The holidays are here. That means time with family and friends, hopefully a little less time working, college football bowl games, and doing things that are important to you. The holidays also come with pressure to consume–notice the abundance of car commercials with snow and a bow, department store ads, and jewelry sales.
The focus of this post is to help everyone navigate the next few weeks with some common sense holiday shopping tips. I don’t want to be one of those personal finance writers that says the holidays are bad and filled with consumerism. I think the holidays are great, but I also believe we all need to make them work for our given situation, values, goals, and needs.
Buying your significant other the car of his or her dreams with a bow on the hood might work for some people, but it’s not a one-size-fits all approach. What works for some, doesn’t work for everyone. Here are some common sense holiday shopping tips that you can make work for your own situation.
Number 1: Determine What You Want to Spend
The choice is yours here. Determine the amount of money you want to spend on holiday shopping. Don’t worry about what others are spending or what the advertisements say to do. Figure out what you want to spend and go from there.
Everyone is going to have a different answer here. You may have less than $500 to your name and want to spend a few thousand on gifts, but that’s not necessarily a realistic expectation. That will be worked out in the remaining steps.
You may also be a multi-millionaire and want to spend under a thousand. There’s no right or wrong answer here as the logistics will be worked out in future steps. This is just a preliminary step to help get your values in order.
Related:
- How Value-Based Spending Can Change Your Life
- Value-Based Spending: How to Create a Budget Around What You Value
Number 2: Create a Max Budget
Ok, so the first of the common sense holiday shopping tips was kind of a fun one. It didn’t factor in how much money you have or what you can afford to spend–it just factored in what you want to spend, not what you actually have the ability to spend. The second tip takes us back to reality.
Determine a max budget for all the gifts you are going to purchase. It’s fine to go under that amount, but it’s not ok to go over. This is your absolute max budget, so it’s not negotiable to exceed it. And there’s no rationalizing going over.
This step will give you a solid base before actually going shopping (including online shopping). Stick to this number and you’re going to be just fine.
Number 3: Ask People
Any of these look familiar?
- “I wonder what such and such person would like?”
- “He never likes any of my gifts.”
- “Such and such person is so hard to shop for.”
All of these statements involve guesswork. Guessing what someone wants, what they might like, their current interests, etc. Instead, what if we just asked people what they want? It might be something really simple like an Amazon gift card or tickets to a game.
Both of these gifts can be ordered online and require a minimal amount of time and effort. Most importantly, it’s getting the person what they want. If someone just wants an Amazon gift card, why spend the time walking around the mall searching for gift ideas?
Asking creates simplicity and gives you the ability to give someone what they actually want.
Number 4: Don’t Try and Impress Others
Number four on the list of common sense holiday shopping tips is to not try and impress others. Giving gifts is supposed to be about showing we care and giving people something they’d like, not about showing them how many resources we have or how much we’re willing to spend.
What holds more value, a $10 gift that someone really likes or a $200 gift the person doesn’t care about? We might think the $200 gift because it shows a willingness to spend a lot of money, but my vote is for the less expensive gift the person really likes.
People care about the way we make them feel, not about the material goods we provide. When we try and impress others, it might work some of the time, but the majority of the time it leaves both parties feeling empty and unfulfilled.
Number 5: Focus on What Really Matters
A natural follow up to the last tip is to focus on what really matters. The holiday spirit is supposed to be about goodwill, friends, family, and time together. It’s kind of turned into something else for many people, but it’s important to go back and focus on what really matters.
What really matters to you during these holidays? Think about it and maybe even make a list. Whatever it is that’s important to you, make it a focus of this holiday season. For the unimportant, consider eliminating them.
Number 6: You Can’t Get Everything on the List
This is an important tip, especially for those with kids. And that’s to remember that you’re not going to be able to buy everything on someone’s list. It sounds obvious but there are a lot of people-pleasers who want to get it all for their friends and family.
There’s nothing wrong with setting some boundaries. I don’t think anyone expects you to get it all–and children need to be taught this. So relax and don’t put so much pressure on yourself to get it all, it’s not possible.
Number 7: Nobody Needs it All
We’re in an age of consumerism. People have their closets and houses full of things they don’t need, use, or even know they have. Storage units are rented for years at a time while the items inside them go unused.
Nobody needs it all, including everything on their Christmas wish list. Find out a couple items the person really wants and try to get those if possible. Just like the last tip suggests, it’s impossible to get it all. Furthermore, nobody needs it all.
Number 8: Gift Draws
Eighth on the list of common sense holiday shopping tips is to use gift draws. This works especially well for big families. Instead of getting a gift for each and every person, do a gift draw and focus on one person.
This is something my family used to do when I was a teenager. I actually scoffed at it in the beginning because it meant I was getting less presents, but now it really makes sense. Keep the focus on one person, get them something nice, and someone will do the same for you.
Gift draws eliminate the need to shop for ten or more people, or feel the obligation to get them “something small.” Most of which things end up getting donated or thrown away within a year or two.
Gift draws can be modified as well. Many families who use gift draws include the adults and teenagers while the little kids each get something. Or immediate family exchanges gifts while the gift draws are for extended relatives like aunts and uncles. The beauty is you make the rules and do what works for you and your family.
Number 9: Get Shopping Done Early
“Shopping” used to mean spending hours at the mall carrying a bunch of bags. Now it can mean clicking online and getting everything done in less than an hour or two. Or some combination of both.
Getting shopping done early provides two large benefits. Number one is there is less stress as the looming holiday deadline fast approaches.
Number two is that it provides for more opportunity to find deals. If someone starts their shopping a month or two before the actual holiday, there’s ample opportunity to find deals.
You may find that great deal early November, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or early December. Point being, there is more time to find the deals and you can be more selective in price and overall value. That’s opposed to someone waiting until December 23rd when there’s not a lot of time left.
Number 10: Remember What the Holidays Are About and Enjoy Them
The last tip is to remember what the holidays are about and have fun. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed with family and friends. It’s not supposed to be a stressful time with hustle and bustle and worrying about if Uncle Mack or a third cousin you see once a year will like their gift or not.
Try to slow down, relax, and remember what the holidays are about. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, the hard work you put in all year, and the time you have with family and friends.
Conclusion
The holidays don’t have to be a stress-filled time worrying about having enough money to buy gifts for every person in the family. These common sense holiday shopping tips are designed to take the stress out of the holidays and help you come up with some viable alternatives to make things more enjoyable.
Stressing about each gift that you buy and dreading the next credit card statement is not a good way to spend the holidays. Nor is carrying a credit card balance for the next six months because you overspent on holiday shopping. There is another way.
Do you have a holiday shopping strategy? How do you keep stress to a minimum?
