We’re doing Christmas a little differently this year. We’ll be traveling over the holidays, so that gave us plenty of excuse not to decorate a tree. We’re happy to let that go rather than put one up, and then come back in the New Year only to have to take it down. We’re doing Christmas, simplified.
Simplifying Christmas means doing less. But what we’ve found is that you can do the things that make the cut very well, intensifying the experience. It seems more meaningful to be doing less in this way.
This afternoon, during the blizzard, I mixed up my traditional cream cheese sugar cookie dough (you can find the recipe here). My daughter, Robin, and I are planning an all-too-rare day together to decorate and pack them.
I decided to play around with my recipe and wound up making a batch flavored with spices and molasses (add 1/4 tsp each of allspice, ground ginger, allspice and nutmeg; 1 tsp of cinnamon; 1/4 cup of mild molasses to the recipe, and adjust flour amounts as necessary for consistency) and a couple of batches flavored with cocoa – about 1/4 cup- to make chocolate cookies. I wouldn’t have had the time to experiment in other years because of too many other items on my list.
Pete and I are making our Christmas cards again this year. With less to do overall, this has been a joy instead of a stressful task. We use one of his photographs and match it up with a phrase from a Christmas carol. This year we’re . . . well, it’s a surprise. I’ll have him take a photo of the card, maybe, after they’re finished and mailed.
Christmas gifts in more frugal times with grown-up children in the family are simpler, too. Just the thought of having to go to Toys ‘R Us is enough to elevate my blood pressure. We’re happy to have the reprieve for a few years before the grandkids come. We’d rather spend time with the kids than receive gifts ourselves.
Our friend Becky Blanton wrote a wonderful post about gifts at Christmas called Gifting and Regifting and the Magic of GIVING. Her point is it’s not supposed to be about GIFTS, it’s supposed to be about GIVING. Her muse and mine must hang out together from time to time, but Becky generally listens to hers better than I do:
In a season where people are focused on gifts, I think the focus on giving and why we give, is lost. If there is someone in your life that you love, that means a lot to you, that has helped, inspired or moved you in some way – let Christmas be a reminder to you to reach out and let them know how you feel. Don’t give because it’s expected. Give because it allows you to be vulnerable, to be real, to let someone know you care. Your gift doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be real.
Becky has distilled the many not-so-great associations with Christmas gifts we’ve all experienced into the reality of giving. Christmas simplified.
These days, there’s plenty to read in the blogosphere and traditional media about simplification. The”new frugality” permeates lifestyle features in every form of media. Our recessionary decade has ushered in the antithesis of the acquisition mode, and its excesses, that we were in throughout the 80′s and 90′s.
Coming from a family that didn’t have much when we were growing up, this is all very familiar. My mother could squeeze a nickel until it cried for mercy. When I moved to California in the 80′s it was like living on another planet, where everyone was racing to acquire. Minnesota’s culture was a little more subtle, but acquiring bigger and better was a big preoccupation with many. What I saw around me, and aspects of my own life, embarrassed me.
The pendulum has swung back and now simplification, uncluttering, and thrift are back again. Retailers like Organized Living or Totally Organized promote the idea of having everything in its place. Other sites, like Unclutterer.com, promote the idea of living with less altogether, accompanied by mindful decision-making on what we do have and keep.
Although, there are certainly elements within this trend that run the gamut. An article I read on Becoming Minimalist articulates the good balance that comes when frugality and minimalism work in tandem, citing the freedom to just be that comes with less.
Another article I read somewhere else talked about purchasing gifts at thrift stores – the ultimate in noble frugality. It cited a real score: a set of unopened drafting pencils – around $70 new – acquired for $5. Sounded great until I read on where the author wasn’t sure if they’d ever been used by the recipient. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the whole purpose of giving, thrift and frugality, I wondered?
A few months ago I read an article about “stealth wealth,” where folks buying expensive things felt compelled to downplay or hide them, for fear of critical opinions. How things have changed! Interventions are held for shopping addicts, and “retail therapy” now has a sinister undertone.
Perhaps what we have with all this is a kind of haute frugalité, with an overblown benchmark that will translate down into a more practical application in daily life, just as couture is reinterpreted into something people can actually wear. We won’t be reducing the number of things we own to 100 or less, but we can appreciate how much easier life is going to be without the things we don’t use.
Pete and I try and be mindful about what we give, hoping it’s something that will be enjoyably used. We like to make gifts for people or give experiences if we can. Sometimes we fall short of the mark, and other times we’re right on the money. I beamed when son Ben was excited about the books he received. It meant that I was getting to know him well enough to anticipate what would interest him. I got a little verklempt when we heard from another child that “I have everything I’ve ever wanted.” Christmas is about giving in the way Becky describes it when these kinds of events occur.
Christmas is also the season to be inspired by others who give so much of themselves to others who have so little. I recently was introduced to this man’s cause and wanted to give you the opportunity to see a true saint, alive and doing the work of God:
I’m writing this and the blizzard is tapering off. It’s getting dark and we’re home, where we should be on a night like this. There’s stew with beef from our steer simmering in the crock pot, and tonight is our annual date to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”together. We’ll set up the TV trays and bask in the warmth of the wood stove, and my husband will cry when Jimmy Stewart comes home to his family. Just like he does every year.
Christmas simplified.
Related articles
- Getting Through Christmas Frugally (myinvestingblog.com)
- How to Have A Meaningful, Yet Frugal Holiday: Mint’s Personal Finance Roundup (mint.com)
- Green Christmas Ideas – Simple, Frugal and Ethical Holiday Gifts (lillslist.com)
- How Do you Avoid Mega Consumerism At Christmas? (ahighandnoblecalling.com)
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Peter and Betsy Wuebker are location-independent professionals who share what they know about travel, simplicity and integrating work with life. 
Thanks for all of the links to some great looking articles.
As the blizzard is leaving you, we are anticipating it landing on us fairly soon. Tomorrow will be one of those stay at home days. I am looking forward to it. I still love a “snow day” just as much as I loved it when it meant getting out of school.
I always try to be thoughtful about the gifts I make or purchase for others. I stew and stew about what just might make the recipient light up when they open it or experience it. I am excited about this year’s giving.
That being said, I am in a purging mood. I am slowly, but surely, boxing up usable items and pitching those things that have seen better days. The usuable have been going to shelves where they can be recycled to someone else who has the need for their use.
Your blog has struck a chord with me. I am ahead of the game this year. This is unusual for me and I am enjoying the relaxation it is bringing. Somehow, I have managed to simplify the process of the holiday celebration. Perhaps it is the meditations I have been practicing lately.
Thank you for passing along your thoughts. I do enjoy the reading, although I don’t always respond.
Enjoy your movie night.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer – I hope your temperatures don’t drop as low as ours are going to. Tuesday we are expecting a high of -3F. That’s just cold any way you slice it. I think you might be onto something with the correlations between meditation and simplifying. Clearing the mind of superfluous things allows for enjoyment of the moment. I am glad you are enjoying PassingThru. Thank you!
What a wonderful wonderful post. Thank you Betsy.
A very Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hi Stephanie – Thank you! Merry Christmas to you, too. It has been fun getting to know a kindred spirit on Facebook. I am grateful to Chris for introducing us.
Hi Betsy – I watched It’s a Wonderful Life a few weeks ago. It’s awesome.
I loved Becky’s post. I remember her from the e-book last year. Shopping addiction is scary stuff. I can’t understand why folk can’t wake up to the fact that they’re working all week, to waste their weekends spending everything they’ve earned on stuff they won’t want or care about in a few weeks time.
Why don’t people stop and think about all the time and money they’re wasting? It’s like they’re slaves to commercialism.
Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox. Have a fab time. x
Hi Cath – Yes, I really enjoyed Becky’s post, too. Heartbreaking in parts and joyful in others. She really gets it, in my book. Yes, you’re right about the shopping addiction. Having “been there” eons ago, I can concur that the high doesn’t last. It’s a symptom of other issues. Thank you.
Hi Betsy .. what a good post .. I wanted to have a chance to read it – and I haven’t clicked over .. but I know the feelings everyone is giving off here .. life is simpler, we should be more grateful for being healthy, living in the Western World and generally enjoying our families and our lives – without the ‘I wants ..’
Christmas this year will definitely be simpler- the way it should be .. time for reflection, time for walks, and time for just being ..
If the weather lets us .. and if the weather lets you travel .. I do hope so .. two lots of snow in one year is definitely not what we’re used to!
The film, the stew and the two of us .. sounds lovely .. enjoy yourselves and your family .. with love Hilary
Hilary has an awesome blog post here: Teeth – Washington- Hippopotamus- Vered- Eastern Europe- Jannie
Hi Hilary – You’ve said it all: time for walks, time for reflection, time to just be. The reminders are everywhere to be grateful and appreciate each moment. Thank you.
enjoyed reading the whole post, but definitely got a little teary eyes at the end there
i was watching it too
Hi Jessica – Sentimentality runs in the family.
You’ve had a great perspective on what really matters since you were very little. Your father never forgot the lesson you taught him years ago when you were very small about giving to less fortunate others. We were glad to finally make that request right last year. xox
What a lovely post and nice recipe – it is very similar to my GF sugar cookie recipe that I found last year. We are not going to make cookies this year either! We stopped gifts last year and just go cross country skiing and play games. The girls wanted a tree so we cut one and put it up this weekend ( quite the trick with a new puppy!)
I think my hobby is giving gifts, but the word gifts is huge to me because it can be so creative and so full of possibilities. I do not like gifts at Christmas, because it has become so materialistic and Christmas is about deep meaning and connection to me – the gifts just get in the way.
So we distilled our holiday down to the essentials this year….Children have student loans to pay off – so are putting some funds on the principles and they all have just a few days off from work. Add some music to the time together
Well we have found simple is best!
Patricia has an awesome blog post here: ZIPPITY
Hi Betsy. I like the idea of simplifying Christmas by doing less. You can put more thought into the fewer things that you do; do things differently; even a small change can be refreshing.
This year I will not be decorating a tree either. I’m waiting for a yummy sounding recipe from my friend Julie; Paella with shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, chorizo, smoked ham, olives, pimientos, artichoke hearts, red bell pepper, tomato, onion, peas, garlic, thyme, rosemary, saffon, paprika parsley, lemon, white wine, clam juice, and rice. I’m considering making this instead of turkey and will be having it on Christmas eve with my brother instead of on Christmas Day. A friend has invited me for Christmas dinner with their folks so that’s where I’ll be on Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you and Peter. Hope you have a wonderful time travelling!
Davina Haisell has an awesome blog post here: Fiction- Deep Into Midnight
Paella is an awesome dish! My mother used to make it after I returned from a high school trip to Spain and couldn’t stop talking about it. Saffron in the rice makes it rock.
Lori Hoeck has an awesome blog post here: Self Defense and Principles of Power
Hi Betsy and all .. why don’t we go to Davina’s for Christmas Eve – sounds a wonderful meal, and we’d all have fun .. what a party that would be ..
I think you need to make a bloggers dinner one day?! I’ll be there .. sounds too good to be true .. have fun and enjoy it .. Hilary
Hilary has an awesome blog post here: Teeth – Washington- Hippopotamus- Vered- Eastern Europe- Jannie
This is the first year I’ve had a Christmas tree in the house — courtesy of relatives staying with us. It’s a nice change, but I don’t think I’ll keep the tradition after they move out. I like the minimalist trend. It has a refreshing nature to it.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Lori Hoeck has an awesome blog post here: Self Defense and Principles of Power
Chocolate Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies recipe – saved!
Great post and the cookies sound wonderful.
I made some chocolate chip mint cookies, recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, and they are so good. They have Andes mint chips in them. I bake tons of candy and cookies to take to the hospital and other places and for our grandson. I’ll try your recipe.
As to your comment about “folks buying expensive things felt compelled to downplay or hide them, for fear of critical opinions”, I think that is a shame. If those people have worked hard for what they have, it is their money and if they want to buy an expensive gift for someone it is their business. They should not feel busy about having the ability to give such a gift.
I have made many gifts by hand to give, but this year bought everything.
As Marcus Wilder pointed out in his Short Story for Christmas what is really important are the “people” in our lives, the blessings we have and too often take for granted.
http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2010/12/i-wrote-a-short-story-for-christmas.html
Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.
Debbie has an awesome blog post here: Muslim Cousins Forced to Inbreed
I LIKE it! I have spent soooooo much less time in the stores this year. We did our tiny tree (due to lack of space). I’ve made a lot of things by hand and got super creative with gift wrapping. It’s been so much fun! And so simple. And peaceful. And it feels GOOD.
Love this post.