A mother-of-eight refuses to buy Christmas presents for her kids and says her children are happier than ever with their thrifty holiday.
35-year-old Angie Wipf from Alberta, Canada, spent a few years purchasing Christmas gifts for all of her children before she decided that enough was enough.
She says her new approach lets her save $700 a year since she stopped buying presents for her eight children.
Instead of buying gifts, Angie gives her kids a chance to do a Secret Santa-style gift exchange. Each of them draws one of their siblings’ name from a hat and then choose a gift for that sister or brother.
“I just noticed that when they would open a lot of presents they only noticed the one they really wanted and forget about the rest,” Angie said. “They would forget about the stuff and not care about it, and it was kind of disappointing to see that.
“I think it’s taken stress away from kids, they’d be so overwhelmed with stuff they wouldn’t know what to do.”
The mom-of-eight spends what she saves on family trips to the zoo or museum throughout the rest of the year.
“We spend more time having experiences rather than stuff. I think as an adult I think you remember more the things you did rather than what you got,” she continued.
“We work hard to make sure birthdays are separate from Christmas so we can focus on their birthday.
“I found they were getting so overwhelmed, all these gifts all the time.”
Many parents supported her decision but others do not agree, with one commenting: “It’s still sad for the children when they’re in school and their classmates are talking about what they got for Christmas. I would think it hinders their self esteem just because of their age and they don’t understand.”
Another wrote: “Want to be frugal? How about stop having kids.”
A third said: “She should save the money and get some birth control.”
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