If asked, most people would admit that gift giving is the biggest stresses when it comes to the holidays.
Gift giving is supposed to give you a great feeling on the inside. It is a way to share and to acknowledge our loved ones during this special season.
But many times gift giving doesn’t feel that way because it is considered one of the biggest stresses.
You have to decide what to buy, where to buy it, wrap it, ship it and/or deliver it. That’s a lot of work! Yet once you have a gift buying list, gift ideas, past gift lists for reference and supplies on-hand, holiday gift giving can be an enjoyable process.
How do you determine your gift list? How many people can you reasonably handle buying gifts for year? Is there a magic number….maybe 6 – 10? Maybe you feel that you can’t exclude anyone. All I can say is when your list of names is manageable you will enjoy the season.
Here are some ideas for taming your gift list more manageable:
- Draw names
- Buy family gifts
- Buy couple gifts
- Limit the age of extended family members you give to
- Buy gift cards
- Buy themed gifts
- Repeat the same gift. For example for all couples give the same gift.
It is important to learn your limits and writing the list on paper gives you the perfect overview. And you can keep fine tuning the process each year.
So stop whatever is frustrating you and stop feeling guilty. You will enjoy the holiday and feel less stressed if you give yourself this gift.
It is also important to evaluate your reason or motive for giving someone a gift. If it is for your benefit and not out of love, it is useless. Approaching your gift list this way will make it more meaningful and fun!