Holidays & Giving Back

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Holidays during a recession are always tricky.  We don’t want to look cheap or uncaring, but cripes, everyone is struggling in this economy!  What are you doing to make this holiday season a less expensive but full of joy?  Here’s what I am up to:

 1. Paring down on exchanges.  I’ve contacted several family members and friends and asked if it would be okay to suspend exchanging gifts this year in light of the circumstances.  Reaching out in a kind way not only takes the stress off of me but them as well, with no one feeling slighted or bad or left out.  Other folks that we will exchange with I have already discussed with them that we can’t spend what we did in the past years and have agreed on limits together.  This alone has cut my holiday budget in half.

2. Shopping online with coupon codes as much as possible.  Personally, I hate stores during the holidays.  In CT, it’s super cold out and the malls are too warm and it’s even tougher with a 14-month old!  So I do about 90% of my shopping online.  Always remember to try www.ebates.com if you are in a hurry but still want great prices (I talk all about Ebates in an earlier post on my Top 10 favorites).  Also, www.retailmenot.com and www.flamingoworld.com are good places to go for real online coupon codes and not just store-sponsored links.

3. Making purchases count.  Each year, I purchase a portion of my gifts from http://www.greatergood.com/.  They have nifty, well-made items and a portion of every dollar spent goes to the cause of your choice (such as Child Health, Global Girlfriend, Animal Rescue, etc.).

Imported items, such as jewelry, handbags, and clothing, are made in a “fair trade” environment.  For those who aren’t familiar with the term “fair trade” means that the people making the goods are earning a living wage for their work and you are not supporting sweatshop labor. 

4. How to donate even if money is tight.  There are all sorts of ways to help even if you don’t have a lot of time or money to spare.  Each Greater Good website has a “Click Once a Day” feature by which if you visit the specific site and click on their icon, the site sponsors donate money to your particular cause.  You can even have a daily email reminder sent to you.  In about 15 seconds a day, you can help others for free!

Another way is to give one of their “Gifts that Give More”.  These are great for the person who has everything and doesn’t want “more stuff” or for your more civic-minded family and friends.  With these gifts, 100% of the profits go to the cause of choice.  And because each donation goes to a specific cause (examples: Feed a U.S. Family for 5 weeks, School Shoes for Girls in Rural Africa, etc.), you (and your recipient) have a better sense of where your money is going.  Each year, I purchase one of these for my sister as a gift and she loves it.

Happy shopping!

Copyright 2008-2009 Kristin Delfau, author of Turbo-Mom's Guide to Saving Money Without Wasting Time a womens' personal finance book, and Aji Publishing.

Tags: donating, gifts, greater good, online shopping, top 10
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