As I progress through this gift giving season, I have been faced with a dilemma. I have been getting great deals on the presents I'm giving left and right, which I am very excited about. So what's the problem? I don't know whether or not to share that the gifts I bought were on sale.
This doesn't really sound like a very big problem, I know. Except I don't want it to seem like I spent too much money on their Christmas gifts. If someone gives me a gift or gifts that are much bigger or more expensive than what I give them, then I feel pretty bad. I wouldn't want to make anybody feel bad on Christmas. On the other hand, I am averaging about 50% off the retail price, which essentially doubles my Christmas budget. I want to, and planned to, use my Christmas budget to the max. Nor do I want to brag about how well my shopping went (to them, anyway, blog readers are fair game:)).
Some people are easy - my husband, for example knows exactly what I spent on his gifts, and my mom always loves a good bargain. With my pared-down Christmas list, most of the people on it are people I can share the deals with. It's not like I'm shy about being frugal - it's a well-known fact. And some of my gifts are pretty obviously low-cost. I hope that those don't make me look cheap. What problems to have - half too expensive and half too cheap. :)
I think my best bet is to be honest as much as I can, but keep a little bit of mystery. If someone asks me how much something cost and I don't want to share, I'll just say "Exactly as much as I wanted to spend." Case closed!
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2 comments:
I think we have lost sight of the purpose of gift giving. I think the purpose of the gift is not how much we spend on each other, but the fact that we care about each other and think enough of each other to give a gift, no matter what it cost.
You have a good plan to tell them that you spent as much as yo wanted to spend. It's unfortunate that anyone (including family members) has to ask.
If you are saving 50%, I'd get everyone a little bit more in the gift department, but maintain some of the savings for yourself.
So if you have $100 budgeted for someone, spend the $50 to get the $100 value, and then get them something else worth $20-25. You'll seem generous and you'll come in 25-30% under budget.
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