Tips and links for holiday gifting that's cheaper, saner, and greener

The holiday gifting season is upon us again... time to take a deep breath and figure out how to think outside the box to make your holidays cheaper, greener, and saner.

I had a whole post on this last year-- Holiday Gifting: 14 Ways to Give More Meaning and Less Stuff-- with tips in categories like "give to fewer people," "give to a good cause," "give non-'stuff' gifts," and "give non-purchased gifts."  I'm trying to do all of those things this year!  I'm particularly excited about one gift which falls into two of those categories, as both a non-"stuff" experience-based gift and a gift to a good cause-- I'm taking my Mom to Taste of the Nation, an event held in many U.S. cities in which you can sample great food from top-tier chefs and 100% of the ticket proceeds go to fighting childhood hunger.  I think she'll really enjoy experiencing it with me (and vice versa!), and it's win-win for me because the ticket costs can come right out of my giving budget.  (The ticket cost is partially but not entirely tax-deductible-- it goes 100% to charity but when you get something of value in return you can't deduct the full amount.)   And there's absolutely no clutter or wasteful plastic packaging involved! 

 

I'm also buying fair trade products for my cousins, who at 5 and 9 are still very much in the "we want presents we can unwrap and hold in our hands" stage, so I'm taking advantage of some of the sites and discounts I posted earlier this month (December discounts on socially/eco-conscious gifts.)

 

There've been a ton of great posts lately along similar lines:   

• At Get Rich Slowly, JD compiles a ton of terrific ideas for do-it-yourself gifts in A Do-It-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Gifts You Can Make Yourself.
• Other do it yourself options:  Holiday Gifts: 8 Homemade Gifts in a Jar (with free printable gift tags) from Squawkfox and  Veggie Might: Gifts to Give Unless You Eat Them First - DIY Holidays Part One from Leigh at Cheap Healthy Good.
• The M-Network bloggers have a PDF with a compilation of articles called Money Saving Tips for the Holidays [PDF]-- check out the article called Going Green and Saving Money During the Holidays from David of My Two Dollars.
• Trent of The Simple Dollar looks at what's made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame and thinks about the simple toys and gifts that really make kids happy (and stimulate their imaginations, and cost less too) in Christmas Inspiration from a Stick and a Cardboard Box.
• And if you're ready to think outside the box, please check out No Impact Man's post Christmas with no presents, or read his full article.  Key quote: "Without stress or presents, it's not Christmas, right? But of course it was. It was the best of Christmas, the part that, research shows, makes people happiest. It was all the upside without the downside."

How are you making your holiday gifting cheaper, saner, and/or greener?