Fantastically Frugal: Conscious Christmas part 1

I remember my first Christmas after I moved out of my parent’s house. I had just turned 20. I was working full time and attending American River College. Money was tight…I mean really tight! I felt like I was grown up and I wanted to be able to buy nice presents for my friends and family. So despite the voices in my head telling me not to, I did what most of us do…credit. I was so proud that Christmas as my gifts were opened. I forgot my frugal upbringing entirely…my parents were horrified. It was no big deal I assured them, right up until I moved home again 3 years later. You guessed it, to pay off my credit card debt. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

When Jillian was growing up, Christmas was a huge, over the top experience. It was not unusual for her and her siblings to receive everything they had asked for. It was not until adulthood that she realized her parents overextended themselves every year to give them this extravagant holiday. As her family grew in numbers, they eventually reached a point in which they had to set limits on spending. It was not until there was a limit that she realized what the true spirit behind the gift giving was.

So often we get caught up in the spending frenzy of the holiday season that we forget why we do all this. We are trying to create joy and magic in our friends and families lives. Of course all this frenzy is media driven. We are told the best gifts are the most expensive. Look at advertising around the holidays with a critical eye and it will scream at you from the screen.

Jillian and I have both received expensive gifts that made us wonder if the giver knew us at all. How dreadful to have spent hard earned money, and hard to come by time, braved the malls, etc.,  only to have the recipient of that gift not feel appreciated. We have also received the simplest of gifts that truly spoke to our hearts. We need to tune out the advertising, and reclaim the spirit of the holidays.

So…Conscious Christmas…what does that mean? It means in a nutshell, a more aware holiday. We can be aware of our environmental impact and have a “greener” Christmas. We can create more family traditions instead of family debt. We can take the time to buy less and make it matter more. We can pledge as Jillian and I have done, to have a handmade or thrifted holiday. There are so many artisans in our community and on the internet. Handmade holidays does not mean we must make everything. It means we are making the money we do spend mean more. I would much rather buy from a single mom selling her crafts on Etsy.com than from a large company outsourcing jobs to anywhere but here.

Most of our gifts this year are thrifted, or partially thrifted. How can you be partially thrifted? Good question. Thrift stores have tons of baskets, cool pottery, antique dishes, pails, wooden boxes and many more options in which to package your gifts. With a little creativity, you can turn just about anything into a show stopping presentation.
Now, what to put in it? Thrifted baskets can be spray painted and filled with homemade filler. Break out your paper shredder and shred construction paper, newspaper, craft paper, junk mail. You can use anything if it fits your theme, and looks like you did it with purpose. An example of purpose would be to take a basket and fill it with shredded newspaper. Take a couple of thrifted coffee cups, and some homemade scones or biscotti, put in assorted coffees or a jar of Friendship cocoa (recipe later in the week). You have now created a breakfast basket. Change the basket to match your recipient. Candles (thrifted), teacups (thrifted as well), bath fizzes, a good thrifted book…I think you get the idea.

Now we also find thrifted treasures to give as gifts. Some examples are; vases, jewelry, purses, scarves, clothing, vintage quilts, aprons, holiday décor and ornaments, games both vintage and new, antiques of every description, books, and toys. I love accessories. I think I am a purse addict. Last year was the year of the thrifted purse. For those nose crinklers still with us…trust me your teen daughter won’t care it’s thrifted when it’s Prada. Their friends are not there Christmas morning to see them take the tags off. There were 3 Prada bags under our tree last year…$1.24, $2.49 and the splurge $9.95. As you might have noticed I like brand names. I want the best quality I can get for my money. Many times the brand dictates the quality, some times it does not.

Get creative this holiday season. You will feel better, your gifts will be better received, and you are repurposing and recycling.

Really, really have no money in your holiday budget? Come back tomorrow and we will help you get gifts for free. That’s right…FREE. Part 2 of Conscious Christmas is Gift Giving the Freecycle way.

Until tomorrow,
Brandy and Jillian

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Posted by Brandy Barris on Nov 10 2009. Filed under Viewpoints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.