A Minimalist’s Guide To Holiday Shopping

Holiday shopping for gifts that bring joy, save money, and won’t end up collecting dust in the back of your closet.

The holidays are right around the corner, which means the holiday shopping season is now in full swing. And while we love scoring a good bargain on just about everything, we score the best deal when we just don’t buy the thing in the first place. 

One of HerMoney CEO Jean Chatzky’s “Money Rules” is “If it’s 50% off, it’s still 50% on.” In other words, a deal is only a deal if you really, really need the thing you’re buying.

Unfortunately, America has a holiday shopping problem, which has become a debt problem: A recent report from NerdWallet shows that roughly 28% of holiday shoppers who used credit cards to buy gifts last year still haven’t paid them off. In other words, nearly a third of us are still in debt for the presents we put under the tree in 2023.

Shira Gill, an expert on minimalism, intentional shopping, and living your values shares how to stop ourselves from buying the thing BEFORE we buy the thing, and how to get creative with gift-giving, with heartfelt items that will mean a heck of a lot more to the recipient than something shiny and expensive. 

Set A Mission Statement For The Season

Every year, Gill sits down with her husband and their two children at the start of the holiday season and they set a mission statement together by asking: What is everybody hungering for this season? What do we all really want, both individually, and as a family?

“Often we’ll decide we just want to take a family trip,” Gill says. “This year we’re taking a road trip to LA and we’re going to see movies and going see friends. We’re doing that instead of the traditional presents under the tree because that’s what we all agreed on.”

If you’re not much of a traveler and you DO want gifts under the tree…we get it. But you and your family should set clear intentions for what those gifts will be (whether they’re experiences or a new purse) and how much they’re going to cost so that everyone’s on the same page. 

Make An Intentional Holiday Shopping List And Stick To It 

Making a list of who you want to get gifts for during the holiday season seems like an obvious task to do ahead of time. But Gill says to take it a step further by asking yourself:  Who do you want to give to and why? Do you like your reasons?

By asking yourself the second question, you’re thinking through the purpose of the gift and not stretching your budget by having a list that is far too long. “And after I have that list, I look at: How much money do I have to spend this season without getting into debt, without pinching myself or my family?” Gill says “And based on that amount, I then get scrappy. I love a homemade gift, an experiential gift, or a food gift.”

Gill recommends Goldbelly for sending thoughtful food gifts such as a deep dish pizza from Chicago, a bagel and cream cheese from New York, or whatever your recipient’s favorite comfort food is. 

Prioritize Time Over Things

The next time you’re in the checkout line with a cart overflowing with things you may or may not need, HerMoney CEO Jean Chatkzy says to do this little trick to decide whether or not you want them. 

“Take the thing, and translate it into actual hours of your time,” Chatzky says. “The easiest way to do this is to lop off the last three zeros and divide by two. So, if you’re making $80,000 a year, you lop off those zeros, you divide by two, you’re at $40 an hour. So, at $40 an hour, you can decide, do you want that thing or do you not want that thing?”

Bottom Line: Lead With Your Values This Holiday Shopping Season

The holidays are here, and while sales are tempting, buying more stuff simply isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Instead, get creative and think of giving your loved ones time, experiences, or homemade items that they’ll remember for far longer than a sweater or a pair of socks. By prioritizing intentional spending, you can give gifts that bring joy without the financial hangover in the New Year.

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