As a fan of chocolate milk, I loved the gift. But it was always the simplicity of the gift always struck me. Don't get me wrong, there have been big gifts through the years that have blown me away. The year my sister bought me a Wii plus the first five full seasons of Family Guy stands out as well.
But the chocolate milk gift always stayed with me, in part because I still have the glass milk bottle that reads, "Got Milk" down its side. The chocolate milk powder is long gone (it was pretty much gone within days of me receiving it), but the bottle remains, serving as my change bank.
Throughout the year, anytime I receive change after making a purchase, it goes right into that milk bottle. It stays in the bottle until the holidays roll around, at which point I empty the contents and use it for buying Christmas presents.
Yesterday, I brought my milk bottle to the grocery store and emptied the contents into a Coinstar machine. The take was a little more than $63, which I took in the form of an Amazon.com gift card. Like many people, I do a considerable amount of holiday shopping online.
This year, that milk bottle is serving double duty. Besides providing a little extra spending money, it also is providing a reminder to keep things simple. As excited as we are to experience our first Christmas with the Little One, we also realize he is 3 months old. The concepts of Santa Claus and gift giving will be pretty lost on him this year. Plus, we have a chance to start early with teaching him that holidays are special because of the time we get to spend with family and friends.
It's all fine and dandy to talk about how much we appreciate time with each other. And we really do. But in year's past, I also have definitely been guilty of going overboard with my holiday shopping. It's my favorite time of year, and I love spoiling the Wife.
This year, though, I've promised it will be different. I've vowed to limit the total money spent on gifts to $100, which actually has the Wife more excited than any gift I could buy for her.
With that type of budget, there won't be months of bills to pay off. It also means simpler gifts and a little more creativity to show my appreciation for her.
That's the kind of change that is coming from the milk bottle this year.
Love it! We did the same with our coins and the rest of my budget came from books and things I sold on Amazon and Ebay. Caroline is getting Lauren's daughters old wooden kitchen as her gift from Santa (perfect condition) and Z is getting a few things off his wish list. As for Scott and I, we are creating a perfect date for the other person and the money limit is $50 (sitter not included). I can't wait to see what he comes up with and I am so excited about the date I am making for him. Loved this post!
ReplyDeleteLove that idea! I am a fellow "coin jar" enthusiast (mine's an old bottle of salsa). There are no small children in my family, so the past few years we have not exchanged gifts at all, and instead get together for a big, home cooked (usually by me) meal. It makes the holidays so much more enjoyable for us - there is no shopping stress whatsoever (and thus no credit card debt) and we just spend time together.
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