Live, Life, Well: The way to change your gift giving traditions to save money and time

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - As your family grows, it can get very time-consuming and expensive to buy Christmas presents for everyone.

On this Live, Life, Well, we’re looking at options to keep you from running all over town for presents. Maybe you married a few years ago and other siblings married too. And now there are children. And the list of presents to buy just keeps growing.

You could offer a suggestion for change for next year. You could suggest buying one gift for each family. Or you could suggest a White Elephant gift exchange where you put a limit of $5 to $10 dollars per gift, and you make the gift exchange a game.

The key is to lay the groundwork for change next year soon after Christmas.

“And then expect people to say something in July and September and you know, you’re going to have to remember that you made this decision now,” explained Clinical Psychologist Jennifer Baker of Good Dads. “And then communicate that more than once so people don’t forget.”

Another idea is to draw names. Then, you only buy a present for the family member you drew instead of buying multiple presents.

Dr. Baker has a blog post on Christmas conflict and a podcast.

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