Holiday Spending

Holiday spending can sometimes wreak havoc on budgets. Early on I learned to go shopping the day after Christmas and buy paper, bows and ornaments for the next year. My grandma used to start Christmas shopping on December 26th. Holiday goods at 50% off.

My current tactic is to limit the number of people with whom I exchange gifts; there have been years I have felt obligated to give a gift to someone, and have resented it. Especially when mired under by debt. I worked in a small office a few years ago, and we planned to go out for a nice lunch and not worry about gift exchanges. Until one of the three said she had found the perfect gift for the other two of us. At that point, I felt I had to buy gifts for them so went out and bought something that they'd appreciate but was also inexpensive. That's right, vanilla lotion from Bath & Body Works. Someone had a bottle of it and the other two of us liked it, it was on sale, so perfect! Also a unisex scent.

Since then, I haven't been in a situation in which I've felt obligated to buy someone a gift and have pared down my gift list so it's minimal. I don't wait until November to buy gifts, but buy when I find them. That way, I find things people like and have most of my shopping taken care of by the time peak gift-buying season rolls around. At that point, all I need to do is set aside a few hours for wrapping.

Getting gifts out of the way early leaves more time and money for holiday activities, so there's less of a chance that I'll forego an activity because I haven't completed my holiday shopping. Or worse, be tempted to use a credit card for shopping.

Mixed-Up Holiday Shopping

I'm a firm believer in shopping for holidays year round; I've never been one to purchase generic gifts as some people do.

A friends brother bought his mom, sisters, sil's and nieces each a pearl bracelet for Christmas a few years ago. He had gone on a business trip to the Far East somewhere and brought back generic men's and women's gifts. It's a nice thought, but not terribly personalized, which is great if you're just bringing someone a souvenir from a trip. There seem to be many people who just pick a gift and buy the right number of the same thing.

I can't imagine doing that; I buy gifts when I find them, no matter the time of year. Then I just wrap it up and I'm ready. Some people are easier than others to find gifts for, and there are times that I visit gift shops not because I need a gift at that moment but because I want to see what interesting things they might have. If I see something interesting but think it'll be gone before I need it, I'll buy one on the spot. Other times, I just keep track of interesting items. Or go to that particular store if I need inspiration.

The above linked stores are all local but have a lot of interesting merchandise and I've never gone in looking for a gift and been unable to find something appropriate, though I prefer to encounter things in a more serendipitous manner.

Christmas items are out in full force and tonight I bought cards, at the thrift shop. I need another box or two, but the beauty of it is that I can more closely match the style of the card to the person.