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18th December 2023
12:40pm GMT
One mum, who opts for a minimalist approach without ruining the magic of the day for her kids, has shared her thrifty Christmas tradition, and it's honestly a reminder of what the holidays are really about.
One thing that fails to come up in our favourite Christmas songs is the financial burden of the holidays.
Between gifts, decorations, and food shops, Christmas time has never been more expensive.
For the second year running, Angela Jackson, a mum-of-five, has opted to go gift-free, instead finding random items around her home and wrapping them in gift paper.
The items she selects always have a meaning and are chosen to be gifted because she knows her children will enjoy them, even if they're not new.
This tradition, Angela says in her YouTube video, is about 'reconnecting as a family'.
Aware that some may find her cost-effective idea 'controversial', the mum insists her entire family are 'looking forward' to the second year of thrifty Christmas.
''I think that ultimately we kind of go back to the idea that there's an expectation, there's just something about Christmas - that you just need to make it magical and you need to make it special, not just for the kids but for anybody that is celebrating with you.
''It just puts a lot of extra stress on us,'' she explains in her channel, Arrow Hill Cottage.
''A lot of the times we see that there is a trendy gift that is offered and we want to make sure that our loved one gets that special gift.
''Or we see a specific decorating style that is popular and we want to be the ones to do that,'' Angela says referring to the expense of Christmas nowadays.
Not only does this save costs, but it removes the stress of finding the 'perfect present' or 'the right clothes'.
Ahead of the big day, the mum searches her home for gifts to wrap, treating her home like a store with special meanings behind every looted gift.
Things lying around the home, such as puzzles, clocks, mittens, old pieces of Lego, and so on, can all make their way under the tree.
''I'm looking for things that can represent an activity that our family will do together on Christmas.
''I'm going to then wrap those items up and we'll put them under the tree and on Christmas Day when we're celebrating and having our family time we will open up these presents randomly," Angela adds.
''It's just really fun that way, it kind of has that surprise element to it.''
The mum also wraps up foods such as popcorn to excite them into all watching a Christmas movie together.
''I just need to find a clue that relates to it, wrap it up and put it under the tree and it'll keep the kids guessing until Christmas Day.''
''Spending time together as a family gets more and more difficult the older our children get. Setting aside this day to really just have some quality time together as a family is just really important to us.
One could argue that this is much more thoughtful and special than store-bought gifts!
