also help shop with you so y'all still get that "holiday shopping feel". You can totally Black Friday this!

 

[scottmel]

I would find it extremely hard to cut back on major holidays, I don't...that being said my only child, DD19, was away at college this year for the first time and I struggled on WHAT to do gift wise b/c honestly her dorm room so tiny etc. she doesn't NEED anything but I struggled with making the season festive and magical as always.

I ended up gifting her a trip to Chicago to see Hamilton and Pretty Woman (we leave next week!) as her "big gift". And the entire time she was home I made an effort EVERY DAY to do something seasonally - look at lights, get holiday starbucks, see a local holiday play, make cookies, etc. Point is I made the entire 10 days leading up to Christmas FEEL more like Christmas than just relying on the big day. And I cut back on the big day on any "filler junk" I call it to make it look like more when again, she needs nothing and just wanted a few pieces of clothes. Of course I slipped in some gift cards, the trip, etc but I did not do any junky clutter that ends up in a corner somewhere. I use to do 3 advent calendars for her (lego, beauty, and candy) cut back to candy and that was fine!

So in taking the same approach for an 11 year old - daily tradition, advent calendar, making an experience a present...and honestly keep an eye on slickdeals.com and they have great links to constant sales etc. You can get a Disney beach towel or whatever super cheap if you shop thru the year. Again, I am a no clutter person so buy only what you need! Don't feel the need to fill the tree!!!! Scavenger hunt to the presents etc. to make it take longer and look like more? I am all about FEWER gifts that are quality than just fililng space under a tree....

 

[crisi]

At 11 some things my daughter was into that weren't expensive:

Sketchbook and colored pencils
Books
Starter makeup (just the cheap kits - so she could "play" with makeup - it may yet be too early to leave the house with it on, but my experience is that if you let them play, the first time they do leave the house they'll look somewhat less like Bozo)
Starter nail polish
Socks and shoelaces
"Fancy" bath stuff - bath bombs or bubble bath or their own shampoo that isn't little girl stuff (but probably smells more than anything you'd use on yourself)

At that age they don't know the different between a $10 bottle of nail polish and a $.99 bottle.

Also, as someone said things that you'd buy anyway, but are a little special can be moved to gifts. Like a wanted pair of Converse or Keds (or combat boots if you have my daughter)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I am all about combining cheap gifts and experiences. Like gifting a few bottles of cheap nail polish along with a note that you two will do manicures and pedicures together. Supplies to make bath salts/bath bombs or face masks together (look up directions online). Some cheap cookie cutters and a rollig pin and apron for her and a note that you guys can make cookies together. If you have an indoor recess center with a pool, give her a gift certificate for the two of you to go there during the winter, or if you live somewhere warm, a "coupon" to have a picnic/ swim at a nearby lake. Give her a block of glycerin or wax along with some colors and fragrances and make soap or candles together (materials are relatively cheap at Michael's, especially when you use a coupon). Make her some gifts. Create a photo album or scrapbook for her. Make her a blanket with a few yards of two different colors of fleece, cut along the sides and tie them together (simple instructions online). For Christmas, a lot of my kids gifts are usually things they need anyway like new slippers, pajamas, etc, along with maybe a couple of toys I got cheap on Black Friday. Girls especially I think still get excited over gifts like clothes that they would probably get even if it wasn't Christmas, but if you save it for a gift, that's one more thing for them to unwrap and be excited about.