Our Guide to Christmas Gift Ideas

As the Christmas season rapidly approaches, let's discuss and decide what gifts to give this year. This is the first step in shopping. Be honest with yourself about what you can afford to spend if anything. Consider trying to find the right gift for a person that is 39 cents. 39 cents is the amount used as the cut off point for our Christmas exchange in grade school. I would lose sleep the night before with excitement to give and receive those gifts. Make this Christmas about the fun and fellowship with family and friends. If you can afford 39$ for someone, great, we can look for gift ideas also. The point is 39 cents or 39$ or 3900$, it should not be one bit about the price of the gift. It should be about what you can do without strapping yourself for cash or having credit card bills arrive which you can only afford to pay minimum or less by the due dates. Oh and yes, it should be about the giving.

Of course, with the above said: if you have children under the age of 18 you probably do not want to give them your old 8-track player, unless he or she would be into it and it works and you have some cool tunes. Then this would be a great gift. This article is really about all of the "gifting" we do that are not those placed under the tree for a Christmas morning with our loved ones. It is about the gifts we deliver, the gifts we mail, the gifts we ship, the mail(person)man gifts, the paper(person)boy gifts, the hairdresser gifts, the teacher gifts, those gifts we present to guests who visit our homes and those that are kept just in case we need to suck a gift out of our thumbs.

Free or very little $ options:

Invite your friends over for dinner, just the friend no significant other or children or pets. Schedule the family or house mate(s) conveniently out for the evening and hostess or host a great party for your pals. Pull out some of that old glassware you never use. Use linen, be festive! Try not to buy anything extra to decorate for the party, use what you have! Focus on the food and drink and budget for that. Just have cookies and coffee if that is all you can give. If someone offers to bring something and you need it - accept. If it is a great friend and you need them to bring something, ask. It is about the party. Have fun and laugh with your friends for the evening. Everyone receives a gift. And remember just because it is cookies and coffee does not mean you cannot afford to order in pizzas - it may simply mean you or a guest would not have that much time/energy to have a meal. Consider your guests and consider yourself and you will have a fabulous relaxing evening.

Opt to get every adult the same thing, this declutters your to do list in a very amazing way.

Shop from home - re-gift something you have used in your home. Think of the items you cannot part with but have not used for a year, or you have duplicates. If you are uncomfortable with giving people your used stuff this is not an option for you. How nice would it be though to hear the story or read the card for the reason you selected this gift just for them. Your selections may be corny or useful, there are many items in stock if you are like most of us.

If you give your neighbors gifts - make it a coffee/tea combo package with English muffins and a jar of jam or muffin mix in a nice basket you already have. If you do not give your neighbors gifts, do not add this to your list because you now feel compelled to do so. Give what you can, it takes time to make and deliver these as well as money. Maybe wait and give it as a Christmas in July gift.

Love to bake? I smell gift!

Do you know how to make candy? Viola…

Spend $ options:

Spend some time comparison shopping online. If you are buying physical gifts and gadgets, most likely the stores which you are a patron of have a website. Use their sites to look at and read about the items on your list. Compare prices - make your lists from there. Look for online exclusives and free shipping. Some stores have free shipping if you pick up your order at the store. The possibilities are endless. You can even watch a shop at home television show and go to their web site later to order. I have found the site froogle.com to be very useful too. You are able to search by price range and brand, this is good information to have for budgeting and planning your shopping excursions.

Again, opt to get every adult the same thing, this declutters your to do list in a very amazing way.

Buy gift cards for places one may frequent such as the grocery store, corner drug store or coffee place. Choose cards that are used in regular day to day shopping. If the person would rather have clothing, then buy a gift card from a clothing store for this person.

One of the things to keep in mind is that most of us are fortunate enough to go out and get what we need and want. Maybe taking time to visit and forget the adult gifts at every party is not such a bad idea. Perhaps give to someone more in need and do it in the name of the person you skip gifting this year. And remember don't try to pull this on your kids.