Let’s face the odd: Christmas is the most stressful and probably nonsense period of the year, at least in the western culture. More than ever now, in this unprecedented times. This means something different depending on the personal context of each one of us… but for me, and I am sure also to other millions, this means: spending these holidays far form our our families.
This still doesn’t save me from watching uncountable hours of videos on YouTube, and from overthinking about finding some decent gift ideas for my beloved ones. I want to share with you the 5 steps I am following to survive this holiday, and I hope they’ll be useful for you as well.
TLDN; in a nutshell: budget but be ready to overspend a bit, think about alternatives, don't try to please and impress everyone, wallet with crypto is both a yes and a nope, gift cards are impersonal but can work.
1) Set up a budget, but don't be obsessed with it
How boring does this sound, eh? Even if I hate budgeting, this has slowly became a healthy habit throughout my journey to the financial minimalism. The rule number one of budgeting during this Christmas might sound gross, but we all are humans, so: don't be obsessed with it and be prepared to overspend a little bit. At the end, you may want to buy an extra silly pair of socks also to the forgotten aunty. So the catch is: make a list of the people who deserve, and assign an amount for each gift and (try to) stick to it.
2) Have a plan B because Amazon is your friend... except when their are not
Well, if it's not clear enough, the majority of my gifts will be bough online. Even better if the shop will wrap them up for me, as I suck at that. Well, here is the catch: Black Friday on one hand, hight demand later on Cyber Monday... and your wish list will soon be composed by a bunch of stuff that are out of stock for the whole December! Be ready to have a plan B. You are running out of time? Sounds familiar, I know... skim out anything like Gear Patrol or Cosmopolitan, just to name two, to get inspired. And yeah, I know: gift cards are your friends, for real. But this deserves a dedicated topic.
3) Be honest with yourself... it's just another Christmas, don't play big
Here it comes the moment of truth: it's just Christmas. Unless you don't feel it so deeply, as the best moment of the year for giving back, there is no obligation of buying extremely costly shits. I used to make this mistake on every Xmas, as I often wanted to gift the best of the best: latest and greatest phone to my brother, expensive jewellery to my partner, high end luxury clothes for my best friends... and the list can go on. The reality is that it's just another Christmas! I am not trying to downplay the moment, but let's be honest, it's not the first holiday and hopefully nor the latest.
4) What about sending some Crypto and gifting with a wallet? Mmm...
What about a "no"? This is the very first Christmas I am seriously considering this option and I came up, while budgeting, with a list of friends I could gift with BCH or BTC. There is too much to talk about for this option, but let me try to simplify. While the idea is noble, it's partially wrong in its fundamental: it's very likely that the person would not understand the gift itself, or that he/she would lose the wallet (up to you to save the mnemonic seed for later); and, even worse ever chance, that that person would cash it out right away. Thus my conclusion is still work in progress, I somehow made up my mind with this: I will be considering to give this present only to whom I truly trust.
5) Gift cards, yes or no? Plan B and C altogether
Yes, gift cards are truly your friends. I don't know about you, but at my eyes those are the less personal choice you can ever come up with. Personally I will try to avoid them as much as possible. However, they are functional and this is undeniable. I always tried to avoid this option, but a pandemic is a once in a hundred years singularity, so they really come handy. If you, like me, wish to add an additional layer of "personalised touch", you can always suggest what were you thinking of buying for that person. Tips are always welcomed for the receiver but never mandatory. Another pro for the gift cards, is the you can have them shipped physically in fancy boxes. Good luck with that, in case of a lockdown...
That's it folk, I don't think these are easy steps but so far they work for me. Curious to read more about yours in the comments if you will.
Very helpful. Thank you so much!