It's An Xmas Tradition: My Annual Reposting Of My Gift Tag!

I've been posting this Xmas Gift Tag for many years now, for anyone out there who's in a tough financial place during the holiday season. Which is probably most of us. Here it is again.

Tough times call for tough measures! If you can't afford to shell out cash for lavish Xmas gifts this year, buy your relatives something cheap and attach this handy Gift Tag to it. It'll help soften the blow.

A decade or so ago my finances forced me to severely cut back on Xmas gifts, almost to the point of nonexistence. Rather than causing me to feel sad or ashamed though, not having to trudge through stores spending money I didn't have on things people don't need was positively liberating. You have no idea how wonderful it is to not have to buy gifts and to actually sit back and enjoy the holidays.

Eventually my finances improved, but I liked the feeling of not buying gifts so much I decided to stop it altogether.

I know this won't be a popular opinion (among the public and definitely not among the retail sector), but I wish everyone would just say Screw The Gift Giving! By skipping all the buying the holidays actually become an enjoyable time rather than a grim and dreadful chore. If you've ever entertained the notion, I urge you to do it! You have no idea how good it feels.

Santa was drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet, as well as the sketchy green oval. Everything was then imported into InDesign, where the text and the outer tag shape were added. Then I printed a bunch, cut them out with an X-Acto, punched a hole in the side and tied them to everyone's gifts.

Feel free to download it, print it and attach it to your own cheapskate gifts!