How to save money on gifts by hosting a re-gifting party

Each year people spend hundreds of dollars on gifts that are given for various occasions. Gifts given for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, valentines day, Christmas, Hanukkah and so on keep getting more and more expensive year after year. The gift giving process itself has become so stressful that people are beginning to run out of ideas as to what gifts to give people. There are so many web sites nowadays offering gift giving ideas for various occasions to help out with this dilemma. And the global economic downturn has only exaggerated the need to curb gift giving expenses.

Re-gifting parties are a great fun way to solve this problem of excessive gift giving expenses. Essentially in a re-gifting party, the guests are asked to bring a specified number of gifts that they have received and have no need for and would like to exchange for something else. Each gift is expected to have a price attached to it. All gifts are brought to the table and each guest can exchange his or her gifts with something else of somewhat equal value. The pricing levels are all based on an honor system and no one generally tries to take advantage of the situation. After all, everyone at the party has the same goals of trying to save money.

In order for re-gifting parties to be successful, they have to be made into a fun filled occasion. Each guest can be asked to bring in something home-made as a dinner item. The host can set up a small game show type entertaining event for the children with the winner ending up with a small gift that is part of the re-gifting process. The atmosphere needs to be relaxing and calming for the guests. Because no money exchanges hands, stress levels are low and at the same time unwanted gifts are taken out of the hands of people that do not have a need for those and brought into the hands of people that have a need for the same.