| |
| |
|
lovelyholidays.org
|
|
|
|
The Holiday Shopping Experience - Rewarding or Traumatic?
Picture this scenario! It's December 24th, the day of Christmas Eve. On this day you should be relaxing, enjoying time with family and thinking of all the precious memories you have created throughout the year. No, wait! It's the last day of shopping before Christmas and you haven't even started to do your gift shopping. You get into your car and fight traffic all the way to the local mall, only to spend an hour trying to find a parking spot. That is if you find one at all. You enter the mall in search of the perfect gifts and there is a stampede of people. Looks like everyone else is doing last minute shopping too! You dodge the nudging elbows and stomping feet of the crowds. You're starting to feel claustrophobic, your stress level is starting to increase and you haven't even begun shopping yet! Sound familiar? To top it all off, you browse through the stores only to find that meager offerings remain. The shelves are practically empty. What happens then? You spend too much money on something that your gift recipient neither needs or wants. Their gift wasn't chosen for them...it was chosen out of desperation. Once again, you remind yourself that you will prepare far in advance for Christmas next year. The next Holiday Season arrives and you repeat the same traumatic shopping experience. How many of us have waited until the very last moment to buy a gift for a loved one, friend or business associate? There is only three months left until Christmas and those days will go quickly. Christmas is one of the most stressful events of the year. The expense of buying gifts and the pressure of last minute shopping can all take the joy out of the most joyful time of year. Here are some tips to take the stress out of Holiday shopping this year: 1) Make a list of the people you will be buying a gift for before you go shopping. If you have a large family or friends to buy gifts for, it can get expensive. In our family, we have made the decision to buy only for the children. Another way to reduce costs is to have everyone draw a name out of a hat and buy a present only for that person. 2) Think of gift ideas for the people on your list and write them down. What are their hobbies and interests? What are their needs and wants? If you cannot come up with anything, ask the person directly for ideas. This will save you time wandering aimlessly in the mall in search of a gift and you will give a gift that your gift recipient really wants and will appreciate. 3) Buy a few extra gifts, for instance chocolates, so that you will be prepared just in case you forgot somebody or an unexpected guest arrives bearing gifts. 4) If possible, start your Holiday shopping a month or two before Christmas. It is never to early to prepare! 5) Don't forget about online shopping! Buy your gifts over the internet. You can find most gifts online, shop at your own convenience and you won't have to step foot in a mall. If you follow these tips, you are on your way to a rewarding shopping experience and a less stressful Holiday Season. We all must remember that Christmas is a joyful time of year. It's not about the gift you give or receive but it is about cherishing the special people in your life and spending time with them. Create new traditions and memories that will be with you for a lifetime. Copyright 2004 Written by Lee-Anne Robert, owner of Cuddles 'n Gifts at http://www.cuddlesngifts.net featuring holiday gift baskets and gifts for any occasion. Check out the new Holiday and Christmas Gift Basket selection. With gifts this beautiful and classy, you will find a gift for anyone on your list!
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Holiday Spending: How to Keep Your Personal Information Safe Holiday spending can be a wonderful time. We shop for our loved ones, friends, co-workers, and associates. Valentines Day - Where Did THAT Come From? Just as soon as the stores put away their Christmas merchandise, out comes the Valentine's Day items - even though Valentine's is still more than six weeks away.I don't know why, but it always takes me by surprise to see Valentine's Day merchandise so soon after Christmas. 30th Birthday Gift Ideas Choosing a birthday gift for a friend about to turn thirty years old can be a challenging task. You want to honor the special day with a unique gift, but not necessarily draw attention to their age. Christmas Gifts For Bird Lovers Choosing gifts for any animal lovers can be quite a pleasure, as it is often a gift that is shared by the recipient with her animal friends or pets. This is especially so with bird lover gifts. St. Patricks Day Quotations "It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody. Unique Mothers Day Gift - No More Flowers and Chocolate With Mother's Day approaching fast, it's time to begin thinking about how best to express how much Mommy Dearest means to us. If you're like most, Mother's Day has become a routine that consists of a greeting card, a bouquet of flowers, and a phone call to say "I love you". Easy Costumes Kids Can Make The kindergarten class I was teaching was scheduled to perform a dramatic recitation. We needed several flower and bumblebee costumes. Tribute to Dad Father's Day should not be the only day that we celebrate Dads. I think we should make Fathers feel special all year long!As a wife and mother I would like to celebrate husbands with children. 5 Tips to Reduce Holiday Depression As the holidays approach each year, more and more people suffer from Holiday Depression.Some experts blame it on factors relating to nutrition. The Thanksgiving Blessing "Wouldn't you just know it," muttered my husband, Randy.We had already been driving for a couple of hours in a pickup truck that we had borrowed from a friend, and now it was completely dark. Cornucopia Centerpiece for Thanksgiving Day As we enter into the month of November my thoughts turn towards Thanksgiving and everything that this wonderful holiday has to offer.It is a time for spending time with family and friends and for counting the many blessings the past year has brought to us. 5 Most Popular Styles of Christmas Ornaments Traditionally Christmas ornaments were bulbs of all the same color which were placed randomly throughout your Christmas tree. Over the past few decades, Christmas ornaments have developed into elaborate pieces of art which are delicately planned out and placed throughout the Christmas tree. Valentines Day Flowers Flowers & Valentine's Day go hand in hand. Your Valentine will be so thrilled to receive a beautiful flower arrangement! Of course, Roses are known for their association with love. Traditional VS. Modern Anniversary Gifts Most people are familiar with the traditional materials list that good etiquette requires us use as a guide when selecting a gift to commemorate a wedding anniversary. If you are like most people, you might find it a bit challenging to convert the materials on the list into an acceptable gift idea. Terrible at choosing gifts? Need help with gifts? Not everyone is good at choosing them. But there's more to gift giving than getting gift ideas from someone else. Keeping Christmas Spirit Alive: Christmas Just Isn't The Same Without Santa Claus! Holidays may come and go but some holidays, like Christmas, should never change. Most folks have a favorite holiday and for many it is Christmas. Its Never Too Early To Shop For Christmas Every year we go through the same process of making our list of people we need to buy for and agonize over those one or two people that are almost impossible to buy for. You spend all that time at the mall or online trying to find an appropriate gift that says care and attention went into this gift. Choosing A Great Gift For A Polar Bear Lover Do you know someone who is absolutely crazy about polar bears? Choosing a polar bear gift for a friend or loved one can be a lot of fun because there are so many choices out there, and luckily the price range is wide enough so that anyone can choose a great polar bear gift.Of course, sometimes having a lot of choices can be a problem, too. Fathers Day Gift Guide Fathers Day is the one day of the year when you can really show your dad how much he means to you.Dads spend 364 days of the year looking after you so its only right that you spoil them rotten one day of the yearFathers and GiftsWhilst most fathers are notoriously difficult to buy gifts for a bit of thought can produce some great gift ideas. Valentines Day Rapport How to develop and heighten rapport on Valentines Day beyond your wildest dreams!With Valentines day on the doorstep for another year here is way of enhancing those romantic occasions. In thinking about something pertinent to Valentines, I thought I would write about a topic that fascinates me; developing rapport.
|
|
Powered By: Work At Home With Google - FREE! |
| © 2006 |
