The 3 Gift Christmas Rule – How and Why to do it
The 3 Gift Christmas Rule – How and Why to do it
Have you heard about the 3 gift Christmas rule?
Your kids only get three gifts chosen from three different
categories. Here are the 3 categories that we use in our home.
One of the toughest struggles as a
parent is to give my children a joy-filled Christmas. To me, that somehow
translates to giving them the gifts that they want in hopes that
presents will make them happy.
With the rocketing prices of products
every year and the massive marketing initiatives that are bombarding our
children at every turn, the struggle to not bankrupt the family finances on
Christmas presents is real.
Once you set a Christmas budget and stick to it, you’ll be able to sleep
soundly that two goals have been met. You’ll have made selective, smart
decisions for happy children and a happy checkbook. Here are some strategies,
tips, and tricks to consider for establishing a Christmas budget for your
child.
1.) Equality Approach: When It’s
Important that Everything is Equal
For many families, it makes sense to
give each child an equal value in their gifts. This develops a sense of
equality to the presents. The number of children and your financial situation
will dictate what your dollar amount is, but with some planning and strategic
shopping, you can certainly make even a few dollars per child stretch quite a
bit.
Here are the basics: Determine how
much money you want to spend on all the kids combined. Divide it equally by the
number of kids you’re buying for. For example, if you have $100 to budget
and you have 3 kids then they each receive $33 worth of gifts. It’s that easy,
but you have to stick to it!
Tip to make this work: Don’t go over budget
for anyone. If you go over a little on each one your budget will be
exponentially demolished!
2.) Have the Kids Do the Shopping:
Teaching Thoughtfulness to Older Kids
This is my favorite spin on the
equality approach. You still set a budget and you assign an equal amount to go
to each child. The difference is that you have the children do the shopping for
each other. So you set a budget per child. Then you give each child that amount
to spend on their siblings.
Here’s how it works: Let’s say your
budget is $50 per child and you have three children. You give each child a $50
spending limit and they have to purchase gifts for each of their siblings
within their budget.
My favorite part is when the kids
find the perfect gift for one of their siblings and pool their money to
purchase it. They’re always more generous and thoughtful than I
expect. This strategy has the added bonus of teaching about
budgeting, giving, and combining efforts for a greater impact!
Deal breaker tip: The children will
not end up with the same value of gifts. But they will have learned to give and
think of others, and your budget is still intact. But if absolute equality of
gifts is important to you, this strategy will definitely disappoint you.
3.) Sliding Scale Spending: Age Matters
Gift ideas for older children are
definitely going up in price and are shifting up to accommodate a more
tech-savvy generation.
With that in mind, understand that
you might be spending more for one tech gift for an older child than you will
on a bag full of fun toys for a younger sibling. Setting a dollar amount based
on this will still allow you to budget and limit your overall spending.
The key is in the details (I LOVE
MATH):
· Decide your overall budget in dollars. This will
be BUDGET #.
· Write down the age of each child in years. Add
their ages together. We’ll call this the YEAR #.
· Divide the BUDGET # by the YEAR #. The result is the BUDGET per YEAR amount.
· Multiply the each child’s individual age by the
BUDGET per YEAR amount and that’s their allotted gift budget.
This works better with an example:
· Someone budgets to spend $400 total on
Christmas gifts for all their children. Their BUDGET # is 400.
· Their kids are 15, 12, 8, and 5. Their YEAR # is
40.
· 400 divided by 40 is 10. Their BUDGET per YEAR
amount is 10.
o
The 15-year-old is allotted $150.
o
The 12-year-old is given $120 in
gifts.
o
The 8-year-old gets $80 in presents.
o
The 5-year-old receives gifts worth
$50.
o
$150 + $120 + $80 + $50 = $400 total
spent – Right on budget!
4.) The 3/4 Gift Christmas Rule
I have a feeling that this idea was
originally based on the bride’s tradition of wearing “something old, something
new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Whatever the origin, this
themed giving is perfect for families that want to give thoughtful gifts in a
simplified way.
I once did only 3 gifts, but the past
few years I've increased it to four gifts + a Christmas Eve gift.
How to make this happen: Make a chart
with each child’s name on the left column with row headings for each category.
· Something They Want
· Something They Need
· Something They Wear
· Something They Read
Now fill in your chart as you plan
your purchases. That’s it. Each child receives four gifts – one from
each category.
While this strategy doesn’t
specifically limit the amount of money that you spend, it almost always
translates to savings in the long run. Truthfully,
unless you’re spending way too much in each category for every child this
method is pretty sensible.
And this method can kill two birds
with one stone! It’s perfect for providing a much need winter coat or a nice
Christmas dress that your child needs. Everybody wins with this one. You child
receives a gift, they get a much needed clothing item, and you not only stayed
within your Christmas budget, but you also helped out your clothing budget for
the year.
Here's the simplest strategy of the
bunch. Just limiting the number of gifts given to three or four really
makes me focus on choosing quality presents that convey my love without
breaking my budget.
We make it work by limiting the gifts
to three presents per child. One kid might get all art supplies, another
some Lego sets, and then the baby might get pajamas, a snow suit, and a ball.
However you arrange it, selecting the
perfect three gifts for each kid is challenging and rewarding and
budget-friendly all rolled into one.
5.) BONUS Christmas Eve Gift
Pack
You can complement any of these
strategies with the Christmas Eve Gift option. This is a gift that
each child opens on December 24. It allows another gift opportunity, gets
the gift exchange and excitement rolling a day early, and it's fun to think
outside the box on this one.
Each family member gets a box
with:
· pajamas
· a movie
· a book
· family time snacks (like popcorn, hot chocolate
packet, apple cider, special holiday sweets or cookies)
This gift provides the setting for a
family-focused Christmas Eve. Everyone gets in their jammies and snuggles
up with a book and a movie. And those don't all have to be new.
Maybe borrow the book and DVD from the library or buy them
pre-owned from your local used book store.
The pajamas could match or be silly.
The snacks could be something you make together or just snuggle up and
enjoy around the tree!
The point of this gift is to give a
gift that brings everyone inward and to enjoy time together as a family. A gift
to focus everyone on what really matters.
Find one of these strategies and make
it work for you. Or blend them all together for a personalized solution.
However you work it, you can come out of the Christmas season with a feeling of
accomplishment and encouragement. Make Christmas simpler this year by following
the 3 gift Christmas rule.
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