11 Reasons I Love Giving My Kids Previously Owned Gifts for Christmas

I’ve always been pretty open about my financial struggles and challenges, so it’s never been a secret.

People offer me stuff they are getting rid of all the time.

About 9-10 years ago when times were really tough I’d consistently come home to random bags and boxes of stuff on my front doorstep.

The kids LOVED it!

New-to-them was new enough!

We got clothes and toys and bedding and all sorts of stuff from people and some of it I still have today, including my all-time favorite… the pink dollhouse we got from the assistant director of the preschool the kids went to.

I’m keeping that one for my grandkids.

I also used to grab tons of free furniture from the side of the road and refinish/repurpose it, and people would also text me all the time and tell me if they drove past anything they thought I might like.

I still grab some free stuff off the side of the road, but not like I used to. And I’ll still get used stuff for gifts for the kids but not like I used to.

I remember years ago someone gave me a really hard time about giving my kids “used” gifts for Christmas.

Of course now it’s 10 years later and thrifting is cool and maybye people are a little less judgy about it.

If money is super tight for you and you can’t afford new toys for your kids and you are worried about what other people might think, first of all, those people are totally welcome to buy your kids brand spanking new toys if they are so bothered.

Secondly, a gift is a gift.

It doesn’t matter where it comes from or how old it is.

I mean I bought a second hand car for Christmas last year so Kristofer would have a car to drive. Nobody had a problem with that second hand gift.

(He opted to buy it from me so he didn’t have to share it when Ingrid gets her license).

If you still need some reassurance, here are 11 reasons why I am all for giving second hand toys/clothes/cars/books/dishes/whatever as gifts:

1. They are a fraction of the cost. Sometimes they are even free.

That’s means more money saved for college.

Or therapy.

2. There’s no danger of being trampled to death at WalMart.

3. When my kids decide they don’t really like their present anymore, I’m not pissed about how much money I spent on it.

4. No packaging to dispose of. The day after Christmas I can still fit stuff in my recycling bin.

5. I mean when this is where you hang out for fun do you really care if it’s new?

6. I’m helping to save the Earth, one reused present at a time.

7. I can call it “vintage.”  Isn’t that in these days, anyway?

8. I can do all my shopping from Facebook tag sale groups. More time for making cookies. 

9. I don’t have to don a bulletproof vest and brave the mall on Black Friday.

10. I don’t give a flying fork what other people think about it.

11. NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!!! (That’s enough reason right there).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!