Christmas can be a budget breaker for many families but it really doesn’t have to be. My husband and I are so conditioned that we now scour Craiglist, eBay, and our local thrift stores before we buy just about anything these days. We have come to HATE paying full price for anything when we know we can get such good deals and we can knock out our Christmas shopping list during a good estate auction or two. Just recently we bought a NIB wrought iron canopy bed for my daughter off of Craiglist, a microscope for homeschool off a local college student, and my husband picked up a large terrarium set-up w/stand and lights at an auction, for my son (well actually for a bearded dragon).
We also got a vintage wood toboggan for my kids to sled on… $10 at a yard sale!
Here is a quick list of some things that you should look for second hand at thrift stores, Facebook marketplace or on your local Craigslist:
Do you have items to add?
Yes! I’ve gotten to the point where I feel there isn’t much worth buying new. Almost everything we bought for Christmas is second-hand or e-bay. We got a game cube for free from someone on our local Free Cycle group and it works like new! I have a feeling that I’ll be getting gifts found at yard sales too. I would hate to have my family spend the money on pricey new items when we are in hard times.
Handmade gifts and baked goods are also a great idea.
YES!! My husband finds all sorts of things people just throw away-perfectly good toys-just tossed out the the corner..it amazes me at the perfect or near-perfect condition that these toys are in. Why don’t these people donate them at least? Such a wasteful place we live in. If I do buy my daughter something, it is always second hand from craigslist or ebay or one of the local thrift store…. All of her gifts this year that are coming from Santa are used…she is 13 months old and I hope to raise her thrifty and green! But most of all appreciative :)!!
I agree!! My 3 and 5 year olds don’t see the difference so far. I hope this continues. Each year they pick their own books and toys to donate and gift so that other kids can enjoy them and they have room for their “new” gifts. We do live in a insanely wasteful place.
Happy holidays!
LOVE IT! Saving money and time, and good for our Earth!
Halloween costumes (especially princess-type things) for dress-up.
I also have no problem wrapping up a hand-me-down and giving that as a gift. My daughter is getting one of my old Cabbage Patch Kids again this year.
I gifted my old Cabbage Patch Dolls too. ;)
Many thrift shops have gifts that are like new or even have tags on them! Great post Tiffany!
What a great post! I did a lot of second hand this year as well! My mom, sister and i all shopped for each other at Plato’s! Can’t beat it!
I agree with the others..what a great post! And what a great Blog and website you have, my favorite so far! Anyway, this year I have also done a lot of ebay shopping for those cool gifts you can’t find in a store, like a fur hat for my husband (sorry to those animal lovers, but he wanted a real fur one!) Shopping in a store has no interest for me anymore, I love to reuse. We have always had a lot of stuff given to our kids and we give a lot away, so my kids are used to it too and don’t expect new all the time. Want to mention also that giving a gift in a cute cloth gift bag is very eco friendly too. My sister gave us gifts in cloth bags last year and now I am reusing them this year….I love it! Giving a reusable gift is a great way to get others off the disposables, like shopping bags or sandwich bags, something they may not have thought of on their own. Let keep spreading the message…reuse it!
great advice, we have been doing this for years- our kids (6, 4, 1) don’t know the difference. I also do kid’s clothing and gear swaps (peaceloveswap.com) and at Christmas time we do a gift swap – so we (moms) bring in all the toys that are “giftable” and swap with other moms. It’s an awesome ‘green’ way to do christmas. peace. love. swap has 40 plus locations now and we are always helping moms get one started in their community – meg :)