Simplify Holiday Giving For the Kids

For several years now, we have had a holiday tradition in our family of giving each of our kids an equal amount of cash for the holidays and then we let them buy what they want.  This works pretty well from pre-teen on up.  They receive their cash gift normally before Black Friday, so they can take advantage of the holiday deals.  After that, when we celebrate the holidays, we just have a few small things to open (mostly small stocking stuffers) without all the stress and hard work of finding and purchasing gifts, hiding them, wrapping and then putting them out.  We can also avoid a lot of the mess we used to have to clean up after opening all those gifts.  That may not sound like a lot of fun, but it works for our family - especially since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas (so the kids get a few small things to open on each holiday in addition to the main cash gift). 

This has really helped reduce the amount of money we spend each year on gift giving for the kids, so it's been terrific from a household budgeting standpoint.  Also, the kids really like it because they can get what they really want at the best prices.  Any gifts of cash from other relatives for the holidays are immediately deposited into the kids' savings accounts.  This teaches the kids not only how to be smart shoppers, but to also save some of the money they receive.  This year, the kids did most of their shopping online and made very limited ventures into stores.  The online shopping favorite is Amazon of course, especially with free one or two day shipping. 

If you are looking for ways to control your holiday spend and simplify your life, you may want to try this cash approach next year.  Have a Happy Holiday season and a healthy and wealthy 2020!

I hope you find this post useful as you chart your investing course and Build a Financial Fortress this year.  
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