Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Hand Me Downs = Regifting

This whole Christmas regifting concept has got me thinking about another interesting tradition that has arisen in my family.

My children are effectively in two generations, in that I have children in their 20′s and a son who is 5, which does make for some interesting family occasions (haven’t had anyone ask if he is my Grandson yet).

Given my son is so young, we have had some interesting hand me downs, and given he only has sisters you might think that was not very likely, however toys are universal (mostly) and there is where the hand-me-downs have occurred. Some of these hand me down toys have been given as Birthday and Christmas gifts by my son’s crafty parents, hence good reduce, reuse and recycle Financially Green concepts come into play for the Holidays.

Buzz Light Year to the Rescue!

My son has 4 different Elmos, which used to be his sisters (including an original Tickle Me Elmo from the 90′s rage). He also has both a Woody and Buzz from the original Toy Story movie (a movie we have on VHS cassette I’d like to point out, that we still use). With Toy Story III coming out this year, suddenly Buzz and Woody are back in vogue!

My son has no idea that these toys were not his originally, he thinks they are his (and new), which is quite frugal (or cheap depending on your point of view), and best of all he enjoys all of them too. His sisters will on occasion complain about how their toys are being “man handled” by their brother, but I think it is great.

Good Idea Financially?

This reuse of previously bought toys (that my wife had to invest a lot of time to find) is the ultimate Holiday Shopping Miracle, no money spent, and no time spent standing in lines to get the next IT gift (the Tickle Me Elmo of the time, as it were). Maybe some of the more interesting technology gifts might not stand the test of time (we have an original Nintendo that was fun to play Duck Hunter on, but that was about it), but some toys are timeless (e.g. Lego, Duplo, Meccano, etc.,).

What potentially great toys for your nieces, nephews, or your own kids do you have gathering dust in your basement? Do you feel funny about regifting? You shouldn’t!