Take All My Money
Okay, we've got what, eight days left in November? We must get our Christmas shopping finished. In fact, we must get our Christmas shopping started because we have yet to buy a single gift except for that calendar I mentioned yesterday. That's not great, especially because so many people on our list live on the other side of the world from us and shipping always takes some time, but during the holiday mailing season, it takes even longer than normal.
I actually feel a fair amount of stress/anxiety around purchasing Christmas and I've been trying to figure out exactly what those pressure points are so I can take steps to alleviate some of that next year.
First, there's the desire to get the people we love things they will love. I tend to want to give and receive practical gifts (which explains the Roomba Jared gifted me for our anniversary this year) but I understand that not everyone would be excited to open something practical on Christmas morning. It can be hard to know what will be a great gift for family members you only see once every few years. And it would be easier to just get everyone gift cards, but I feel a little bit like that's a cop-out so we don't usually go that route. This is not to say that we won't gratefully and gladly accept gift cards if that's what people want to give because we absolutely will. The only solution that I can really think of is to ask people for a wish list but I've got to say that then I feel bad about myself for not knowing them well enough to just pick the perfect gift without any suggestions or guidance.
I also want to make sure that I'm not getting anyone something too similar to a previous year's gift. Jared and I were talking yesterday about what we could get his sister this year and he suggested a teapot and some tea. Very British and since it's our last Christmas here, our last chance to go the here's a gift from the place we live route. But I know we sent her a bunch of German teas when we were living there and I think we may have sent her British teas and biscuits (cookies) last year. This is an easy fix - keep a record of what gifts we give people from year to year. I think I need to start some sort of Google doc for that.
Growing up, my Mom was a great example of budgeting and planning ahead so I feel bad about not following her example. I'm pretty sure she would begin her Christmas shopping on December 26th at the post-Christmas sales. And she definitely kept a record of what gifts she gave to people because I remember snooping as a kid so I could see what I was getting for Christmas. In general, I think she would complete all the shopping by July-ish? I feel like I'm betraying the family legacy when it's November 21st and I'm scrambling to fill up my online shopping cart with something, anything, just to say the Christmas shopping is complete!
So yes Amazon and other associated online retailers, you can take all my money so I can check this item off my list and let go of the anxiety and just enjoy Christmastime. How do you guys handle Christmas gift-giving? Are you early shoppers or late? Do you track gifts from year to year? Tell me what I can do to make this process easier!
I actually feel a fair amount of stress/anxiety around purchasing Christmas and I've been trying to figure out exactly what those pressure points are so I can take steps to alleviate some of that next year.
First, there's the desire to get the people we love things they will love. I tend to want to give and receive practical gifts (which explains the Roomba Jared gifted me for our anniversary this year) but I understand that not everyone would be excited to open something practical on Christmas morning. It can be hard to know what will be a great gift for family members you only see once every few years. And it would be easier to just get everyone gift cards, but I feel a little bit like that's a cop-out so we don't usually go that route. This is not to say that we won't gratefully and gladly accept gift cards if that's what people want to give because we absolutely will. The only solution that I can really think of is to ask people for a wish list but I've got to say that then I feel bad about myself for not knowing them well enough to just pick the perfect gift without any suggestions or guidance.
I also want to make sure that I'm not getting anyone something too similar to a previous year's gift. Jared and I were talking yesterday about what we could get his sister this year and he suggested a teapot and some tea. Very British and since it's our last Christmas here, our last chance to go the here's a gift from the place we live route. But I know we sent her a bunch of German teas when we were living there and I think we may have sent her British teas and biscuits (cookies) last year. This is an easy fix - keep a record of what gifts we give people from year to year. I think I need to start some sort of Google doc for that.
Growing up, my Mom was a great example of budgeting and planning ahead so I feel bad about not following her example. I'm pretty sure she would begin her Christmas shopping on December 26th at the post-Christmas sales. And she definitely kept a record of what gifts she gave to people because I remember snooping as a kid so I could see what I was getting for Christmas. In general, I think she would complete all the shopping by July-ish? I feel like I'm betraying the family legacy when it's November 21st and I'm scrambling to fill up my online shopping cart with something, anything, just to say the Christmas shopping is complete!
So yes Amazon and other associated online retailers, you can take all my money so I can check this item off my list and let go of the anxiety and just enjoy Christmastime. How do you guys handle Christmas gift-giving? Are you early shoppers or late? Do you track gifts from year to year? Tell me what I can do to make this process easier!
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