A Buy-Nothing Christmas Challenge

Inflation is something else. My husband makes more now alone than we made combined when we both worked, and yet the struggle is as real now as it was then.

We budget, so we're typically fine. But all the extras add up and take away from the bottom line. I naturally like a good deal, and really don't love shopping or spending money.

But Christmas is always a challenge for me because I love giving gifts to my kids. I think I get it somewhat from my parents who left our tree free of too many gifts until we woke up Christmas morning, and then they were piled out and up to a ridiculous degree.

It was always exciting seeing all the gifts under the tree, and I want my own kids to feel the same excitement. But, I also don't like stuff and see the struggle we all face with actually using what we have and then putting it away when we are done with it.

We always do a big purge before the Christmas holiday, we always budget for our gifts, and we also always do a variation of "something you want, something to wear, something to read, and something to share" which limits the number of gifts under the tree. But this year, I really wanted to take it a step further.

We're adding a fourth baby in January, and with another human in the home, comes the stuff another human needs. We don't live in a large and spacious home, and it doesn't have a whole lot of storage. So I have been purging since I found out in May that number 4 was on the way.

So, we decided that this year, we are going to do a very budget Christmas and get gifts via our local Buy-Nothing group, yard sale groups, massively discounted/on sale at the store, or make it ourselves.

Not only will this help our bottom line with a new baby entering the mix next year, it cuts down on waste--there are plenty of great choices out there used that can get a new life in our home, and it will help someone else to purge their own home.

It also challenges each of us to plan ahead a little more, really think about what to get each other, and seek out the best deal possible.

I've only found one gift so far this year, but I'm so excited about it that I almost gave it to my daughter early when she added it to her Christmas wish list--I didn't, because I realized how much more exciting it will be to give it to her on Christmas! It did, however, inspire me to keep seeking out the other gifts.

I know this is a different way to do it. I also know we don't have to do Christmas this way. But, taking the pressure off the holiday has already been nice, and thinking outside the box has been fun. Who knows? Maybe we'll all love it so much it becomes a new tradition!