I re-gift. And I'm not ashamed to say so.
I admit that when I receive gifts for my kids or myself that are too small, too big, out of season, inappropriate, duplicates or not quite right, I often re-wrap them and give them away to others.
Say what you want, but you won't guilt-trip me into thinking that re-gifting is a cheap, tacky thing to do. It saves me money. It keeps my closets from being cluttered with unwanted presents. Most important, it allows me to give away something that someone else might enjoy.
For example, my 4-year-old son received a large truck for his last birthday. The problem is he doesn't play with trucks. He would rather play educational games on our home computer. I didn't want to offend the gift-giver by asking for a receipt to return the truck, so I decided to put it in my re-gifting closet.
When my 7-year-old daughter was invited to attend a birthday party, I found out the birthday boy loved trucks. We gave him the unopened truck my son had received.
A recent holiday spending survey conducted by Money Management International, a consumer credit counseling agency, found that 36 percent of respondents earning $100,000 to $150,000 had re-gifted to cut holiday costs. In fact, the higher the income bracket, the more the likelihood of re-gifting, according to the survey.
I find the whole debate about re-gifting interesting. Here are some typical arguments against the practice posted during an online discussion:
One person wrote: "I think that gift-giving requires sacrifice on the part of the giver. It can be time, money or effort, but I just don't see any self-sacrifice in re-gifting because it doesn't cost the giver anything."
Another opponent said: "Personally this sort of thing feels like you're saying, 'You're not good enough.' "
Good enough for what? Good enough to spend money on? Nonsense.
