I think most of us know what Secret Santa is and that it can either be an interesting exercise or quite boring.
As we want Christmas to be as good as it can be, let’s see if we can combine saving money at Christmas with Secret Santa while keeping it fun.
If we can make it so nobody feels like they are missing out or being shortchanged, all the better!
Secret Santa ideas
I actually quite like Secret Santa. My wife and I have done this for years. We are both past the ‘must have the latest thing’ stage and both earn our own money so can buy whatever we like.
This left Christmas a little empty as we wanted for nothing.
Starting a Secret Santa made us think about the other person a lot more than usual, forcing us to consider their likes and dislikes a lot more than we used to.
For those reasons, we still do Secret Santa to this day.
If you’re planning something similar, here are some ideas that might keep things interesting.
- Themed Secret Santa: Assign a theme for your Secret Santa exchange, such as “homemade gifts,” “books,” or “nostalgic items.” You can get creative within the theme without breaking the bank.
- Regift exchange: Encourage people to regift items they already have but no longer need. It adds an element of surprise and humour as people discover items from their past. Plus, people regift secretly anyway, you may as well accept it and make something of it!
- Charity Secret Santa: Instead of exchanging gifts among yourselves, pool the money that would have been spent on gifts and donate it to a chosen charity. Each participant can share why they selected that charity and enjoy that nice feeling inside you get when helping others.
- DIY ornaments: Ask everyone to create a handmade ornament. Not only is this budget-friendly, but it also adds a personal touch to the holiday season. This won’t work for everyone of course, but if you’re a crafty family, it could be interesting.
- Experience-based gifts: Suggest that participants give the gift of an experience, such as cooking a meal, offering a night of babysitting, or organizing a day trip.
- Secret Santa scavenger hunt: This is ideal for younger people but can work for adults too. Create clues or a scavenger hunt leading the recipient to their gift. It’s an entertaining way to make the exchange more interactive.
- Sweet swap: Instead of traditional gifts, bake and exchange your favourite holiday cookies, cakes or sweets. Include recipes with the cookies for an added personal touch.
- White elephant: Host a “White Elephant” style exchange where you all bring items you already own but no longer want. This can lead to humorous and unexpected gifts. A variation of regifting but with a little more interactivity.
- Holiday movie or game night: Instead of physical gifts, organize a movie or board game night where everyone brings their favourite holiday movie, board game, card game or whatever you like to do. Bring snacks to share and enjoy a fun night together.
- Secret Santa challenges: Assign fun challenges for each participant to complete within a budget. For example, find the most unique item for £5 or less, find something from a charity shop ideal for fancy dress or something else.
Save money at Christmas
There’s no reason why you should have to endure a boring Christmas just because money is tight.
With a little imagination and planning, you could provide a fun time without being cheesy that even the most jaded teenager should enjoy.
Do you have Secret Santa ideas? Want to share them?
