During special occasions, gift giving becomes somewhat obligatory. Whether it’s birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Easter Sunday, gifts are bought and given to please the people we love. More often than not, buying presents for holidays and special occasions tend to hurt the pocket.
Are you among the many consumers who have incurred debts because of buying expensive gifts? Are you now dreading the special occasions and holidays because that means you have to hurt your finances further when you need to purchase and give presents? Here are some helpful tips that would help make buying and giving gifts more practical.
Set a budget
It is wise to set a budget before buying gifts. To make it more effective, you have to get the resolve to stick to it. Impulsive buying of presents would not do you any good. Thus, it would be ideal if you would make plans for it. Whenever you drop by the mall, try to look for possible gift items and take note of price tags. This way, you would have ideas about what items to buy using specific budgets.
Intend to buy gifts that you could comfortably afford. There is no sense spending too much on presents and resenting your spending at the end of the day. Try not to impress the recipient of the gift. After all, no one complains about the gifts they receive (at least out of ethics). These days, everyone would certainly understand if others get more practical when giving out gifts.
The combined gift
You may opt not to buy individual gifts for couples or families. It is practical to find and buy a present that they could logically share. For example, you could give a set of DVDs to a friend’s or relative’s family so you do not have to buy each of them a gift. For your nephews and nieces, why not buy them a trampoline or any item they could share?
At times, it may be less costly if you treat your family to a day out instead of to buy them presents. You would be surprised how much you could possibly save in doing so. On a special occasion, you may cook for the entire household and turn the celebration into a feast. That could be a perfect gift idea that everyone could surely appreciate.
Shop around
Of course, nothing would beat the value and advantages of shopping around. Before you buy any present for the holiday or for a special occasion, be sure you shop around to find the best items at the most reasonable price tags. Go out and shop when there are discount offers. Never mind the legwork and the crowd.
Compare prices. At times, different retailers could set different price tags for specific items. Find the shop that sells items at lower prices. You may also consider finding and buying other brands. Do not forget to bring discount coupons you find in newspapers and flyers.
As you buy and give gifts, always remember that it is the thought that would surely count. The presents need not be expensive. Those could be items that are truly useful, without being costly.
Andrew loves sharing his frugal tips online. When he is not writing, Andrew helps people to manage their debt with debt consolidation loan
Thanks, Andrew, for your ideas and tips on saving money on gifts! Dear readers: do you have any tips that you use to save money on all of those "obligatory" gifts???
