The idea of Christmas in July is a marketing maneuver that many stores and corporations use to try and
make a few extra bucks with big sales during a month that has few marketing opportunities. However I decided to kick-start my yard sale shopping this month so that I can buy Christmas presents now. It is my goal to buy very few, if any, NEW gifts for Christmas this year. If I do buy new I want to be able to have the money to invest in quality items that will last.
Why? Well, buying new encourages the consumerism that devastates our planetary resources. Buying used is always a better alternative. I will also save a ton of cash that can be spent on more worthwhile things. Too many people drown themselves financially every Christmas because they just get caught up in a consumerist frenzy. I did the whole 5 AM trip to Wal-Mart last year and was shocked to see folks that I knew were just barely scraping by loading up their carts with TVs, game systems, and other expensive stuff. I felt weird for being there just to get a laptop DVD player…for myself. But wanna hear something sad? I brought that DVD player home and I never saw it again. I have NO idea where it is…I just bought it and forgot about it. That shows how much I needed it. :(
Even though I think I did reasonably well last year I hope to do even better this year. I will try to go used or homemade for all gifts. I am off to a good start. I have a few things already for my two youngest.
It also works for birthdays. My 7 year old son turns 8 at the end of August and I have already bought all his presents and all of them are new despite finding them at yard sales. He is getting a chemistry set, a big box of modeling clay, 2 wooden model planes, and a large kite. All of it cost around $10 and easily enables us to give him his real present which will be an overnight trip to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. We will also have a small party for both of us since my birthday is in August too and we will be requesting that no gifts be brought.
This is all part of my plan to live with more simplicity, the goal of which is not to see how cheaply we can get by but how WELL we can live…on less.
I would love for you to comment below and share with me some of your favorite simple living tips!
I love this idea. I usually try to make all my gifts, but it can get overwhelming and make December a lot of work for me. Thrifted gifts could let me relax a bit.
Probably 85% of everything in my house; furniture, kitchen stuff, wall hangings, and our clothes are used. We have NEVER bought a new car. I have been “recycling” for years. My kids wear name brand clothes that look brand new that I bought for fifty-cents to a dollar at thrift stores. Most of their toys are used.
We clean our toy boxes out once a year and donate to the woman’s shelter. My kids could care less about new stuff. They have loads of fun going to the thrift store and bringing home bags of stuff that costs less than one item at a retail store.
I think a recycled Christmas is a great idea. I think I will start early also! We are moving back to Denver at the end of the month and I will be in thrift store heaven!
I LOVE this idea! We are always on the lookout for thrifty, green solutions over at greenbabyguide.com and yours is perfect! Since you probably have several other such tips, you might want to join our eco-friendly, frugal blog carnival. Starting on July 24th, any blogger can get a piece of the action by commenting on our “Thrifty Green Thursday” post. Just write a post on a simple way that families can save money while going green. Then comment on our blog including the your thrifty green topic and include a link back to us in your post. We hope you join us next Thursday (and every Thursday thereafter) with your own thrifty green tips!
We had a thrift store Christmas one year when we were newly married. Mostly out of economic issues. But I actually had one stuck up friend laugh at me and tell me she didn’t think she could ever do that. It got me thinking then and it does now. Which is why I’m trying to shop wisely this year. I call it my year of being thrifty. I look at thrift stores, yard sales, dollar stores or I just don’t buy it if it’s not truly necessary. My kids really enjoy it because they’ve always loved thrift stores…it’s taking my husband a while to change his train of thinking.
This is an interesting idea. We don’t celebrate x-mas, but my in laws do (catholic) as well as my sister and both buy my daughter gifts. My in laws do often buy her used things. Maybe this year I will suggest to people that my daughter needs some hand me downs; like Legos.
I love to shop. But with money being tight and with my desire not to add to the pollution and excessive-ness that comes with buying new I have found a dear friend in consignment shops. For Christmas this year I hoped to buy my son (who will be 2) a play kitchen. As much as I would have loved it, I knew we couldn’t afforded a nice new wooden kitchen so I’ve been committed to finding a used one (wood or plastic) for him. Yesterday I found the PERFECT kitchen at a local kids consignment shop for $125 less than it retails for online or in the store. It was in great condition, I didn’t give my money to some big box store, and we didn’t contribute to all the waste (packaging, marketing, production) that comes with buying the same thing new! It came with all the accessories and my son will NEVER know the difference. I buy nearly all my clothes and all my sons clothes from consignment shops and when I am finished with things that we have outgrown or tired of I sell them back for some other family to enjoy!
I love your idea of buying second hand gifts. I love to do that, you never know what kind of bargain you may unearth at an estate sale, or garage sale or even the thrift store. Last year I made placemats for Christmas gifts. They were a hit!
I love having simple birthdays. My kids usually get one small gift, or at least just one gift (a bike isn’t too small LOL). We don’t go overboard and I like it that way.
I need to start working on my Christmas list so I can start looking around!
I have a friend who asks people to bring donations for a local animal shelter to her daughter’s birthday parties instead of gifts. She let her daughter choose her ’cause’ and took her to visit the shelter before her first party. Afterward, she took her daughter to deliver the gifts to the shelter. The reward was huge–her daughter beamed with pride and experienced the true gift of giving. Later, she received a photo and letter thanking her from the center. They’ve continued this for several years now.
GReat post. I too hate all the commercialism that surrounds Christmas. We are doing small things for each other with a small limit. Many of these items are vintage things I found at estate sales and thrift stores. By doing this it forces me to learn more about that person, be more aware and most of all be green and creative. I love it and so do the recipients. No more late night runs to Wal-Mart. Love the site, it is the first time here.
I love the idea of Voluntary Simplicity and think it should be a common practice. Some people think that by being voluntarily simplistic you have to do without, but that is just because our socierty teaches us that we have to do with all of the time even if we don’t need it. My family and I spend the day after Thanksgiving decorating for christmas and making a nice feast to share as well as ending the day with hot cocoa. I imagine it is much more fun that watching people fight over electrnics. You were very brave to even venture out for a deal like that.