Our "Buy Nothing Christmas" review

If any of you read my earlier post about having a Buy Nothing Christmas, you will know that we really tried to minimize spending this year. Not only to save money, but also to help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas..the "Reason for the Season" if you must. I know it's so cliche' to say right now, but we also wanted to lower our impact on the environment by not adding to everyone's already overflowing stash of useless STUFF.

How did we do? Whoo boy..let me tell ya...IT WAS SO HARD!!! But I'm proud to say that even though we did NOT buy nothing, we did succeed in reducing our spending and made sure to make every gift count. Many of our gifts were handmade: I knitted some wrist warmers (fingerless gloves) and baked cookies for my coworkers. I prepared big batches of Furikake Party Mix for my friends. I made some cake plates like these using thrift store treasures.

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't avoid buying gifts...some were gifts of experience like movie tickets or tickets to NBA game for Dad P. Others were things that I knew the recipient would use and need. One of the funnest gifts to put together was for HRH...I prepared a "Day After Christmas Shopping Kit" that included gift cards for stores in the mall, including some in small $ amounts for places like McDonald's (for a quick bite), Starbucks (for a caffeine energy boost), coupons to get snacks and drinks, and a reusable fabric shopping bag that says "Green goes with everything.."

There was one major flaw in my plan to give mostly homemade gifts...I didn't start early enough and found myself scrambling to complete projects. I was knitting until the last minute (Literally! Everyone was waiting and ready to open gifts; I was still binding off the gloves I was knitting).
Part of the reason I fell behind schedule was that I made sure to make time for family and friends and before I knew it it was Christmas Eve!!!

Will we do it again next year? Even though our spending wasn't drastically reduced (baking ingredients and craft materials add up!) and it got a little hectic in the end, we will continue with this concept every year. We felt good about the gifts we gave and hope the recipients enjoyed them too. The stress we felt was an exciting and fun kind of stress, not the kind that made me want to cry (it's happened in previous years). Such a difference when you're doing things because you want to rather than because you have to or are expected to.

Yay US for trying to have a "Buy Nothing Christmas!" Join us next year?