Stress-Free Christmas Shopping: This is Your Year

I assume you're interested in making Christmas shopping stress free if you're reading this article. You can find numerous tips for stress-free shopping, tips which usually run along the lines of making a list, shopping early in the day, giving gift cards, and so forth. Although these are good tips for stress-free Christmas shopping, I want to encourage a different idea.

I believe the best way to stress-free Christmas shopping is cutting back. You save yourself not just hassle but also time and money. Cutting back also allows you to focus on significant things, such as relationships and faith. Read the following five tips for specific examples of cutting back and making Christmas shopping stress free.

The Best of Stress-Free Christmas Shopping Tips

Just quit. You heard me right. Quit. This is the best way of making Christmas shopping stress free. Suggest that your family or group of friends stop exchanging gifts. Make sure to point out you've been thinking about stress-free Christmas shopping. You might just say that you won't be giving Christmas gifts this year but would still like to spend time together, and you hope they feel free to not give you gifts. Or you might bring up the topic more casually and hope that everyone will agree.

Whatever your approach to discussion, you can suggest alternatives to gift exchanges. Some families of faith throw together the money each member would have spent on gifts and find a charity or project to which they donate the money. Some families can't afford extra expenses at Christmas anyway, especially during tough economic times. For these families, seeking stress-free Christmas shopping could help them avoid the overspending that's so frequent during the holidays.

Benefits besides Stress-Free Christmas Shopping

In any event, moving the focus of Christmas Day off gifts can free up your family to engage in other activities. As long as I can remember, our family always began Christmas Day with a reading or telling of the biblical account of Jesus' birth. Often our dad would read the story. I also remember one year when we were young, and my mom pulled out her flannelgraph and allowed us children to tell the story to our parents. Sometimes we've found other fictional accounts of Christ's birth to read together during the day, books such as Max Lucado's Cosmic Christmas or Ted Dekker's The Promise: A Christmas Tale.

With the focus off gifts, some make family a bigger focus. They may eat together, play games, sing, watch Christmas movies, play in the snow, or go sledding. Some families choose to use the day to serve others: They may help at a community soup kitchen or free Christmas dinner. They might invite someone with no family to join their family for the day. They may carry out a service project for someone else in need.

Other Tips for Stress-Free Shopping: Limiting Gifts and Giving Service

Of course, not everyone wants to give up gift giving. But you can still cut back by limiting the number of gifts you give. I knew one family who gave each of their children three Christmas gifts. I think they drew this idea from the three gifts the Magi presented to Jesus. You might let your children pick a gift they really want and then buy a practical gift they each need, such as a new pair of jeans or a winter coat. Shopping for a handful of gifts, instead of a mountain of stuff, is a good way of making Christmas shopping stress free.

Another way to stress-free Christmas shopping is giving service gifts. This technique can drastically reduce your shopping time or perhaps eliminate it all together. Make up a little certificate for the recipient that offers your time, service, or skills for something he or she would appreciate. This can be a very thoughtful gift for someone who doesn't need or want more stuff.

For your spouse, you might give the gift of a whole day just to the two of you; you will make all the arrangements and line up a sitter for the kids. Younger kids might enjoy the promise of a trip to the zoo, the ice cream shop, or an afternoon alone with Mom or Dad. Teens might appreciate free use of the family car for a week-you'll pay the gas, and you won't complain if their plans that week conflict with yours. Or if you run a business where you charge your labor by the hour, you might give friends a free hour or two of your labor.

Two More Stress-Free Christmas Shopping Tips: Swap and Delegate

If you belong to groups with similar interests that insist on exchanging gifts during the Christmas season, suggest a gift swap. No one buys anything, but they all bring something nice that they no longer use.

For example, members of a book club could bring copies of books they have enjoyed but don't want to keep on their shelves. Each person brings one book and walks away with a different one.

A women's fellowship group could exchange plates of Christmas cookies or perhaps other things in their homes, such as extra kitchen gadgets, DVDs, cookbooks, and so forth. Everything should be in good condition and work well, of course.

Finally, delegate the shopping experience to someone else. A salesperson might be happy to select products for you if you provide the dollar amount you wish to spend. My mom helps run a business with several male employees. Rather than try to pick a gift themselves, they collected money, and one of the men asked a Mary Kay lady to put together some products for that amount of money. I would think most independent sales people or small shops would be happy to do the work for you and give you stress-free Christmas shopping in exchange for your money.