Monday, December 15, 2008

holiday giftgiving 2008

since i am still new to the frugal blogging aspect, i won't be making too many holiday related blogs (because i am still trying to figure all that stuff out myself).

since i am about 1,700 miles away from my family and friends this holiday, i will not be attending/preparing for any special holiday events.

this entry will be more about gift giving.

shopping for xmas gifts is tricky for me every year. for me, the women in my life are always the easiest to shop for, and the men the most difficult and costly.

last year, i decided to be very minimal and buy almost everyone "green" gifts.
this did not go over well with my family.
you should have seen the look on my mother's face when she pulled out a big jug of seventh generation laundry detergent.
not everyone appreciates green gifts.

this year, i decided to go even more minimal.
it's no real secret, i have a pretty dysfunctional family.
you can not spend an hour with these people without some sort of childish bickering going on.
sadly, my siblings are all adults now and should know better.
so, i wanted to find a way to bring them all together in a merrier way (even if it's just for one day).
i am sending them my second favorite game (apples to apples) to enjoy.
it's a simple game to learn and play, it's in a small box so that it creates very little clutter, it was inexpensive, and maybe they will have fun for an hour or two.

i haven't done much shopping for anyone else other than steve and his mom.
everyone else is getting greeting cards in the mail, because i just can not afford much.

steve's mom was fairly easy to shop for.
i know what her hobbies and profession are. that makes it easy sometimes.

steve was not so easy to shop for.
men are just not easy to shop for, for me.
we've been in a relationship for about 7 months, you'd think i'd have some indication of what he likes.
slowly, but surely i picked out a few choice items... but i still don't feel confident in my selections.
my main objective was to buy useful items that would not cause a lot of clutter.
since he is planning to move in with me in march, this means no more knick knacks (like the stuffed black sheep).
hopefully, i will be more prepared for next year.

what is your gift giving strategy this year? do you have a strict budget you are going by? or a theme? all handmade? going green?

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