Christmas Gift Guide for Family
Christmas shopping for family can difficult. Family is important to you, and you want to find perfect gifts for everyone. But where do you start? These simple rules and guidelines will help you make a plan and a budget. You’ll be on your way to great gifts in no time!
The Rules of Family Giving:
Buying for all the members of your immediate family, their spouses and children gets very costly. It’s also a lot of work. Suggest doing a gift exchange, where each family member chooses a name out of hat and buys for that person. Most families only do this for adults, and still buy gifts for the children.
To avoid last minute shopping, make a list of all the family members you want to buy for and any ideas that come to mind. Keep the list with you so you can write down new ideas as they come to you. You can also keep track of spending, favorite stores and clothing sizes. This will make shopping much easier and less stressful.
It’s easy to get carried away with spending on family members, especially the little ones. Try to do away with the impulse buying by keeping your list handy. Choose a maximum monetary amount to spend on each person. Do not exceed this amount. Shoppers get into trouble when they start buying gifts early and hiding them. Often they forget about the gifts and end up buying more.
Gifts represent love and relationship status, so giving a more expensive gift to one child or one set of parents implies unequal value and favoritism. It may make an in-law or step child feel like he/she isn’t a real part of the family or cause resentment between siblings. To avoid problems like these, try to give gifts of equal perceived value.
Since gifts are symbolic of personal feelings, make sure your family gifts say what you want them to. For immediate family members, sentimental and keepsake gifts might be most cherished. Personalized and sentimental gifts are great for family members. Mom might like a photo gift like a picture frame or photo throw, engraved jewelry or a mother’s ring. Maybe Dad would love a personalized poker set, chess set or sports gift. Look at the person’s hobbies, interests and personal style and choose a gift based on those factors.
Rather than buying separate gifts for couples, consider giving them a joint gift they can share or use together. It will cut down on the expenses a little bit, and at the same time promote together time for the couple. Some good couple’s gifts are a gift certificate for a nice restaurant or spa day, a bottle of wine or Champaign, a trip, a gourmet food basket or home accessories. Just make sure it’s not aimed at one person more than the other.
Everyone has that one grumpy family member who treats Christmas like an inconvenience. That uncle, grandparent or cousin is easily overlooked in the gift giving process. Maybe you’ve gotten him the same shirt and tie for the past three years. Go out of your way this year, and find a gift that will send a different message. Maybe that will make all the difference and brighten the holiday for the whole family.
Although we all want to think we’ve chosen the perfect gift for every person, it’s not always the case. Sometimes the sizing is wrong or he/she receives a duplicate gift. Be safe and make sure to include a receipt (preferably a gift receipt), to assure the gift can be returned or exchanged. You don’t want someone to have to keep a gift he/she doesn’t like or will never use.
Good luck and happy shopping!
