Christmas Shopping...or Not

This year, like it has been for many others, has been a very tight one for us financially. One of the budget cuts we had to make this year was in buying Christmas gifts. During the seven years we've been married, we've never bought birthday gifts or Christmas gifts for each other or for our kids. The kids always get presents from family and friends, and they are not old enough to notice that there is nothing in the pile from us. However, we have always been able to set aside the ~$500 to buy gifts for grandparents, our siblings, and their families at Christmas time. This is the first year that even that had to go. We've scaled down to just buying Christmas presents for our kids' five cousins, Bennett, Jasper, Chase, Kylie and Maddie. Although I'm sad that we have so little to bring to the Christmas tree this year, it does take a lot of pressure off to be buying only for children under the age of five. Not that the older recipients are picky or hard-to-please, but I just feel much more confident about choosing something that a preschooler will enjoy, especially since I have two "toy samplers" of my own at home.