Buy Nothing Christmas.
Learn what the buy nothing Christmas concept is and how to celebrate a minimalist holiday. Save money, and still celebrate the holidays from this approach. Find how to celebrate a minimalist Christmas that stresses buying fewer “products” or nothing at all.
Each and every month, tens of thousands of households are unable to pay rent or monthly bills. The solution to ease financial anxiety and to escape the commercialism that pervades the holidays for a growing number of people is adopting the concept of a Buy Less or Nothing Christmas. It involves celebrating the holidays in maybe the may they were intended to be celebrated, by sharing time, homemade gifts and the like.
What Buy Nothing mean?
Buy Nothing does not mean do nothing to celebrate the season. It simply means that, if you choose to give and receive gifts, they should primarily consist of homemade items or the sharing of your time and skills. Your gift may be giving several hours of your time to help clean or organize the home of a relative. Give a gift of your time to help someone learn to play an instrument, develop a new skill or work on a project.
The Buy Nothing movement has existed for many years and continues to grow, with 10 to 15% of American households participating each year in Buy Nothing (and it continues to grow). Advocates argue that many presents ultimately end up being stored in closets, re-gifted or donated to charity during spring cleaning. Why, especially when living check to check or on a low income, spend the time, effort and money to give a gift that the recipient may neither need nor want? Why take on debt to pay for Christmas gifts?
Why Buy Nothing at Christmas is special
Buy Nothing supporters and those with a minimalist approach argue that rather than showering gifts on people one day out of the year, it makes greater sense to give a gift or do something special for a friend or loved one when the urge to do so strikes on any day. It is both a great way to save money and also experience the “true” meaning of Christmas. That spontaneity alone shows how much you value the recipient as opposed to giving a gift on a specific day of the year because it's expected.
It also means truly experiencing what made it a holiday to begin with. It may be experiencing Christmas lights or the company of a friend, family member(s), or neighbors. Or Buy Nothing can also involve volunteering your time at a charity to help the less fortunate. As studies show it is often better for mental health to give back then to spend money on often unneeded or wasteful gifts.
Making the Transition to Buy Nothing Day
Unfortunately, getting friends and family to “buy” into your switch to a Buy Nothing Christmas may take time. Convincing people that you're serious about not giving or receiving gifts or limiting the type of gifts you will give can take time. Long-practiced family traditions are hard to break. While an initial reaction might be surprise or disbelief, you may later discover that others are thankful for eliminating an annual financial burden.
Begin by announcing your intent for a Buy Nothing holiday seasons many months in advance. Declaring your plan a month or two before Christmas may prove to be ineffective and run the risk of angering family members who may have started their shipping. Similarly, unveiling this major change on Christmas Day as everyone opens presents could put a damper on the day's festivities.
A thank you letter or e-mail sent after the holiday season concludes offers an excellent vehicle to announce your new plan. You might frame the change as one of your New Year's resolutions. Long explanations are not required. Note that you are doing this to ease everyone's financial burden during the holidays and that you simply want to put the focus on enjoying time or a meal together. Find an opportunity to remind people of your new Buy Nothing philosophy during the summer. A family picnic or reunion might provide an opening to briefly discuss the issue.
Be patient. Don't expect everyone to go along at first. Parents, including single moms or even lower income families, often find it difficult to not give a gift to their children. Respect those who continue to give gifts and who feel that is an important part of how they choose to celebrate Christmas. Stick to your plan and set an example. In time, those who are hesitant to change may come around to your viewpoint.
Making the transition when children are involved may prove to be the biggest challenge. Friends and relatives may be surprised and fail to understand why you would deny children gifts on a day when most children wake to find piles of gifts under the tree.
There are numerous ways to deal with this challenge in gifts for kids, and one option is a low income program. Initially, you might still include traditional store-bought items but set a specific number of gifts each child will receive while limiting gift-giving to the immediate family. Or look into a charity Christmas assistance program for a kid - if you have a low income and qualify. Find details on Christmas help,
Remember you are not necessarily eliminating gift-giving but changing the type of gifts that will be exchanged. It is about a minimalist Christmas day celebration. While reducing the number of store-bought gifts you give to your children, begin to add homemade items. Tell the kids that you want the gifts they give to you to be homemade or involve a donation of their time.
Make it clear that a gift of time has value, and the Buy Nothing Christmas is about time and experiences. A gift from a child might be as simple as volunteering to mow the lawn or clean the garage without being paid to do so. This can be embodied in a paper certificate that is hand-drawn or drafted on a computer.
If your children are very young, another approach is simply to raise them to value family togetherness and community service during the holiday season above the exchange of physical gifts. Make giving back to the community a holiday tradition, and show your children that the holiday spirit can be celebrated in many ways. Heck maybe give them a few dollars to invest from the money you save on Christmas toys or gifts. For example, volunteer as a family to help stock shelves at a food bank or serve meals at a senior center.
Finally, point out that this new Buy Nothing Christmas day philosophy is being adopted to change the focus on how you, as a family, celebrate the holiday season. It is about less - and in many ways less “stuff” but more time is better than having “more”. You might reassure your children that they will still receive more traditional gifts on birthdays and special occasions and that nothing in the manner you have chosen to celebrate Christmas day prevents you from simply giving your child a gift whenever you desire. You can even experience it together by going to a thrift store, as that too can be an experience to save money and gain a fun family experience. More on community thrift stores.
Benefits of a “give nothing” and minimalist Christmas
Embracing the concept of a Buy Nothing Christmas will certainly reduce financial stress for any family, whether low income or moderate income. In addition, there will likely be a greater reward that cannot be measured just in dollars saved. Even if buy nothing Christmas day is too difficult a concept to achieve all at once, then just get less - start the path to a minimalist holiday.
Putting the focus on experiences and enjoying the decorations, lights and music while sharing time with family and friends without the obligatory gift-giving ritual may result in your most memorable holiday season ever.
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