Why I Regift Almost Every Gift I Get
I always get judge-y looks when I tell people to regift but it is truly one of the best ways to save money and save yourself from owning things you don’t care about. Let’s consider this, would you want someone you love to keep something you gave to them if they didn’t really like it, just so they could spare your feelings? Of course, you wouldn’t! The gift itself is not what is important, it’s the spirit of giving and the generosity that went into picking something, going out to get it, and paying for it with hard-earned cash. Just because you don’t keep the item doesn’t mean that you don’t appreciate the giver.
Why I regift:
I prefer not to have anything in my home that I don’t love or need.
I love saving money; regifting saves you from spending money on a future gift.
I want things to go to a good home. If I don’t love something but I know that someone else will cherish it, I happily regift knowing that the item will have a better life in another person’s home.
How to regift appropriately:
Don’t do it without good intentions, give something away only if you are fairly certain someone else will love and appreciate the item.
Keep track of who gave you what and don’t give an item to someone who has any ties to the giver.
Always rewrap the item.
Great times to regift:
After a large kids’ party. Most kids these days have way too much when some kids have nothing. Make a point of teaching your kids from a young age that they do not need a lot to be happy, and emphasize that it is better to have a small number of items you truly love and treat well than a huge amount of items you can’t keep track of that get treated poorly.
PS- You want to do this immediately after the party before your child gets a chance to really digest every item he/she received. You can use the extras to start a ‘future gifts’ bin, saving yourself time and headache every time you have a birthday party sneak up on you.
After your birthday or a big holiday. Be honest, do you really want or need all that stuff? Give yourself a present by sticking some of those items you don’t love in a future gift bin. You will save money and time next time you need a present.
After hosting a party. Those hostess gifts are great, but most of the time they are useless items that you don’t need. How many nice candles and sets of coasters does one person need to survive? If there are a few things you love, keep them, and add the rest to your future gifts bin for the next time you need a hostess gift.
My favorite item to regift: Gift cards! Sometimes I keep them, but sometimes I use them as future gifts to save myself money. It is really all the same in the end if you think about it. I could have enjoyed a couple of free lattes because I had a Starbucks gift card, and then spent $20 to buy the same gift card for someone else a few weeks later. Or, I can forgo the lattes and save $20 because I already have a gift card to give!
I think it’s brilliant but If it’s not for you, no big deal. Consider donating the item to charity. It’s my personal mission to help people get rid of everything you don’t love, use or need. Trust me, when you pare down to just those things you love and want you to make room for all kinds of magic and abundance to come into your life.