Why I stopped buying Christmas presents years ago – and you should too

The pressure to buy Christmas presents leaves too many families stressed, in debt and disappointed, says Hannah Shewan Stevens. I opted out a decade ago – and it transformed the festive period for the better

The tree is up, the tinsel is shimmering under flashing Christmas lights, and the big day is just around the corner. Which can only mean one thing: the last-minute, frantic gift-buying panic is here to savage us. But does it really have to be this way?

I used to drain my bank account every year to satisfy the gift obligations that loom over Christmas. In bad years, I’d plunge myself into debt because a wrapped present felt like the only way to adequately express love and festive cheer – even if it meant buying things I knew would end up in a charity shop within a week. The expectation of giving and receiving was relentless: the only option was to buy something, anything, as long as there was a gift under the tree.

I loved seeing people’s faces light up when I nailed it. But that nagging “I’m never going to get through January” voice haunted me every single year. So in 2015, when my entire family was either in debt, unemployed or facing financial pressure from another direction, we decided to give ourselves the year off from gift-giving.

I loved seeing people’s faces light up when I nailed it with Christmas presents (Alamy/PA)

Christmas morning passed without the usual mountain of wrapping paper. A tinge of melancholy settled over the room as we twiddled our thumbs, eating sausage rolls, but without the familiar rush of present-induced dopamine. For an hour or two, the initial awkwardness of change hung over us. Then we snapped out of it – dancing, playing games, eating the usual mountain of roast dinner and reminiscing about Christmases past.

By the end of the day, we’d all forgotten that presents once dominated the first half of the holiday. Nearly 10 years later, my family has never returned to gift-giving. Our sans-gift Christmas wipes away financial stress and ensures that the holiday season is centred around family and fun – not people-pleasing our way through December with presents piled under the tree.

Everyone can spend their holidays and their money however they like. But with the cost of living crisis spiralling ever deeper, I wonder if more households might want to mimic our budget-friendly Christmas. The average household already carries around £14,300 in unsecured debt – a figure that soars further when parents are left to fund Santa’s magic themselves.

People in the UK spend an average of £300 on gifts each year, with many spending far more to meet expectations. Those extra pounds may sprinkle magic over Christmas morning, but is it really worth it when the financial strain lingers long after the gift glow fades? Does the dreaded January Visa bill eclipse the presents already gathering dust or crammed into the backs of wardrobes?

The average household carries around £14,300 in unsecured debt, which rises further after Christmas (Getty/iStock)

Giving presents is central to many Christmas traditions. I just don’t believe it should come at the expense of financial security – or create mountains of unnecessary waste. Every year, thoughtfully chosen and hastily grabbed gifts alike are thrown away. A conservative estimate suggests around £42m worth of unwanted presents end up in landfill annually, fuelling a 30 per cent surge in waste generated every festive season. All that time, money and effort squandered on items destined for charity shops or bins.

No one wants to dwell on waste, the environment or their bank balance at Christmas, for fear of puncturing the cheer – but hear me out. Maybe it’s time to cut back. Perhaps a Christmas with no presents, or simply fewer of them, could make the holiday far better. And no, that doesn’t make me a Grinch or a Scrooge – I’d need a far more fabulous villain’s wardrobe for that.

I’m not here to judge those who give gifts. But I do reserve judgement for those who do so mindlessly. Giving gifts for the sake of it rarely brings anyone joy. It mostly delivers stress, as recipients quietly work out how to offload them without causing offence.

Cutting gift-giving from my Christmases hasn’t deprived me of anything. I still give birthday presents to friends and family when funds allow. Because those occasions are spread across the year, I can take my time and choose something meaningful – something that will genuinely be treasured.

We’d all love limitless resources to make the people we love feel special. That simply isn’t reality for most of us. So I think 2025 is the year to reframe Christmas: away from performative gift-giving that drains wallets and wastes resources, and back towards what we all need most right now – genuine connection and quality time.