Stress of gifts, shopping, wrapping...

A few years ago my wife and I felt overwhelmed at all the stress of shopping for gifts for family and friends. We decided after Christmas we were not going to go through that again. One thing we did to ease this stress and save time was to use reusable gifts bags. Also, we didn't want to use the paper ones. We went to the local fabric store after Christmas and bought some of the Holiday fabric that was thick enough that you couldn't see throught it. Then we made bags that were shaped like pillow cases. the bags stack neatly in a closet next to a bag of ribbons. The next Christmas we just had to drop in the gift and tie a piece of ribbon around it. No hunting scissors, running out of tape. Just tie a bow and go. The final step was to tell the family they had to either use it to wrap someone elses gift the next year or give it back. Once we did this a few years, everyone has caught on and we usually get the bags back when the gift is opened or when we recieve a gift the following year.

Another thing we did was to reduce the number of gifts that need to be bought. We talked our familys into drawing or picking names and each person only buys for the name they picked. This takes away alot of stress, time and saves money. Now, grandparents may still want to buy something extra for a grandchild and that's O.K.

As for shopping, we try to buy from small locally owned places that are within biking distance of our house. My sister-in-law and wife often give out homemade cookies. I would always rather have a homemade gift or treat than socks that don't really fit or I don't even need. Last year, I asked for an Indiana State Parks pass. It was easy for my mother-in-law to order it online and she didn't have to worry about what size, color or style I wanted. I really enjoy the outdoors, so supporting the State Parks and getting me in all year was nice. Plus, we got to go a few times we might not of if we didn't have the pass due to time constraints. With the card we didn't feel like "It's not worth it to pay to get in because we can only stay for an hour".

I don't want to sound cliche, but remember the reason for the season. It's not about gifts, giving or getting. Spending time with family and friends should be what we really enjoy.

Where to begin?

Four years ago, my wife and I moved from the country to town. We decided that 20 minutes of driving each way to town was a waste of time. We figured the gas money and time saved by living in town would over come our feeling sad about leaving the country.

We left a 4 acre plot and downsized our yard to a city lot. I had no idea the time it would save me on Saturdays doing yard work. WOW! What used to take 6 hours of a Saturday now takes about an hour. I can cut the grass, do the trim work and clean up in less time than it took to do the fence row of our old place.

Unfortunately we did increase our house size. It is still more efficient than our old place. It's a one story brick Ranch with nice overhangs and a full basement. We had new windows put in almost immediately. We have a few more tricks up our sleeves to add to the benefits of this house.

We have also become "car-light". We now have one car for the two of us. Since we live in town, I am less than 5 miles from work and my wife is about a mile away from her work. I ride my bike from March to December (assuming there isn't snow or ice on the roads and bike trail). For the bad weather, I use the city bus. The bike commute adds about 10 to 20 minutes to my commute, but that is still 20 to 30 minutes faster than when we lived at our old house. My wife loves riding her folding bike in nice weather.

Sometimes when I am off  we take the tandem and I drop her off at work, run errands and then pick her up after work.

We now recycle, garden, compost, exercise (not in a gym), eat healthier and are working on simplifying our life in order to get out of the "rat race" and enjoy more.