How to Stick With Minimalism During the Holiday Shopping Season

One of the busiest shopping holidays is nearly upon us, with near-constant speculation about who has the best deals on this year's hottest gifts. While the average person isn't among the hoards of Black Friday shoppers receiving their five minutes of fame battling over XBox bundles and HDTVs, witnessing this spectacle can zap the holiday spirit from even the most festive person. After all, the holidays are intended to be a season of gratitude and giving; images of crazed consumers trampling one another for trinkets tend to dilute these sentiments.

"To me, the meaning of the holidays is to be thankful for what we have and be close to family," says Dan Nainan, a former Intel engineer and current comedian and actor in New York City. "I used to be so stressed out like everyone else, fighting over parking spaces, worried about getting trampled to death on Black Friday," he says. One year, Nainan and his family decided not to buy gifts for one another. "It reduced so much stress," he says, and since then he hasn't purchased anything for anyone.

This response to the holiday season may seem extreme to some, but to those leaning toward a more minimalistic lifestyle, it offers a deep sigh of relief during a season where stress and anxiety can be suffocating. Minimalism represents a budding movement that, while meaning different things to different people, often results in fewer possessions and more time to focus on what the individual deems most important. While some embrace Nainan's approach of opting out of gift exchanges altogether, others choose instead to take a more mindful approach to holiday spending.

"The benefit of conscious gift giving is that the gift becomes more thoughtful, useful and less wasteful," says Emmy Trinh, designer for Emmy Trinh Jewelry. Trinh embraced minimalism after moving from a 3,100 square foot home to an 800 square foot apartment. "I realized how much superfluous crap I acquired over the years and was disgusted with myself," she admits.

Cait Flanders, blogger at BlondeOnABudget.ca, has been exploring minimalism over the past several years, whittling down her possessions and even launching a budgeting planner influenced by the lifestyle, called Mindful Budgeting. When it comes to the holidays, Flanders says she loves giving gifts but wants to be sure the product will be used and valued before purchasing. "I'll typically buy my niece and nephew books, games or puzzles we can do together," she says. "Or I'll ask their mom what they actually need and get them that."

Still, the holidays can influence even the strongest minimalists to buy more than they would during other times of the year. William Irwin, a professor of philosophy and author of "The Free Market Existentialist: Capitalism Without Consumerism," says he doesn't feel right about imposing his beliefs onto his children during the holidays. "My minimalism takes a bit of a holiday during the holiday season," he admits. "My wife and I are pretty minimalist in our gift exchange, but my wife tends to spend quite a bit on toys for the kids, and I'm complicit in my silence about it."

Gail Leicht, author of "The Skinny on…" series of travel guides, agrees. "I end up spending a lot of money on other people because, what can you do, it's what they want," she says. "I can't expect others to be minimalists just because I am one."

Philanthropic gifting can serve as a gateway to help family and friends understand minimalism, especially during the holiday season. Ramon Khan, blogger at LiveSimplyNatural.com, pleaded with his family to stop buying him gifts. "It was hard for them to break the tradition," he says, "but then I got the idea of giving our dedicated gift funds to families in need." Khan says this idea was key to getting his family to quit buying unnecessary items for each other and use their money toward a greater cause.

Dana Claudat, feng shui master and founder of the Tao of Dana, favors philanthropic gifting as well. "Gift certificates, especially for Kiva, give friends and family a chance to help people directly and feel empowered in the process." Kiva is a non-profit organization that connects independent lenders with people in need of loans to attend school, start businesses, build infrastructure and more.

Gifts that offer experiences are also growing in popularity among minimalists and average shoppers alike. "There's a ton of research that shows that the long-term gratification of experiences trumps material goods in a huge way," Claudat continues. "I've given people tickets to concerts and events, home organizing sessions, digital books and courses they've expressed interest in."

After eschewing over 20 years-worth of belongings for four suitcases of essentials, Cindy McCain says minimalism has allowed her to pursue her passion for travel and share this passion with her children during the holidays. "Last December I flew my children to London where we spent Christmas Eve in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland sipping mulled wine, and Christmas at Westminster Abbey singing at the morning service," says McCain, an educator and blogger at A MoveToMorocco.com. "They said it was a Christmas they will never forget."

McCain's gift is indeed unforgettable, though its magnitude is not necessary for loved ones to cherish the moment. "Last year was the first year my whole family embraced a minimalist Christmas," Flanders says. "We woke up, cooked a big breakfast together, then spent a couple hours at the beach with our dogs." Flanders acknowledges this as a big departure from previous years, when it was all about spending money on stuff and unwrapping presents. "It was so refreshing to not have our day focused around gifts, and instead just spend time together."

Indeed, time may represent the best of both words this holiday season: it's likely at the top of wish lists for family and friends, and it's free. As Joshua Fields Millburn of the popular blog minimalists.com says, "The best present is presence."

Kendal Perez is a spokeswoman for CouponSherpa.com, a popular source for online, in-store and mobile coupons. She also blogs at Hassle-Free Savings and enjoys yoga, decluttering, craft brew and obsessing over her dogs.