A very, merry Thriftmas challenge: A pledge to not buy anything new this holiday season

I’ve long been a proponent of thrifting for Christmas gifts and decor, but I very, very desperately want to avoid buying anything new for the holidays this winter. Blame it on the economy, baby. 

It’s unsettling to see how many Christmas shelves line stores this time of year. This sinking feeling falls deeper towards the pit of my stomach when I see my local thrift stores and charity shops bursting at the seams with new deadstock Target Christmas decor alongside decades-old Hallmark Keepsakes. And as a reseller who’s sorted through a lot of dead people’s belongings, I’ve seen my fair share of estate sales with entire rooms devoted to Christmas knick knacks. There’s an unsettling amount of holiday decor out there, and there’s always more of it in production.

We talk so much about fast fashion destroying the environment, but there’s something to be said about the Seasonal Decor Industrial Complex™. Listen, I love a quick, cheap dopamine hit as much as any other person who feels hopelessly crushed by the demands of modern capitalism. I hate to admit that I love the thrill of the hunt. Still, we would be fine as a society without more AI slop holiday mugs and uninspired Ho Ho Ho throw pillows in the works. 

Lately, I’ve been thinking of Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and the idea of how “the centre will not hold.” I think the jig is up for brands who push mindless consumption. Between soaring healthcare costs, scrapped DEI initiatives, mass layoffs, and general price increases, the idea of brand loyalty just doesn’t make sense anymore. The idea of buying filler holiday junk that offers no craftsmanship and value also doesn’t make sense anymore.

Most folks can’t afford it. Target hauls have become passé. No one wants to buy album variants for one or two bonus songs. 

I’m not so evolved that I’ll do a no-buy November, but I’ve set up some personal rules for navigating the holiday season this year. Call it Thriftmas, if you will. 

Here are my personal thrifty (as in thrift-inspired and frugal) guidelines for ringing in the holidays. I’m not in the business of telling people what to do with their money, but maybe these tips will help you save your hard-earned coins and rework your buying habits, too. 

Only buy absolute essentials at impulse buy stores—no new ornaments or decor pieces

You know what stores I’m talking about—TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Target, and Ross. They’re filled with nice-to-have nonsense and virtually no essentials. Do I need another unlined notebook or pastel-colored cooking pot? Absolutely not. Sometimes, I’ll hit up these stores for skin care, but I’m willing to pay a few extra bucks online to avoid that dreadful domino-effect impulse spending. A quest for a $7 face cream can easily morph into a $100 trinket haul, so it makes sense just to buy the damn face cream online for $13. My exception to this is buying big-box overstock from thrift stores.

Thrift all holiday decor

Like I said, it makes me extremely anxious for our planet to see how much Christmas stuff already exists in thrift stores. Really, no one needs to buy bland holiday decor at Target’s Dollar Spot when thrift stores are already packed with high-quality and usually new or barely used holiday tchotchkes. Many places even toss ornaments into giant gallon plastic zip bags priced at $5-$10. And if you want to create a true vintage Christmas vibe, secondhand decor is the way to go. 

I live in a relatively low-cost-of-living area in California, but I know some thrift stores can charge an arm and a leg for this stuff. You can also find secondhand ornaments pretty cheap online. Trust me, as a reseller who checks sold comps frequently, I can tell you that there are crazy good deals online. While you’d think that Hallmark Keepsakes would sell for more, a lot of them go for $5-$7 a pop on eBay and Whatnot, if not cheaper. 

I also recommend poking around local garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales. Unless you’re dealing with a pricey estate sale company, most sale organizers just want to get rid of Christmas stuff because there is simply way too much of it out there. Pro tip? Go later in the day or on the last day of a sale for deals.

Practice mindfulness at the thrift store

I think I might be the queen of buying nonsense at the thrift store, and I’m trying to stop myself from feeding the relentless cycle of thrifting and re-donating. As of late, most of my purchases have been for my vintage reselling business, but I’m no stranger to picking up silly trinkets that end up collecting dust. I’m planning on buying a small pine tree this year, and I definitely have more than enough ornaments at home to deck it out. I don’t need to buy another ornament grab bag. Maybe just a few statement pieces.

I’d also add practicing mindfulness at estate sales. Y’all already know that I love estate sale deals because they’re great for keeping my cost of goods low. The thing is, it’s very easy to start hoarding stuff you don’t need or can’t sell if you’re getting good prices on bundles.  

Make the most of existing decor and get creative with stuff at home

I have a TON of thrifted Christmas decor, and it spends most of the year collecting dust on the top shelf of my bedroom closet. In this economic landscape, I think it also might be time to get creative with DIY crafts.  

Support small businesses when buying new

Plenty of small businesses sell deadstock and artisan items, offline and online. It’s actually shocking to learn how much brick-and-mortar stores pay in overhead each month as cost of living skyrockets, and I know they could use my money a lot more than any old big-box store with corporate backing. Hell, they could probably use my support more than major chain thrift stores. As someone with an online storefront, I know a lot of artists and resellers make most of their money in Q4. If I impulse buy anything new, I want to make sure my money goes to someone who could use it.

So, those are a few of my tips and tricks for celebrating the holidays frugally and mindfully this year. It’s funny—after working many years in the business of marketing, I’ve somewhat radicalized myself after realizing that most of us probably don’t need more new things.

Again, I’m not in the business of telling people what to do with their money. I’m not a financial advisor or budgeting guru—just a borderline cheapskate living in the middle of Nowhere, California. But if you’re looking for ways to cut back on spending this holiday season, I hope that my personal guidelines can help you reshape your relationship with shopping.