————————————————————————————————————————
Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
————————————————————————————————————————
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer Travis. Travis is a customer blogger for CareOne Debt Relief Services, and also appears weekly at Enemy of Debt. Travis candidly shares his personal journey to pay off $109,000 of credit card debt and the tips he’s learned along the way. As a father and husband, he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.
We were having trouble coordinating a date for a small Christmas family gathering with my wife’s immediate family. We didn’t even know if it was even going to happen until some previous commitments changed, and suddenly, the weekend before Christmas was open. It was to be a very small, informal gathering, allowing us to spend time with each other during the Holidays. Because it had come together so quickly, there hadn’t been any mention of exchanging gifts until literally the day before the event. This sparked a frenzy of phone calls between all involved requesting gift ideas. With the limited time remaining, everyone’s answer was the same:
A gift card to iTunes, favorite clothing store, restaurant, etc.
We had a great time talking, playing games, and catching up. My brother-in-law had been out of town for several months attending National Guard officer training, and I had missed our usual back and forth bantering during football season. Spending time with him and the other family members would have been enough, but we did have gifts to exchange. We opened our gift cards, acted surprised, and thanked one another.
I couldn’t help but think that all we had done is exchange money with each other.
It was the definition of exchanging gifts just for sake of exchanging gifts, and quite frankly, it turned out to be rather expensive. Buying a gift card of a meaningful value for several people (6 in this case) adds up. We did receive almost the exact same value of gift cards in return, but they are to specific stores which is not the same as cash in your checking account.
If we’re going to exchange gifts with loved ones, I sincerely believe that a Christmas list is not needed. The amount of money isn’t important, but there certainly should be creativity and an element of surprise involved.
Let me explain what I mean.
I never ask my wife what she wants for Christmas (or anniversary, or birthday). As her husband, nobody spends more time with her or knows her likes and dislikes better than I do. It should be easy for me to come up with a meaningful gift for her without asking. The best part of buying someone a gift is to have them completely unaware of what you are doing. My normal mode of operation is to consciously listen for her to say phrases similar to, “Oooh, I’d like one of those.”
I remember walking through a department store earlier this year when she pointed at an electric throw blanket and asked if I remembered the one that had stopped working a few years prior. I chuckled and recounted how we would watch the Minnesota Vikings football game, then she would curl up in a ball under her electric blanket and take a nap. During a separate shopping trip, she found a memory foam pillow that she had fallen in love with, looked at me and said very irritably, “I sure could use a new pillow. How old ARE ours anyway?”
The two things instantly collided in my mind into Christmas present perfection.
What could be a better present combination for my nap loving wife than a new pillow and an electric throw blanket? The blanket was something she wanted, and the pillow was something she needed. However, she had expressed interest in them far enough in advance to the holidays such that she was completely surprised that they were given as gifts. Add some stocking stuffers in the form of a bag of Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles (favorite treat) and a new paddle brush (my daughter and her have been sharing one) and I had completed Christmas shopping for my wife.
The grand total for my wife’s gifts was $68. It’s may not have been overly romantic, exciting, or expensive, but she loved them. How do I know?
The entire time I’ve been writing this post, she’s been on the couch with her new pillow and blanket. Taking a nap.
How about you? Did you have any gift exchanges that you could have done without this year? How do you decide what to buy for your significant other and how much did you spend this year?
***Photo courtesy of Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
