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Who to Buy For
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 Christmas tends to bring out the generous side in all of us.
Perhaps it’s the smell of pine, or the long holidays clearly in sight. Maybe it’s the late night shopping or the twinkly street lights in our main centres. Or maybe it’s just in our DNA, our natural need to go crazy and spend our life savings spoiling those we love and even those we don’t.
Last Christmas New Zealanders spent $125 million. Will it be the same or even more for 2006? Before you reduce your bank manager to a quivering, emotional mess, think before charging ahead and keep your bank balance in a healthy state for the holidays.
Of course Christmas is a time for giving, but that doesn’t mean financially dissolving yourself. The key here is to making a firm decision on who to buy for and who to skip off the list.
 Budget Blow-Out
Think realistically about your budget. What dollar amount do you want to spend on each person? Is the gift you are thinking of worthwhile to that person? Every year one of my distant relatives sends me a ridiculously expensive moisturiser that I am allergic to. I have half a dozen of these, which I can’t bear to throw out and like most people in this situation, don’t have the heart to tell the gift giver how totally wonderful but sadly unusable her gift is to me.
Who’s on the Cut List?
Unless your budget is sky high, the only way to avoid drowning financially at Christmas is to buy less. Creating a list of everyone you would like to buy for, then reducing it to everyone you should buy for will help with the elimination. Buying small worthwhile gifts for your immediate family and then close friends if the budget stretches is more than sufficient.
 Go Old School
Rather than go broke at this time of year trying to please and impress people with your generosity, invest in some good quality Christmas cards and mail them to their home addresses. Doing this will show you are thinking of that person at Christmas and that you have gone to the effort to choose a quality greeting card and ensured they receive it by mailing it. Hand delivering Christmas cards usually brings the temptation of buying extra gifts “just to go with the card”.
Online Greetings
Quite possibly the best invention – The e-greeting card. So far you have made your lists, reduced them down to who gets a gift and who gets a card in the post, but there may still be a bunch of other people you would like to acknowledge, like workmates, or distant friends and acquaintances. The online e-greeting card is a perfect choice, not only do they cost you nothing but your online time, they can be very funny and easily forward-able on to others. Try www.hoopsandyoyo.com or www.hallmark.com
Ask yourself?
Still having problems deciding on who gets a gift? Ask yourself the following questions. Three “YES” answers means a green light to go ahead with a present…
Do I see this person on a regular basis?Have they done something superb this year where a Christmas gift would show my appreciation?Will my budget allow the purchase of this gift?
Merry Christmas!
Lou Draper
 Need help getting on top of your finances this Christmas? Head to www.westpac.co.nz. They have heaps of great solutions to make your money
work for you. |
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