Everybody who is getting presents from me this year is getting mostly items that are "used." Things I have had around the house for a while.
Connie and I must move into a new home in a bit over a year, "down-sizing" from the two houses we own now into a very attractive but smaller new townhouse. And I have so much stuff that will need to be disposed of!: books especially, but also DVD's, CD's, and other items.
So relatives and friends will mostly receive carefully chosen items from that stockpile. Shopping time has been saved, some clearing out is getting accomplished, and really I think that the gifts are just as good, and probably more numerous. They are in fine condition: sadly to report, some are still shrink-wrapped, and several books were purchased but never read!
The point was not to save money, not at all. But I imagine that we have contributed in this manner to the forthcoming American (and perhaps global?) economic recession.
Anyhow, at our stage of life, that watchword is dispersal, not acquisition. Boil down, not build up!