Nothing shows the futility of what some people spend on Christmas presents than media reports about the thousands of people selling unwanted gifts on the auction site EBay. It appears there are some pretty ungrateful children and equally ungrateful adults disposing of gifts before Christmas is even over. So, if you were in that position I have a suggestion on how to save money on Christmas presents next year. Get together with all your family and agree that you won’t buy any.

Now I know you’re probably screaming that you couldn’t have Christmas without Christmas presents but why not? No one will die because they don’t receive a present. Yes they may be disappointed, but it seems many are disappointed when they do receive them.

Before Christmas I was reading a feature in one of the daily newspapers where the writer explained that her parents had stopped all Christmas presents during the last recession in the UK. The writer who was a young teenager at the time explained how outraged she felt when her mother warned her that there was no money for presents and was even more furious on Christmas Day that her mother hadn’t been joking and no presents really meant no presents.

When she said to her mother ‘You mean I got nothing!!’ – her mother gave her short shrift and explained that she had a roof over her head, a family who loved her, a Christmas tree, Christmas dinner and the possibility of lots of fun. No she didn’t have nothing.

And from then on their family decided never to do Christmas presents again but despite this the writer says Christmas has always been a joyous occasion which they have celebrated just being with each other and doing things together. They certainly save a lot of money being wasted on unwanted presents.

But if you’re not tough enough to have no presents at all, I have a couple of other suggestions. Why not allocate money to each person and allow them to buy their own present? Even a child can do this – but you need to take them to the shop. No there won’t be the same element of surprise and there is a chance they might have gone off the idea when they open the present but it’s still less risky buying something from the many things they might have mentioned during the year.

If you have older children or have adults to buy for why not just give them the money at Christmas and let them spend their money in the Christmas sales or later in the year and buy whatever they want?

Another option is to buy cheap novelty presents instead of larger gifts to save money. I know people who put a limit of £5.00 on a present and these days it can be quite a challenge to buy something that someone may like for that amount of money. The problem is that charity shops are full of unwanted novelty gifts or quite often they find their way to landfill sites along with the rest of the Christmas rubbish. Cheap presents are just as likely to get discarded as more expensive gifts.

It’s not just the cost of the presents you will be saving, but also the time and the stress of trying to get the ideal present for family and friends. Just because it's traddition to give presents it doesn't mean it's a traddition you have to follow. My husband hasn’t bought me a Christmas present in 19 years. Am I bothered? Not in the least. I buy my own present and I can say that it’s perfect every time and there's no danger of it appearing on eBay or in a charity shop!

Are you ready to save money on Christmas presents next year?