How to Plan Ahead for the Gift-Giving Season Like a Pro

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22% of Americans think that their Christmas spending will leave them with debt, and over 60% purchase their gifts just a week before Christmas. However, both issues can easily be avoided with some planning ahead and simple budgeting. Whether you want the gift-giving process to be less stressful and more organized, or you simply yearn to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list, here are some tips that can make the entire experience much more enjoyable.
gift giving

Thinking ahead

When planning to give a gift, it’s important to think ahead, ideally weeks before the occasion. Making a list of everyone you plan on buying a gift for can easily create a visual and organized reference of your recipients, and can ensure that you haven’t left anyone out. After that, reflecting on gift ideas for each person can help to narrow down your hunt for the perfect one. It’s important to realize that adding a personalized touch can make the gift-giving experience go a long way in making it extra special for your recipient. One way to do so is by taking your recipient’s interests into consideration. For example, if you have a nephew that enjoys building things, then a K’NEX roller coaster building set could be the ideal solution, as it can let him play in multiple ways – not to mention the fact that it’s educational and has easy to follow instructions, which makes it perfect for young children.

Budgeting – there’s an app for that

Staying within a budget is a common difficulty when buying gifts, as it’s extremely easy to over or under spend. This can be made more complicated when there are multiple people on your list to buy for. By making use of gift-budgeting apps, you can easily keep track of your list of recipients, as well as your spending habits each time that you purchase a gift. For example, one app called ‘Christmas Gift List’ not only allows you to do just that, but also allows you to archive your list for future reference so that you can look back and keep track of what you’ve bought in the past, so that you don’t forget anyone’s preferences year to year.
Gift giving is an enjoyable experience for anyone, though the thought of purchasing the right gift for everyone on your list can oftentimes bring unnecessary anxiety to the experience. For such reasons, it’s important to plan ahead by getting gift ideas beforehand, and perhaps make use of helpful tools like budget-tracking apps.