Families across the country are putting their holiday budgets on a diet this year, and one way to rein in spending is with a fun and affordable White Elephant gift-giving party, which might also be called a Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa. If you’re not familiar, the game involves a group of revelers taking turns giving, choosing and stealing gifts from each other — gifts that are funny, strange, outrageous and cheap.

                By                    Andrew Lisa

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It’s an enduring and beloved tradition because it lets people participate in the holiday spirit with a low cover charge — just a single inexpensive gift buys you entry. Each group agrees to its own price range, but White Elephant Rules says $20 is the typical maximum spend. No matter who makes up your group, the point is always the same — to buy the gift that everyone tries to steal.

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Novelty Appliances

If your group’s maximum is a little higher at $30 or even $25, you can get zanier with things like a mini popcorn maker or a toaster made only for hot dogs and buns.

Adult Games

There is now an endless variety of grown-up card games, board games, trivia games and party games, many of which can be yours for inside of $20 — and they perfectly match the atmosphere of a traditional White Elephant party.

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Cocktail Kits

You can opt for a just-add-booze kit made for mixing specific cocktails — old fashioneds, mojitos, margaritas, Moscow mules, etc. Or you can gift the lucky winner a bartending kit that can be used for party after party, complete with tools like a mixing cup, shaker, a bartender’s spoon, Hawthorne strainer, tongs and a jigger.

Novelty Books

The current year’s “Guinness World Records” book is always a winner at White Elephant parties, and you can get the authentic hardcover version for less than $16 — but that’s hardly the only novelty book that fits the occasion. Timeless childhood classics like “Where the Sidewalk Ends” spark nostalgia and are sure to be the target of many attempted White Elephant thefts — the hardcover in that case costs less than $12.

The novelty book category doesn’t have defined parameters but might include books of jokes, biographies of peculiar people or collections of strange facts or pictures.

Desktop Games

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