Celebrate the holidays with friends on a tight budget

My friends and I have created a holiday tradition that I believe many others would enjoy as well because it involves getting together with friends, enjoying food and exchanging gifts - but costs almost nothing. It is called a Recycled Yankee Swap Pot Luck

A pot luck is when everyone brings a dish and whatever they would like to drink to the party, therefore, no one has to worry about footing the bill for food and beverages and you end up with a wide variety of wonderful food prepared by your friends. For anyone who either does not cook, a simple bag of chips or nothing at all is acceptable. There is always more than enough food to go around.

A Yankee Swap is when everyone brings a gift. The twist is that the gift cannot be something you purchase, it has to be something from your home that you no longer want, but something that is useful in some way (a pile of books or one good book, a planter, a picture, a gift you received that you didn't really like, etc.) This is the recycled twist we put on the Yankee Swap.

The gifts are put in a pile on the floor and everyone pulls a number from a hat to decide who goes first. Number one goes first, and so on. The first person chooses a gift from the pile and opens it. The next person can either choose a gift from the pile, or take a gift that someone else has already opened. If someone has their gift taken, they can either take a gift from someone else, or take another gift from the pile on the floor and open it. When this is done among friends, it becomes pretty obvious if someone really loves what they have chosen, therefore, people are pretty good about not taking it from them. It ends when the last gift is opened, and person No. 1 has an opportunity to then swap because they only had the chance to open.

Each year someone brings a pretty amazing item, such as a bread maker that was only used once. One year I received a set of plant pots that were simply beautiful. Often people will put together a stack of books. It is wicked fun, inexpensive, and you never know what will show up. The best part is that it offers an opportunity for everyone to get together, share wonderful food and engage in the pleasure of gift giving, minus the economic stress and encouraging recycling.