It can be a lot of fun to shop for gifts to give others. But it can also be stressful for some people. After all, you want the gifts to be liked by the person receiving them.
But your anxiety can grow the more gifts you have to buy. At the same time, it gets more expensive when you have to buy several gifts.
So how do you cut back on the stress and expense? Clearly you get 3 or 4 gift people want rather than 10 they may not.
Spend Less on Gifts
Buying 3 or 4 gifts people want is better than 10 they may not want because you’ll spend less money doing it. Let’s look at an example.
If you spend $25 each on 10 presents you will have spent $250. However, if you spend around $30 each for 3 gifts and $50 for one larger gift, you will only spend $140.
You will have saved yourself $90. In addition, when you make certain the gifts are needed or wanted, you will gain favor with the receiver.
Spending less can also help you avoid holiday debt.
Use Less Wrapping Paper
Another reason 3 or 4 gifts people want is better than 10 they may not is because you’ll save on wrapping, ribbons, and bows. Of course, it depends on how large the 3 or 4 gifts are compared to the 10 you could have gotten.
But if you get in a hurry to finish your wrapping you may be forced to resort to using gift bags (and lets face facts, there’s a lot to do during the holidays so you could end up in a time crunch and wrapping at the last minute). Wrapping 10 gifts using $3 dollar gift bags will cost you even more than all that wrapping paper would.
Save on Shipping
Obviously not all gifts must be shipped. However, if you traditionally send many gifts to Grandkids or other family members, fewer gifts will save you money on shipping costs.
Prices for shipping have gone up in the last few years. Not only that, but they are based on size as well as weight. Therefore, the larger and heavier the packages the more it will cost you to send them. In fact, in some cases shipping will cost as much or more than the packages.
The alternative is to ensure you get gifts that are wanted and get fewer of them. That way when you do have to ship some of them, you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get them to their destination.
Eliminate Wastefulness
Unwanted gifts often sit around instead of being used or returned. But when you buy 3 or 4 gifts people want instead of a bunch they may not want you are buying efficiently and eliminating wastefulness.
It makes sense, then, to choose gifts wisely.
Cut Back on Returns
Do you hate standing in line? This is just one more reason why 3 or 4 gifts people want is better than 10 they may not.
Whenever you try to return a gift and get a replacement it takes time. Furthermore, the store return lines are long and you may not even get back the full price of the purchase if you didn’t keep the receipt.
Returns are a pain in the behind. But, you can avoid them by making sure the gifts you give are something that is wanted or needed.
Utilize Time
Shopping for presents takes time out of your busy schedule. When you only have 3 or 4 to get and you already know what to get you don’t spend time hunting for something to buy.
To put it simply, it saves time.
Gift shopping is fun but as you can see, buying 3 or 4 gifts people want is better than 10 they may not. It eliminates stress, cuts back on expense, and provides other benefits as well.
Have you ever given a bunch of gifts to someone they did not want? If so, did you feel it was money wasted?