The holiday season is afoot, and with it comes a whole truckload of gifts. Everyone wants to gift and to be gifted. For most people, this is the ideal time to go all out and splurge on their loved ones, making sure they feel valued and appreciated. Understandably, most parents throw all caution to the wind, granting their kids everything on their wish list and more.

Not to rain on your Santa parade, but the holiday season can also provide an unrivalled opportunity to teach your kids financial responsibility. Below are some tips to help you do just that while honouring the age-old tradition of Christmas gifting:

Create a gift budget

First off; budgeting is always in season. Everyone seems to understand the importance of budgeting until the holiday season rolls around and all caution is promptly thrown to the wind. If anything, there is hardly any other time of the year when it’s as necessary to create a budget and stick to it.

Creating a gift budget with your kids communicates the value and importance of money. It teaches them how to prioritise spending, and enables them to understand the true value of a gift, which not only makes them financially wiser but also more grateful.

Gather the whole family around and make a list of people you all want to gift. Next, set a budget and come up with different gift ideas that adhere to the set figure. You can scour the internet together and check different websites for gift ideas.

Personalised gifts

Gifts needn’t always come with a hefty price tag, and the perfect gift isn’t always the priciest. Sometimes, a fun family trip to the movie theatre to watch back-to-back Christmas animations is the best gift your children could ask for. Not only is it affordable, but it also allows you to spend time together and make core memories that could evolve into a new family tradition.

Encourage your kids to explore their creativity by making DIY gifts. These could be Christmas cards, décor, hand knitted mittens, scarves and socks. Grab a paint brush and lead the way!

Secret Santa

Secret Santa is a beautiful way to teach kids financial responsibility. First, it often includes a set monetary limit for the gift, making it easier to pick a gift and stay within budget. Secondly, since everyone involved has an assigned person to gift, spending is reduced significantly both individually and as a collective.

Even better, however, is the fact that it achieves all these while inspiring thoughtfulness, creativity and meaningful giving. It encourages one to observe and truly reflect on their assigned person, which sets the stage for deeper connections and relationships.

Gift cards

Similar to Secret Santa, gift cards are also an effective way to teach kids to spend within the provided limit. Since they cannot exceed the available amount, they have to plan and prioritise their spending, which helps them understand and manage money better.

Gift cards also prompt critical thinking and decision-making, which reduces the desire to impulse buy.

Consider gifting them gift cards so they can gift their friends themselves.

Help them set up a gift fund

Nothing will teach kids the value of money quite like having to use their own money to buy gifts. At the beginning of the year, ask them to draw up a list of people they would like to gift at the end of the year, and the gifts they’d like to give them. Then, help them calculate the total sum they would have to save by the end of the year and divide it into monthly installments. Have them work towards that figure every month, and reward them whenever they save successfully.

For example, you can compound the money by a certain percentage every time they save. This will teach them financial responsibility and make them understand money principles from a tender age.

Holiday gifting does not have to be synonymous with splurging and impulse buying. Done correctly, it can be a powerful tool that deepens your family bonds while simultaneously teaching your kids financial responsibility.