Are You Making Any Of These Gift-Giving Mistakes?
How to avoid gift giving blunders
Gift-giving mistakes do happen. I'm sure that you've received many a gift that wasn't quite the right size, or the right present at all. In order to avoid doing this to anyone else and to yourself, there are some guidelines that can help you choose a great gift without losing your mind in the process.
This is not a good start to gift buying.
Feeling the pinch
Here's the reality for most of us: we only have so much money for gift buying. And the other piece of this puzzle is that we also have many more people that we want to show our appreciation for.
What to do?
First of all, it truly is the thought that counts. No one is going to be adding up the price of your gift or gifts for them.
The biggest blunder
Guilt should not be the motivating force in Christmas gift giving. It really isn't about buying what all the ‘other kids' have or making sure that everyone is ‘even' in the amount of presents.
Think of it this way.
If you buy something for Aunt Mildred, but make something for your mom, then you've gotten two items on your gift list taken care of, right?
What happens now is that you start to feel like your mom should have something else because the home made gift just wasn't enough.
And so you spend more, repeating the cycle until your credit card is exhausted.
Instead of doing this, you will need to be a little disciplined. I have found that making out a budget for your gift list is helpful. Determine how much you want to spend on each person and then don't go over it. What you will find is that you can normally stay well under the number. Thank goodness.
Christmas gift giving isn't about making sure that everyone has the gift of their dreams, but it's about making sure that you express your love for the special people in your life. It really isn't about the gift.