Not everyone measures holiday joy by the number of gifts under the tree.

When one man asked for “nothing at all” for Christmas, his girlfriend delivered a clever plan that would honor his request, while still causing a little holiday mischief.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one!

Wholesome Christmas compliance

I don’t like Christmas—not since I was a teenager.

As you can guess, I’m not keen on giving or receiving gifts unless they’re under a certain value or something I actually want.

He’s set very strict rules around gift giving.

Too often, I get stuff I don’t use for ages, or if I do get something I want, it’s expensive.

So as a rule, if I get something that goes over my limit for my birthday or Christmas, the next gift-giving occasion for me is skipped.

His girlfriend, on the other hand, loves giving gifts.

While my girlfriend understands this, she doesn’t always agree with it.

Here’s where she gets devious.

She had already purchased him a great birthday gift, so for Christmas, he said he didn’t want anything.

Last birthday, I received three role-playing manuals, each worth a pretty penny.

So for Christmas, I told her I wanted nothing at all, since she had already spent enough on my birthday.

She didn’t like this idea, but eventually gave in — or so he thought.

She tried to argue, but I shut it down quickly after explaining my feelings and citing the cost of the birthday presents. She said fine—she would get me “nothing at all.”

Come last Christmas, I was with her family on Christmas morning when she handed me a wrapped present.

He looked at the gift, puzzled.

There were some giggles from the family as my face darkened, but I accepted the gift and started unwrapping it.

Remember the game pass the parcel? That was the style of wrapping.

He couldn’t believe what he found inside.

When I finally got to the end, I found a small test tube with a piece of paper inside. On it was Ned Flanders in the skin-tight ski suit saying, “Nothing at all.”

The gift had cost her a grand total of nothing. All the materials were offcuts or little knickknacks she had collected over the year.

My response was simple: well played.

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No money was spent, no rules were broken, and the joke landed perfectly.

This commenter urges this man to not be too much of a Scrooge about gifts — especially around the holidays.

This user also brings up love languages.

On the other hand, receiving gifts can be awkward for some people.

Turns out “nothing at all” can be a pretty great gift when it’s wrapped in effort and a little humor.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.