Christmas Without Presents-Some Unusual Gift Ideas For Jobless People
With the world a little out of sync right now, it feels more important than ever to think a little outside the box this Christmas and consider a Christmas without presents. Well, not necessarily a Christmas without presents, but a Christmas without traditional presents!
We take a little look at why a Christmas without presents might actually be a great idea, and how it’s possible, with some great ideas of very low cost gifts you can give this Christmas.
Skip straight to the great ideas here!
Christmas Market Mayhem – Why You Should Consider A Christmas Without Presents
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Me and Adam got a bad case of ‘cabin fever’ this weekend. After 5 days straight of boat work we decided to take a little break and head to Kingston’s Christmas Market. A free trip out (bar the extortionate parking costs), as long as we could be disciplined and resist the Christmas goodies on offer.
Needless to say, Kingston was PACKED. Christmas shopping was in full force and the shops were awash with stressed buyers looking for the best Christmas deals for their loved ones. The staff looked equally stressed, probably from a mixture of the endless stream of people asking why they were sold out of wrapping paper and from the fact that they had been forced to listen to the same Christmas CD on repeat for the whole of their 8 hour shift.
Of course, you can shop online instead and trawl through endless websites all offering ‘the best’ Christmas gifts. Gifts that will be replaced by the newest model in six months time.
I won’t go into ‘the environment’ debate, with the oversized boxes your gifts will arrive in and double layer of plastic wrapper, the bubble wrap and the stuffing paper. The fact that so many of these Christmas presents will end up in landfill is depressing enough.
Why We Started A Christmas Without Presents
I like to think I’m pretty lucky when it comes to Christmas. As soon as my siblings and I became ‘adults’, my parents did away with traditional Christmas presents. I guess my Mum and Dad had the same thought, why?
Why do we sit in hours of traffic, drive round in circles to find a parking space, rush around busy shops looking for presents that people probably would have bought for themselves if they actually really wanted them.
Or even worse, there’s the people who refuse to ask for anything. ‘Don’t worry about me, I’ve got everything I want’. Well obviously you do have to worry about them, and by telling you not to worry, you worry about them even more. Because they are the risk. They are the ones you have to take a gamble on. Will they love it and keep it forever, or send it straight to the charity shop?
I understand there are the lucky few. The rare person who knows exactly what to buy everyone, and has bought it months in advance, and knows with annoying confidence that the gifts they have bought their loved ones are exactly what they never knew they wanted. You are the lucky ones. And you may as well stop reading now, because you have life sorted.
Bah Humbug!
This Christmas Adam and I have the added pressure-no money. On a teachers salary, and not a particularly high one at that, I always felt worse off than a lot of my friends. But according to the BBC my pay has always been WELL above the national average (check it out here, you might be very surprised at just how privileged you are!)
I didn’t enjoy Christmas shopping, but I didn’t worry about not being able to afford it. As a society we put so much emphasis on Christmas presents. I can only imagine the pressure parents feel to get their children everything they asked Father Christmas for. I have seen how children compare as they grow older. ‘What did you get for Christmas?’ is one of the first questions they ask each other after the holidays are over.
My Mum tells a story (with great embarrassment) about a childhood Christmas. In our family, Father Christmas (still!) gives us a stocking full of little bits-chocolate money, an orange, a little toy, a pair of socks. We open this in the morning, with great excitement!
The presents under the tree from our parents are untouched until after lunch. So when my Mum took us to church, and the Vicar asked the children if they wanted to come to the front and show their presents, I took up the little plastic chicken that Santa had given me. My Mum sat there, going redder and redder, as the children held up their talking dolls and Nintendo games. But I was just as proud of my little plastic chicken. I don’t remember caring that my peers had received bigger, more expensive presents. If only we could stay that young and thankful forever.
So how do you get the joy of giving (and receiving) without the pressure? Here are some tried and tested ideas that have bought us much joy (and hilarity) on Christmas day.
Some Tips For A Christmas ‘Without’ Presents
Here are some great ideas for anyone wanting to try a Christmas without presents. Some of these ideas involve presents, but very cheap ones – these might be great for families with small children. Other ideas involve no gift giving at all! Hopefully there’s an idea in here for everyone!
Charity Shop Presents
Although these days charity shops are actually not always the cheapest it is still possible to find a great bargain, and for anyone wanting to do Christmas without presents for ethical reasons you can be safe in the knowledge that your money is going to a good cause.
The first year we moved away from traditional Christmas presents we tried this. If we were going to spend hundreds of pounds of presents, that money may as well be going to charity. I had so much fun hunting every charity shop I could find. And I found some really lovely presents for people.
Alongside the presents we knew would be genuinely appreciated, there were some really hilarious gifts too (the weird and wonderful owl sculpture that my brother bought my parents is still scaring everyone who ventures upstairs to this day).
We tried variations on this successful theme, making it more of a challenge. Each person picked a letter, then one year a colour (my Dad received the book ’50 sheds of grey’ from every member of the family that year). The best part was, you didn’t feel an ounce of guilt if something you received ended up back where it came from!
This Christmas without presents theme is a great one for families with younger children who want the magic of opening a gift on Christmas day. There are so many kids items in charity shops that are basically brand new anyway!
Shop Local
A variation on the charity shop theme would be to shop for second hand, local gifts. Facebook marketplace is the perfect place to find bargains in your local area. By shopping local you’re helping out your community, saving shipping distances and wasteful packaging to help the environment and saving money too!
Home Made Presents
I never knew how creative and talented my family were, and receiving these gifts was definitely a special occasion.
There was home made jams and chutneys, home made bath scrubs, home made chopping boards and photo frames, home made chess sets, home made hats and scarves.
Things I would have bought, things that I have used and loved for many years since. I wouldn’t have said any of us are particularly creative before, but this proved that that photography hobby, or years of knitting and sewing, or newly learnt woodcraft skills could all be used to make beautiful presents worthy of gifting to someone.
Here are some crafty ideas for you and family to try that cost hardly anything. Why not recreate a home made gift Christmas this year.
- Home made sweet treats like cakes and biscuits
- Photo prints of family holidays or pretty landscapes
- Turn your photos into a family calendar
- Home made photo frames
- Knitted scarves and hats
- Bath scrubs / face masks
- Home made chutneys
- Paintings
- Home made wine
- Home made candles
- Hand stitched items like a teddy bear, bunting, apron
- Write a story
- Make some jewellery
Books – Cheating A Little But Still A Super Cheap Christmas Present
Charity shops are FULL of books.
They never go out of fashion, they can get a bit battered and still be just as useful and they’re really cheap! They are presents that everyone can enjoy. We didn’t have a ‘Christmas tree’ that year. We had a Christmas tree shaped book shelf.
Christmas Presents That Aren’t An Object
We had to get quite inventive here, and this one wasn’t the cheapest. Vouchers was a favourite. Help around the house, a late night lift home, a hug in times of need! My Dad put his whole music collection, records, CDs, a lifetime of tunes, onto a memory drives for us all. Bending the rules slightly, with the purchase of a memory drive, but he got away with it.
This has to be one of the best presents I have ever received. We used minimal wrapping paper, and had hardly anything to cart back home when Christmas was over. I’m not sure this one would work with children, as having something to open and play with on Christmas day is understandably a childhood highlight, but for big kids it was perfect!
Here are a few ideas of presents you can give that aren’t ‘objects’!
- Vouchers for help in the garden or around the house
- Vouchers for a spa day
- Tickets to a favourite show
- Your music or movie collection on a hard drive
- A home made meal voucher
- Offer of music / language / knitting lessons (you can offer any skill you have here!)
- Voucher for an experience day
- Babysitting voucher
- Netflix subscription
- Audible subscription
- Online course gift
A Christmas Message Makes For A Great Christmas Without Presents
Last Christmas my whole family was split up. My Brother was in China, my sister in Wales, and Adam and I were in France. Being away from family at Christmas time was harder than I’d imagined, and I missed our little Christmas at home a lot.
It was made easier by our Christmas without presents, because this year we chose to enjoy Christmas messages! They could be in whatever form we wanted, we just had to send everyone a Christmas message!
The messages ranged from coded Christmas puzzles to crack, to video poems, to funny quotes and sayings. It was great fun and every message we received was a little different and unexpected.
Here are some Christmas messages you might consider sending to family and friends, rather than actual Christmas presents!
- Text messages
- Video messages (we put together a Christmas poem featuring all the family)
- Christmas letters
- A cross stitched message
- A message on a cake
- Post it note messages around the house
- Messages at the end of a treasure hunt
- A message in a bottle
Re-gifting For A Christmas Without Presents (sort of!)
This is perhaps my favourite Christmas without presents ‘theme’. With so much waste in our society these days this is the perfect way to recycle and get enjoyment from doing so.
You must have so much ‘stuff’ lying around that you’ve either never used, or have used once and don’t need to use again, or just never really liked in the first place. With this Christmas without presents theme you get to give away things you no longer have use for to people who you think might. It’s a win win!
When you’re searching for things to re-gift think about books you’ve read that won’t read again, same for DVDs, sewing patterns, instruction books for things you now know or won’t use again. You might have upgraded equipment that still works perfectly well. You might have clothes you’ve grown out of, or know you won’t wear again. You could take plant cuttings and re-gift them. The possibilities are endless!
Make Your Own Christmas Decorations For Your Christmas Without Presents
Christmas can be so wastefully expensive. You want to celebrate Christmas and have fun, but once you’ve shopped for decorations, trees, lights, presents, food and drink it can cost an absolute fortune for just a few days of enjoyment.
It doesn’t need to. You can have just as much fun, or more fun, if you DIY it! Along with a Christmas without presents why not have a Christmas without shop bought decorations too. Here are a few ideas for great Christmas decorations that are easy and cheap to make.
- Dried fruit on a string
- Macramé tree decoration
- Transfer paper onto a crate!
- Real holly and ferns
- Stick decorations
- Salt dough ornaments
- Scented pouches (add star anise or lavender)
I LOVE giving (and receiving) presents. But I can honestly say that Christmas has improved ten fold since we started our slightly unusual present giving family tradition.
Christmas without presents (of the break the bank kind!) is more interesting, more personal and definitely funnier. Let us know below if you’ve ever done Christmas without presents, or if you have unique gift ideas that don’t cost too much money!
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