Could you celebrate Christmas without giving or receiving gifts?

I would say that you are giving a very huge gift to others by doing that. That is a very thoughtful thing of you and your family to do. Maybe this is the true spirit of christmas huh?. Happy Holidays

I think it could be done. Im buying for very few this year as Im tired of the rip off prices. I am going to be away for Christmas and Ive paid for my mum, daughter and hubby to come with me. Thats their pressie. Ive told everyone else not to get me anything as I wont be here and wont be getting them anything. I have 3 young nieces and a nephew and thats all Im buying for this year. The cost of thee holiday for everyone works out less than getting caught up in the Christmas thing so I get a nice break, give a nice break to 3 others and get to spend time with my loved ones and win financally as well. Now that to me is a Happy Christmas.

i think our thoughts match quite a bit. Would really like to be a friend of yours.

This is a lovely idea. A friend of mine & her family buy food hampers with the money they would have used for gifts, and give the food hampers to the poor & needy. It is so nice to hear other people are doing it. Christmas is very commercialised, but I would still get all the little ones presents. Enjoy your christmas with the family. It sounds like it is going to be really nice.

That's a great idea. The feelings you will create will last much longer than the gifts would. There is a certain feeling or spirit about Christmas that has nothing to do with gifts, shopping, or even decorations. I think focusing on that is a wonderful idea. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Well you may call me a cheap skate but, this year I decided to spend all the money on Christmas presents at my local charity store. I got new gifts, but this way I know its going to charity and my family and friends are getting a gift. It also of course, means that I don't have to spend quite as much. I think family at Christmas is very important a lot of people have missed the meaning of Christmas.

Wow... such a wonderful idea... donating money to the charity is such a good idea... Yes... these days its become so commercialised. The very important gift that we get on Christmas is Jesus, family that be together on this day and welcome Jesus in their lives... that is the main thing and also pleases the almight God...

I had my first christmas ever away from my home country last year and spent it in a developing country where my wife comes from. There christmas is very much just another day, with the exception that they usually attend church to celebrate Christ's birthday there. There was no expectation of presents but my wife and I bought everyone in the family a token gift, they were all delighted, but the thing that meant the most to me, over and above any present I had every received before, is the feeling of love in the family. You can't put a price on that! The family did in fact give us a present, it was a print of a photo and all the family had written a good luck message to us. The photo cost them pennies, in fact probably not that cos it was printed on my paper, because that's all they could afford. Christmas really brought home the message to me that you don't need expensive gifts to make the holiday a happy time, the love and commitment you have to each other is far more important.

Yes, I could celebrate Christmas without giving or receiving gifts but I do like to give some small token. To me, the most important things at Christmas are not material, and that is the love and happiness of the people you cherish most. I think yours is a great idea. I work for charity myself and I hope you have a very Happy Christmas. Bless you all.

You are so very right and this is a very good idea. I myself do not like Christmas nor any Holiday for that matter because of the over commercialization (sp) of them. I do however celebrate them since I have children and they celebrate/enjoy the holidays. It seems like you have a civic minded family and that is great since most of the people in this world are only concerned with thereselves.

In my family we really don't buy gifts for people, unless it's for the kids. We just enjoy watching the kids open their presents.

it is so hard to do though isnt it?we try some years but we always seem to go back to buying for everyone. its expensive and timeconsuming. next year i have suggested having a secret santa and every adult will buy for just one person. we will prob still buy for the neices and nephews though.dreading it already lol.

Well Christmas should be about family and friends and not about money and gifts. It's nice to give children gifts but they tend to expect so much because of what they see on tv and it does get sooooo expensive. I like to give personal gifts that is something that the person would really like rather than something that costs alot just for the sake of giving it! Well that's my excuse, jus call me scrooge haha!

Well in my own part of the world, we only give cards out as gifts for merry wishes and share meals with people on that day. That is, we package food and give to less-privileged and our neighbours too. I think its also another way of showing love at Christmas.

I think everyone should try that. Because Christmas has become all about buying gifts and nothing else. Kids grow up thinking christmas is all about receiving presents. Families should try what you did, people would be less in debt too.

Yes, we can celebrate Christmas even without giving or receiving gifts. But it has been a tradition for every family to give and receive gifts. The real essence of Christmas doesn't rely on how many gifts you have given or received, but its about how you celebrate it.

when I read the question I thought about what I and my family do everymonth. No we don't celebrate christmas but we all get gifts every month. nothing wrong with that right? my son is the one though I make sure gets cool gifts. my husband and I we save our money to get each other cool gifts.

My kids are still small so we can go without gifts for now. Anyway, Christmas is not the only time for gift giving. I do feel bad about it but things can only get better.

It would be a damn site cheaper! But also I think perhaps giving it to charity would mean that people who really need it would really appreciate it. More so, than family. Retail shopping centres also treat it as a commercial "cash cow". They just keep milking it and milking it. I have sometimes considered postponing Christmas because of commercialism.

Well that won't be easy but all can live. There are circumstances where people do such thing.