I love Secret Santa!

Secret Santa is saving Christmas for my family and friends. Every year it seems that I have more and more people to buy for. Now I come from a pretty big family and on Sunday's there's always an extended crowd around my parent's dinner table. It seems though that through the last year of volatile news and growing of my practice that I didn't do as good a job saving as I should have. So, I suggested that we try a Secret Santa. For those that are unfamiliar with it a Secret Santa is a way to exchange gifts with everyone you want to in a group but it's minus the stress of overspending. Names go in a hat or a jar and everyone that participates pulls a name out and has to buy for that person. I like it because in bigger groups like ours you actually might learn a little more about a friend or relative because you drew their name and have to creatively stay within a predetermined budget. For us it was agreed on that $35 would do the trick. Now along with the act of the gift giving there's also a little dinner party/gathering that we like to host as well. It's fun because everyone gets to embrace the spirit of the holiday, over eat (or at least that's my plan) and enjoy the company of a great crowd.

Now I know that it might not work for everyone, and not everyone celebrates Christmas but if you are buying gifts around the holidays here are some tips to help you save a little money and spread a little extra cheer:

1. Set a spending cap per gift. It's not always about big ticket items, sometimes the thought is really all that people want. Why not start a conversation with your loved ones and extended gift giving group about spending limits. It creates room for creativity and some competition for staying within those guidelines.
2. Gift giving co-ops. This year my brothers and I decided to pair up and contribute between two of us to by third a bigger ticket item.
3. Waiting until the last minute. Now as a planner by profession and habit this is literally a chore for me. I've created wish lists on all kinds of websites from Amazon (this one's def on my list if any one's feeling a little giving :)) to Best Buy. What this does is allows me to try to find the best deals and biggest savings on some of the items that I know people are looking forward this season.
4. Writing a letter to Santa. The idea here is, if you're open to it, let the people around you know what you are looking for specifically. That way money is used as efficiently as possible and you don't have to worry about giving or receiving anything that might just end up as closet fodder.
5. Exchange after the holidays. We all know that there are giant sales after the holidays. An alternative might be to just enjoy the actual days and eve's as they come and then set a day after the holidays to meet up and exchange gifts. I know of a few people who actually wait until January 6th to exchange and have another little get together to do it.
6. Worse comes to worse you can always opt into finding gift cards at discounts. I know at least in Western Mass locally radio stations like Lazer 99.3 offer discounts on gift cards. I think that whole premise is a great one by the way, businesses get a little extra attention and maybe a few more orders and consumers benefit from the savings. Or you can always just give money like Shawn said in a previous post here on Financially Digital.

There aren't any revolutionary tips or pieces of advice here and that's because the holidays are very personal to people and families. What I did hope to do was at least get you thinking that you don't need to fall into the conventions of holiday's past and spend your self into debt. We work so hard all year long to keep ourselves in the green and it would be no fun paying outrageous interest rates into the first quarter of a New Year.

If you have any tips that you and yours use to keep the spirit of the holidays fun and wallet friendly feel free to leave them in the comments below. I would love to know how everyone else plans on getting the most utility out of their holiday gift giving this year.

Comments

[Invest It Wisely]

Secret Santas can be pretty fun. Me and some friends are doing a "blind" one for this Xmas. :)