Christmas Presents

Presents

Buying presents is probably the hardest, most frustrating, time consuming and expensive part of Christmas.

Try these tips to make present finding and buying a little easier. These ideas aren't new and they may break from the way you traditionally approach Christmas presents. You may find some of the suggestions little strange or hard to stick to, but......

When you are trying to save money.....

• Make as many presents as you can. Gifts from the kitchen are great. See our edible gift ideas if you're stuck for things to make. If you have children, get them to make things too.
  


• If you have a family Christmas get together with presents, why not put everyone's name in a hat, get everyone to pick a name and that person gets a present for the person they have drawn.

If you have to buy presents try following these ideas.

• Avoid that last minute rush and buy your presents throughout the year, but remember to keep a record of your purchases. You can save lots of money buying things on special and during sales.

If you're not that organised try the following to help prevent over spending.

Before you go shopping.....

Set a budget !

You may want this to be a budget for each person or an overall budget. What ever way you choose get a total figure for the amount you are going to spend.

If you take the per person/family option add it all up and decide if you can afford the amount. If you can't, cut down on what you want to spend for each person or family.

Make a shopping list !

• STICK to the list
• STICK to the budget
• DON'T impulse buy

If you need some gift ideas, we have 101 suggestions to get you started. We are working on 101 gift wrapping ideas. We haven't quite got there yet but see what we have so far.

If you have any ideas you would like to share, send them to the chiefelf@digitalelves.co.nz