As December continues to roll on by, out comes the holiday decorations, winter jackets, and textbooks. Yes, you read that right, textbooks. In order for winter break to make its way over, giving us free time to watch movies, bake, and catch up with family and friends, it requires us to make it through the hurdle first, finals. The weeks leading up to finals have a sense of chaos but a glimmer of joy that lies beyond this stress. But that means that we must have our noses buried in homework assignments rather than smelling all the delicious holiday treats. This takes time away from purchasing gifts for loved ones during the holiday season. But no worries, there is a way to go through this dilemma and fix it so there is no need for gift shopping stress!
First, set a spending limit. Setting a limit confirms that you will not go over the spending limit and will be able to make sure that you don’t end up making a financial mistake. This limit that is set should be a max that you can use to also help decide what to get people, but how? Essentially, knowing how much you want to spend in total will ensure that you are spending a certain amount of money on the people you want to buy the gifts for, so you know what price limits the present you want to buy people should be around. For example, if you want 4 people’s presents but know that you can only spend up to $40 dollars since that is your spending limit, you know to buy about a $10 present for everyone. This aids in narrowing down your pool of what items you should choose to buy when it comes to a pricing point of view.
The next step is to make a shopping list. Now, this obviously does not need to be done in the old-fashioned pen and paper way, but it could definitely be done so with a quick scribble in the notes app, or if you want to be even more organized, an Excel sheet is very helpful! With Excel, you can use certain formulas to quickly sum up how much you have spent and how much more money you can spend pertaining to your spending limit. But this is not necessary since as long as someone is well organized, they should be good to go. Now, back to the shopping list, have everyone’s names listed out, and start to brainstorm what each person would want that would fit within the price limit. No matter how expensive or cheap the item is, and as cheesy as it sounds, it really is the thought that counts. Here are some questions to help you brainstorm. What issue is this person currently dealing with, and is there something you can get them to help them out with this situation? What is something that makes this person truly happy? What is something that would be useful in this person’s life? Or if you can’t think of anything, just get them something that is used by many people, such as a new phone case or a water bottle!
Lastly, go shopping! This doesn’t need to be a stressful occasion with the rush and hustle of holiday shopping since online shopping exists. Although, many do enjoy the ambiance built out of the holiday spirit and cheer, especially after a stressful time like finals. There should be deals in many stores as well, making it easier to stay within that spending limit. So when finals start to get closer and closer, much like the time of gift giving, there is no need to stress over either because you’re going to do great on your finals and find presents for your loved ones just in time. Happy Holidays!
