What Are My Family Buying Each Other For Christmas?

Hey pals,

With Christmas swiftly coming, as usual, I thought I’d talk to you about my family’s present buying habits now that I am an adult. Christmas isn’t the same when you either aren’t a child or don’t have a child to celebrate with, it’s almost like any other day except we all exchange some gifts. Christmas can be extremely wasteful and I’m sure I’m not the only person who used to constantly get useless tat made of cheap plastic. So, this is what we do now.

1. Buying Useful Presents: For the most part, my family don’t ever ‘want’ anything most of the time, but we all need certain things. For example, my Gran likes taking lutingold supplements for her eyes from Holland & Barrett. Supplements and vitamins can be pretty expensive, but Holland & Barrett often do sales where you basically get a pot for free. Last year, my mum bought my Gran almost a year’s worth of these and that’s the plan again this time around! I’ve also added this to my list as I always take a multi-vitamin to keep on top of my Crohn’s and occasionally other vitamins too.
2. Buying Second Hand: My family often want certain clothing items, either for events or due to the time of year or maybe we had the item but wore it out. My mum and I picked up some pieces for my Granddad at a big second hand sale where you can fill a bag for £3! We got him a nice shirt, a jumper, and a sleeveless pullover along with a bunch of other stuff for myself. His bits probably didn’t even equal £1 but they were great condition. We also picked up a pair of jeans for him in another £3 a bag sale, and I found a great tacky t-shirt for my best friend Meghann.
3. Buying an Experience: My mother and I often struggle with asking for specific items to unwrap for birthdays and Christmas and would rather go see a show or go on holiday. My mum took me to Milan for a long weekend for my birthday this year, and my family are planning on buying some decent tickets to see the show Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Saunders as a kind of combo christmas and birthday present (her birthday is 25th November) because they’ll probably be somewhat expensive but worth going to. Or, for a cheaper option, we will designate a day out together either to go do something or just for a meal and a wander.
4. Going for a Meal with the Extended family: For parts of the family you don’t see very often, it’s a nice idea to go for a meal or do something altogether so you can catch up and spend some quality time rather than buying something and continuing not being able to see them. This also work for friends as well, whether they’re just busy working or live a little further away. I plan on doing a little last minute Christmas shopping with Meghann as I’ve not been able to see her in person since my birthday because of my health and also her busy schedule!
5. Making something: You don’t have to be a supreme artiste to make something for family. I found a great little tutorial that turned an old t-shirt into a dog toy! Great for your dog and also for your friends who have dogs! There are also tonnes of things you could make by hand with a little help from a YouTube tutorial, but try to make sure it’s something they would want or use to try and avoid more stuff cluttering houses or ending up in landfill.

This was a short, probably incomplete, list of what my family are doing this year for Christmas! I hope this helps anyone and gives other ideas for alternatives or a new perspective on what we should be buying for Christmas. Sometimes the best presents are useful ones!

Happy Holidays

~ Artie