Most families have this senario, a certain time of the year is more expensive than others. In our family September hits and starts the gift giving season. Ten birthdays and Christmas all in 4 months time. Certain members of our family prepare for this time of the year January through August, *cough* us *cough*. It just so happens that during these 4 months both of our children have birthdays, 7 weeks and 1 week before Christmas. If we don’t prepare we will have no fun during these 4 months because we will be super stressed out about all the money.
We usually get through September, but by October we are asking people for gift ideas. It never fails from a certain member of our family we hear a list of super expensive things, and then “or just get me gift cards.” As someone who takes pride in the gift you are given you have just slapped me in the face. Numberous times my husband (who is not this family member) has tried to explain to me his family’s obsession with cash and gift card gifts. When you come from a family of less than great gift givers, I get it. Opening a gift card tells you two things. One, how much I think you are worth (monetarily) and two, that I don’t care about you enough to put thought into a gift for you. How special do you feel when you open a gift card?
Asking for a gift card does just as much damage. It tells the person giving you a gift, you cannot pick out a decent gift, so don’t even try. Then when it is found out you didn’t even use the gift card and it was used by a different member of your family to purchase you a gift the next year – double whack!
How do you combat the “just give me a gift card” mentality? Become a good gift giver. Get to know who you are giving the gift to, what are they interested in, and take the time to shop to find that perfect gift. That is where the problem usually comes in, people do not take the time to shop. For example, this family member likes to drink beer, enjoys science fiction, camps, hunts and canoes. These are all things that I keep in mind when shopping. As the gift giver you will know you did a good job because there is a genuine smile on Christmas morning or the birthday. You did your job, you made them feel special. If you take the time to become a good gift giver you can actually spend less than the amount you were going to get on the gift card and give more of a gift.
Here is a specific example. If you are going to make your money go further you need to shop early and look for deals. Our nephew loves Transformers. I found a coupon for $5 off a $5.99 or up purchase. This was a manufacture coupon, so I could have used it wherever printable coupons are accepted. We were at Target and the $14.99 toys were on sale for $9.99. I had 3 of these coupons and was able to get $5 off the $9.99. I was going to get these toys for $4.99 each. Purchased at full price it would have been $45.00, with sales and coupons the price was $15. Now I have our nephew’s birthday gift and part of his Christmas gift purchased for $10 under his birthday gift budget. I will be adding a $20.00 (his Christmas toy budget) video game to his Christmas gift and for $35 dollars I have him done, toy wise. If we were to just give gift cards we would have spent $15 more, sure I could have given him a $10 gift card for his birthday and $25 for Christmas but thinking from the gift receiver’s point of view, isn’t it more fun to open $65 worth of toys vs a gift card for $25?
Granted, it is easy to be a good gift giver when it comes to children. They are easy and let you know what they want (however, at 9 our nephew has already asked for gift cards). The same concepts apply to adults. Have ideas of what you are looking for, how much you want to spend, and take the time to do it.