How We've Handled the Expense of Christmas Gifts In Our Big Families

Michele and I have larger-than-normal families, and many of you do, too. That's one of the reasons I think you keep coming back here (and thanks!)

My hubs and I have 8 kids (two are adults) and Michele and her hubs have 5, soon to be 7 because they're adding two by adoption this month. That's just a lot of kids to do Christmas with, and we've both had to strategize when tackling Christmas gifts in our families or else it gets out of control very quickly.

We love our kids, so we do want to celebrate Christmas with gifts and giving. But quickly our credit cards could fill up and our cash deplete if we're not careful. Here's how we've done it:

Kendra's Family

Several years ago I realized I'd spent a ridiculous amount of time wrapping presents for all of our kids, family, and friends. 16 hours. Not even kidding! That's was the Christmas we made a shift in how we approached presents for our kids: instead of a pile or a particular number of presents each, we now give them a stocking of useful and fun items, and then one "experience gift": a sporting event, a concert or show, or a trip somewhere. The experiences are tailored to each kids' needs, wants, and likes, and sometimes they dovetail with something we've already planned (a trip to visit someone, for example).

Michele's Family

Michele says: Our biggest idea that gets used most years is buying one large gift for the family. One year we wanted a Wii, so we bought it along with a couple of games and that was it for the family. Everyone got stockings as well. Considering that was three years ago and just tonight two of the kids were playing, it was a winner!

I also don't hesitate to buy secondhand, particularly for my youngest ones. They don't care that their new toy has been previously loved by others.

As our children have grown older and more plentiful, we have really evaluated our Christmas giving. The kids have wanted to give gifts through the Gospel for Asia catalog and we have done that as a family with the understanding that our spending on family gifts will be less. No one bats an eyelash, really.