Christmas, ‘tis the season for jolly spirits, family gatherings, and gift giving. Typically, it’s the last of the list that can create the most stress and really affect how your Christmas goes. However, my family has a way to lessen the stress on all those presents for everyone in your life.
It is quite traditional for most people to buy individual gifts for their family, friends, neighbors, and maybe even strangers. However, all these individual gifts can add up in the end, and I’m talking about adding up in your bank account kind of concern. The stress of buying all these gifts and still being able to provide for yourself or your family gets to many people during this season, but the solution is very simple. Joint Gifts.
Now, I’m sure it happens when you are little and your parents would buy another family a gift and simply write, “From: The Johnsons.” However, as you grow up and gain your own income, you can feel pressured to start buying other families a gift from yourself. This can mean more to the receiving family that you went out to buy them something, but you have to remember that joint gifts are not a bad or disappointing way to give gifts. In fact, my family still continues to do this even though I have already grown up and earn my own money.
Joint gifts are simply gifts that are given from more than one person to another person, couple, or family. For example, my sister and I will buy a gift together to give to our older sister and her family instead of buying their family of five each a gift individually. This saves us a good bit of money, and the gift we give can involve the whole family for a load of fun. This also means it may be a little harder to search for a gift that everyone will enjoy, but board games and other family games are perfect for these kinds of joint gifts.
For our household of three, we typically partner to give to the other person. Again, my sister and I will buy a gift together to give to our father. Then, we both work with our father individually to give the other a gift. Though, typically, this results in our father being the credit card and ourselves being the investigators and researchers! These gifts usually include a spreadsheet of interests (basically a wishlist) for the other to choose from and gift to. Either way, we all enjoy what we receive and feel better as a family.
If you’re feeling stressed about the Christmas season and all the gift giving, I would highly suggest thinking about doing joint gifts! Even though some may see it as cheap or less meaningful, everyone should be nice and feel grateful that there was still something to exchange (even if this is just your presence).
I hope you all have a Happy Holidays!
hcxo