Another Christmas has come and gone, and I think we can all agree on one thing: if you have kids, right now it looks like a toy store vomited all over your house!
Despite lack of funds and/or desire to keep the gift-giving reined in, the truth is that you can’t really control the gifts other people give your kids.
So when extended family “go big or go home”, there’s really nothing that can be done beyond smiling and being grateful for their generosity.
Oh, and to do today’s Frugal Friday tip: snatch some of those gifts from the kids before they play with them and stick ’em somewhere safe to be re-gifted back to the same child on their next birthday – or even next Christmas!
Here are my guidelines on how to do this and who to do it for:
- The younger the child, the better. They have shorter attention spans and likely won’t notice a couple of missing gifts.
- For older kids, grab a gift they like but aren’t over the moon about the second they open a gift that makes them go “squee!!” They’re less likely to remember the likeable gift gone MIA after the joy of the thrill gift.
- Don’t even try it with the Big Gift.
- Pay close attention to awesome gifts that are a little outside the optimal age bracket. Those Legos meant for 4 year olds are a choking hazard to your 19 month old, making it a prime candidate to re-gift at a later date.
Think this sounds mean? Scrooge-like?
Maybe.
I think it’s using your resources wisely. This year we could only afford to give the boys 3 presents. Total. Not each. TOTAL. Who KNOWS what our finances will look like when their birthdays roll around!
At their age, my boys won’t notice a few missing toys from their Christmas spoils. Especially since some of their favorite things to play with are empty paper towel tubes and bubble wrap. They’re not hard to please!
So saving a few gifts from Christmas for a later date is being smart. Frugal. “Making it do”, from the saying.
It’s a few days after Christmas by now, so maybe this tip is too late for you. But maybe your kids are young enough that even now, you could tidy up the living room while they nap today and selectively store a few things for later.
Worst case scenario? They remember and scream for the toy back. Simple solution: “Oh, sorry honey! Mommy moved that toy while she cleaned. I’ll go get it for you.” And you do.
You just don’t get the other things you stored away unless they bring it up. In a few months, they’ll have NEW TOYS!!
Hope that helps!
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What do you think? Is re-gifting your kids own gifts back to them later on being mean or being brilliant?
I do this with toys when i clean out their closets and stuff. If they haven’t played with it much and it’s not something that is ready to be donated to goodwill, then I’ll do that, but I think I would feel guilty taking credit for presents someone else gave them.
Good point on taking credit for presents others gave them. Good thing *I* was the idiot that bought 4 year old Legos for my baby!
Definitely smart use of resources. You can also do it – depending on the gap in age/development between your kids – by storing an ‘old’ or unwanted/unloved toy from the older kid until the younger kid is ready for it 🙂
I think you do GREAT with frugalness. What kids remember is not how much money is spent on them or how many toys they had – how many adults really remember more than 1 or 2 favourite toys anyway?? The things that really matter are the things that you do wonderfully at, as far as I can see from here <3
Aw, thank you Ricky! 🙂
What a great idea! When our daughter was younger, she had a ginormous addiction to stuffed animals. (Well, she still does, but at age 16, a majority of them are now in storage.)
As her room grew increasingly cluttered, we made a rule–for every new stuffed animal she purchased or received, she had to donate another. This was hard as each one truly was her friend. But it goes easier. Although there was one she gave to her younger cousin, a terrycloth stuffed bunny named Radishy, she still talks about. “Mom, do you remember Radishy? Why did I give him away?”
Of course, I’m not far behind, thinking of all those adorable picture books I sent to my sisters… “Remember The Mitten? Why did I ever give that book away?”