How do you cut back on Christmas when you've always "done it big"?

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Scrapper007

New member
Our girls are 17, 12 and 8. Since the beginning, we have spoiled them every Christmas. I can actually recall a Christmas or two where they got tired of opening gifts (!). Each Christmas morning has been exactly how my Christmases were as a child: coming downstairs to a sea of gifts everywhere.

I'd like to cut back not for financial reasons, but because my kids get so much stuff that they only play with for so long and then it's "old news". They *do* appreciate what they do get...they just get too much, I'm afraid. :blink:

So my question is: how do you scale back when you have always done 'big' Christmases?
 
Tell them you want to focus more on the family time together and the experiences and not on the material stuff but that you still want to give them what they really want but limit what that is to a certain amount of presents or a certain amount of money? We tend to go overboard when we have extra money but even when itt is short we always try to get each of the kids one thing they really wanted.
 
I vaguely remember Elizabeth does something cool with this...

Why not focus on experiences vs. gifts? Instead of a bunch of CDs/movies/whatever, why not use the money to book a family trip next summer? You could buy them things to use on the trip so they'd have something to open. If not a family trip, maybe there are camps or lessons or some other kind of experience that your DDs might want to do individually.
 
Yeah, what Jessica said and perhaps as a family you could do something really special for charity with $$$ you otherwise would have spent on the extra gifts.
 
Two years ago we had to cut back for financial reasons. We had a talent show (every kid participated) and a scavenger hunt. It was so much fun! Last year we did presents like normal and all the kids mentioned that they wanted to do the activities again. Such good memories.
 
You can make it interesting, we've done in the past 4 gifts, something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. You can modify something like that, I'd probably add "something to do" LOL in addition to that, ie movie tickets or something. We aren't doing that precise thing anymore for a few reasons but I am planning on buying more experiences than toys this year....toys get wasted in our house, and it's infuriating!
 
We just are. Our kids are old enough (17, 15 and 11) that we just told them we're not doing as much this year. It's not financial, it's just to the point where it's ridiculous to give them a bunch of gifts when they have so much. My youngest is the only one with an interest in toys, so that makes it easier.

Our girls are getting new beds (they currently have bunk beds, so it's not really a Christmas gift, but more of a necessity) and my son is getting a laptop. Under the tree, they'll each have 4 gifts to open. That's it, and they're OK with that.
 
if you do it big, find a big gift they want or need. A mini vacation is a good idea, a big gc to a local movie theater would probably be a big hit for the oldest, or a gas card if she drives, I know I would have loved something like at that age, I loved going to the movies and driving around. Or a shopping spree for clothes, what teenage & tween would love that! :)

We have a set budget we spend every year on our kids, I've been trying the last couple years to get them both a big gift so we don't have as many smaller gifts.
 
LenaGardner said:
You can make it interesting, we've done in the past 4 gifts, something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. You can modify something like that, I'd probably add "something to do"
Click to expand...

Even though kiddo is 4... I want to do what Lena suggest. So we need to cut back - just way too much stuff around here - and the rest of the family gives Jake money or stocks, so I focused on things I know J will be excited about. ;)
 
We're giving experiences for the boys this year, too - but in camping/outdoorsmanship/being a boy. We're giving both of them tools and boy things like bows and slingshots and the chances to go out and use them on ranges/in the wild as opposed to just in the backyard. (the bigger boy is getting a good BB rifle for his birthday just a few weeks before - it's all BOY this year!)

We've never had big massive Christmas's(christmasses?) - always kept is smallish, but we're definitely going with a theme of non-toy, non-clothes, big boy things :)

I love Lena's idea!

Maybe look at the a coming of age kind of Christmas for all 3 - each of them are entering into a new 'age' of sorts, and giving according to that would be a way of honoring them, without all the overload.
 
Yes I do what Lean posted, we started that about 3 -4 years ago! Of course even before that we never went over board at Christmas! It was always very reasonable...I would set a price (usually 100-150 per kid) and I would stick to it! So when we cut it down to the 4 categories ( they do sometimes get more then 4 presents) it wasn't that much of a "shock".

Christmas for us isn't so much all about the "25th", it's about the whole season . We start celebrating on Thanksgiving day. We do stuff from then clear through their school vacation. We have really tried to base our Christmas Holiday on feelings, experiences, and activities and not so much on "material" gifts. We are trying to teach our children that it's important to spend time together, to spend time helping those less fortunate and that while it's wonderful to give gifts to others and to receive gifts that it's much more fulfilling to give the gift of themselves.
 
We're doing a road trip (starting on the 26th) along the scenic route from one end of the country (South Africa) to the other and back again. I love the idea of giving experiences. We're including stop offs that interest all of us.

DD's 13th as well as her primary school "graduation" is coming up next so we explained that it will low-key this year since next year will be big
 
i love lena's idea! and i love the idea of adding in "something to do" (: it makes it meaningful, you know? and it's not a ton of gifts that will get shoved on a shelf or under the bed in a month or two.

when my brother and i were younger, we had so many gifts it was insane. every new toy (thanks to a big extended family), all kinds of clothes, all of it. and you're right. toys get played with for a little while, and then they get tossed aside. so my parents started doing "one big gift". like, one year? my brother got a guitar he'd wanted. one year, i got a laptop. my grandparents are the ones who fill the floor under the tree with gifts. but it's usually lots of little things. clothes we need, a calendar, books, things like that.
 
We do the 4 things as well - something you need, something you want, something to ready & something to play with.
I'd be up front about it & say this year we're doing less & this is why. Perhaps follow it up with a family discussion on some holiday excursion you all could take - a ski trip or a cruise or Disney, etc.
We're going to Legoland in Florida on the 20th & the boys know that is part of their Xmas presents. The 4 items will be smaller & cost less. They *want* an Xbox but because we're going to Legoland they are not getting it but maybe a game for our Wii instead.
 
We've always tried to set a per kid budget (usually $150 and under) but I think we're going to try to cut back even more this year. I really like the idea of a set number of items and I'm thinking that will work great for us. I think we'll do something you want (their gift from Santa), something you need, something to wear (new pj's), something to read, something to play with, and then for the entire family something to do (maybe IMAX movie tickets so we can all go see a movie over Christmas break - something we rarely get to do).
 
I agree with you Kim those are fab ideas. We too go overboard and I am always worried what the kids will think if they only find a few gifts under the tree instead of an entire room filled with gifts. Not to mention like everyone else said.....It's a waste, they play with the new stuff for a few days then it's old news and it just sits there collecting dust.
 
We have to cut back this year also. In the past we have spent $400-500 per boy and we just can't do that anymore. Our boys are older so it's hard to find things for us all to do together (they are all teenagers) instead of gifts.

I do really like Darcy's outdoors/boy idea. All 4 of them plus DH are now into fishing (even my college boy) plus I know the youngest 2 would love BB guns. Hmmm...the idea of them getting to shoot them somewhere too is fun.

But the youngest also have a loooooong list of Legos and video games they want. Probably because they haven't even thought of asking for a BB gun. ;)
 
oh i like lena's idea...this year i don't plan to over do it (which is what i usually do)...my son has toys that he has gotten that he still hasn't opened from last year (maybe 2 years ago)...i refuse to waste my money or anyone else's money on stuff he won't even play with...
 
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