UNITED STATES—I recently had a massive epiphany in the last few days, and it is something that I did not imagine for every aspect of the upcoming holiday season. Gift giving is about to become a lot easier. Why? I am planning to cut the amount of gifts that I purchase for 2024. In previous years, I would do a lot of gift giving, but the trend has changed for the current year.
Why? I did quite a bit in 2023, and as a result, plenty of people who I purchased gifts for never picked them up. Making the matter worse is that they are well aware they have gifts to be picked up and considering we are nearly a year from last Christmas, why go out of my way and do it again in 2024? I know this might sound a bit selfish, but I feel every holiday season I tend to go a bit overboard with the gift giving.
I don’t expect anything in return, but if I’m purchasing gifts I do expect you to come pick up the gifts that I have purchased for you or your kids. Yes, I keep receipts, I like to have a tally of what I have spent each holiday season, but I have to admit it has been a very long time since I actually added things up. With that said, I’m starting to realize I can utilize all that money that has been spent on gift giving to keep things simple, small and save a lot more money in the process.
I tend to be that person that thinks a person has to have a ton of gifts for a person, but no, no, no, you don’t. For 2024, I’m simply asking my nieces and nephews, parents and siblings what it is they want for Christmas and for them to tell me two things. Out of those two things, I will pick one to purchase for them. I am also thinking about putting a limit as well. You can always purchase great gifts for reasonable prices.
I used to think the bigger or the more expensive the better, and that is not always the case. At the end of the day, for some people it’s simply stuff. A lot of the time it is stuff that is never utilized or used and that is a massive problem. We have become a bit too materialistic and that is not what the Christmas holiday is about. Yes, I totally believe the mantra, “It is better to give than to receive.” At the same time, I believe in the mantra, “If you don’t give, how do you expect to receive.”
Sorry, not in 2024, if you haven’t given me a gift in the past three to four years, I’m not going out of my way this year. I want to keep things simple for myself and for my budget. I have a concrete budget in my head and I’m a dealer and wheeler when it comes to finding a deal. I can get fantastic gifts for reasonable prices for all the people that are on my Christmas list this year.
Normally I would have started my Christmas shopping, but I am a little late this year, because there has just been so much stuff going on in my life, Christmas is the last thing that I am thinking about. I’m starting to think about it now, because no matter where you go the Christmas décor and items are everywhere. Hell, I went into an establishment just this past weekend, looking for Halloween stuff. Guess what, I couldn’t find any. Why? All the Christmas stuff was out, and nearly 75 percent of the Halloween stuff was gone, and I mean gone, there was barely any Halloween candy on the shelves and I’m like we still have two weeks before Halloween, why isn’t there more merchandise?
I have my list in my head, I know who I’m buying for and I’m happy with what I have crafted. This is the year, the year where the gift giving is simple, I’m excited and I don’t feel like I have break the bank. America, guess what? You can do the same thing. You just have to decide if you want to commit to it or not, make your gift giving precise so you’re not stressed during what many consider the greatest time of the year.
