Oh, my: We barely said goodbye to Thanksgiving and now the holday sales are in full swing!
Even the radio stations and streaming music channels have started up with the 24-7 holiday music. Thanksgiving has become the red-headed stepchild of holidays.
It’s dizzying how persuasive the ads and promotions can be. Not only should we buy the perfect gifts for family and friends. We are supposed to treat ourselves, too. Half-off, BOGO, Close-out, Clearance….the various sales go on and on…and on!
No wonder January is a sobering month when the bills come due! It’s a financial month of reckoning, to be sure. Not exactly how we’d want to start a new year, right?
How about shunning the retail siren to over-buy?
Start by carving out dedicated time to create your shopping list. Decide who’s on it and what you’d like to gift them.
One of my favorite suggestions (and not just for the hard-to-buy) is to give experiences instead of things. Perhaps a family outing of some sort?
It can range from a simple night at the movies or an Escape The Room night, all the way to a weekend cruise…you choose!
Talk about making memories that will last a lifetime. If you plan this correctly, you may just succeed in avoiding the mall altogether!
And with the unending supply chain snafus, how about considering gift certificates for a massage, a facial or a pedicure?
Of course, there will always be the iconic present we received as a child… a beloved doll, a shiny bike or a pretty necklace. Yet if you think back over your adult years, what stands out more: the gifts or the memories?
What if we plan for the holidays with a focus on “presence” rather than “presents”? Wouldn’t that take a load off our shoulders?