Avoiding The Gift Card Default Answer
In our hectic, every day world, we're bombarded with consumer imagery - buying gifts online, giving gift cards, and going after the Must Have Gadget.
This is one of the major leaders in Christmas gift giving stress, and with Black Friday coming up in a few weeks, it's probably niggling at the back of your mind as well.
Focus back on the basics is our advice.
Don't give gifts because you have to give them.
Give gifts that reflect how you feel about a person for those who are most important to you, and save the gift cards for "gifts of obligation".
When focusing on a gift giving guide, think about the tenor of your relationship.
Is there a book or movie that you'd like to talk about with this person?Then buy the book and include a card in it to talk to them about it later.
Or buy the DVD of the movie, and make a presentation out of making a movie date with it.
Does this person have a hobby that they're passionate about?Do you have the time to spend 30 minutes on Google to find out more about it?Or even exchange emails with a couple of other people who share the hobby to get them something special?This highlights the part of gift giving that actually takes work:The research.
Remember also that it's not the item that's important, it's the intention, and the circumstances.
In this way, it's often better to give your gift early, say December 20th, before your recipient gets inundated with parcels, and make a quiet, intimate moment out of giving and receiving.
In a similar light, consider gifts that support causes the person you're giving to supports.
There are, for example, programs that let you buy tools at Home Depot and have a portion of the proceeds go towards redevelopment programs in New Orleans, or carbon offsets in the Third World.
If your recipient has a child, consider getting them the One Laptop Per Child computer, with the option that for every one you buy, you pay for two, with the extra one going to a third world child.
Finally, save the gift cards for people who don't convey enough about what they want to make this sort of insight easy.
Even then, consider getting gift cards with no expiration dates - a surprisingly high percentage of gift cards expire without ever being redeemed - nearly 40% of them, according to the Consumer Protection Agency.
This is one of the major leaders in Christmas gift giving stress, and with Black Friday coming up in a few weeks, it's probably niggling at the back of your mind as well.
Focus back on the basics is our advice.
Don't give gifts because you have to give them.
Give gifts that reflect how you feel about a person for those who are most important to you, and save the gift cards for "gifts of obligation".
When focusing on a gift giving guide, think about the tenor of your relationship.
Is there a book or movie that you'd like to talk about with this person?Then buy the book and include a card in it to talk to them about it later.
Or buy the DVD of the movie, and make a presentation out of making a movie date with it.
Does this person have a hobby that they're passionate about?Do you have the time to spend 30 minutes on Google to find out more about it?Or even exchange emails with a couple of other people who share the hobby to get them something special?This highlights the part of gift giving that actually takes work:The research.
Remember also that it's not the item that's important, it's the intention, and the circumstances.
In this way, it's often better to give your gift early, say December 20th, before your recipient gets inundated with parcels, and make a quiet, intimate moment out of giving and receiving.
In a similar light, consider gifts that support causes the person you're giving to supports.
There are, for example, programs that let you buy tools at Home Depot and have a portion of the proceeds go towards redevelopment programs in New Orleans, or carbon offsets in the Third World.
If your recipient has a child, consider getting them the One Laptop Per Child computer, with the option that for every one you buy, you pay for two, with the extra one going to a third world child.
Finally, save the gift cards for people who don't convey enough about what they want to make this sort of insight easy.
Even then, consider getting gift cards with no expiration dates - a surprisingly high percentage of gift cards expire without ever being redeemed - nearly 40% of them, according to the Consumer Protection Agency.
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