When do you start buying gifts for the holiday?

[bjl584]

Do you wait until black friday or even later?
Or do you start early or maybe even buy things throughout the year?

[Like2Plan]

That is a good question. I prefer to give gift cards, so that would be after BF.

Although, sometimes (during the year) I find something that seems to be perfect for someone on our Christmas gift list and I buy it. Unfortunately, I can't wait to give them the gift (nor can I keep a secret) so I usually just present the gift the next time we meet (and I end up giving the gift cards for Christmas. )

[myrdale]

I start in September and try to have everything wrapped up *snickers* by Thanksgiving.

[ua_guy]

I usually try to be done by December but in reality I'm generally stressing up to the week of trying to find a gift idea or hoping something will arrive on time. I hate retail Christmas and all the fake-forced crap that goes with it. It's become a season of obligation and stress when the meaning for me is supposed to be completely opposite. I'm not religious, I don't truly identify as pagan, but I can get behind winter and celebrating the coming season of renewal. And that doesn't/shouldn't involve obligation or stress.

[disneysteve]

We buy gifts as we think of them. We don't wait until Black Friday. In fact, I think my wife had everything bought and wrapped by then. I picked up my wife's birthday gift on Saturday as they had a BOGO sale. DD also had all of her gifts bought by then and wrapped them all yesterday.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i buy it as it comes. I see somethig that works i buy it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I give $50 bills to nieces & nephew & grand nieces and grand nephew, $250 in total mailed to their respective addresses. Easy & zero stress (ie, not driving to a store, not standing in line at a store, not driving back home, etc). Just put envelopes in USPS mail a week or 2 before bah-hum-bug day.

[kork13]

It varies. We have stuff stashed in the closet that will be given as gifts whenever appropriate, even if that's 1-2 years in the future. When we come across something that's perfect for someone, we'll grab it regardless of when it is & hold onto it for them next birthday or Christmas. As we approach the last week before Christmas, we're mostly just looking for stocking stuffers, perhaps a couple random things specifically sought after for a particular person.

We also generally have tried to reduce the "things" that we buy for people, and instead aim for "experience" gifts. Additionally, we try to limit physical gifts to 4 categories, 1 gift apiece: "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read." Following those categories keep the "stuff" under control, while we can plan trips or adventures or lessons or whatever for people in addition as our creativity guides us.

Another thing we've done within our families (now that we're adults) is to setup a gift-giving rotation every year. Everyone gifts to the parents (or we team up for bigger things), and parents gift to their kids ... But among us siblings, we only give to one sibling each year -- everyone gives to one sibling, and receives from one sibling. It allows us to offer better, more focused gifts. In DW's family, we're gifting to her younger sister this year -- we're going to buy plane tickets for her to visit us in Japan, and take her traveling over the course of a month or three (she's got very flexible time, so multiple months overseas is no problem for her).

[myrdale]

I hate retail Christmas and all the fake-forced crap that goes with it. It's become a season of obligation and stress when the meaning for me is supposed to be completely opposite. I'm not religious, I don't truly identify as pagan, but I can get behind winter and celebrating the coming season of renewal. And that doesn't/shouldn't involve obligation or stress.

I think calling Christmas a seasonal obligation is about as accurate of a statement as one could make from a cultural standpoint.

So much of the practice of modern Christianity is inherently pagan and people don't even realize it.

Jeremiah 10 instructs NOT to bring a tree into your house and decorate it.

Communion is arguably a cannibalistic practice.

A lot of the architecture, steeples and entry ways are fertility references.

I wouldn't stress on gift buying at all. Probably 25% of the gifts I receive I will never use and they tend to get tossed after 1 year (I keep them that long out of obligation and give myself a chance to change my mind). I'd assume the math is probably the same for the gifts I give others.

[disneysteve]

Probably 25% of the gifts I receive I will never use and they tend to get tossed after 1 year (I keep them that long out of obligation and give myself a chance to change my mind). I'd assume the math is probably the same for the gifts I give others.

I just read an article about gift giving. It said that focusing on what the recipient wants and needs has the greatest outcome. Don't give personal gifts just because you're close to the individual. More general and more practical gifts that will actually get used are far better. So many givers stress over finding just the right thing for each person. The result is typically something very targeted to that person who may or may not want it. For example, you know your sister shops at H&M so you get her an H&M gift card when an Amazon gift card would be far more useful to her and much more appreciated. It feels less thoughtful to you, but not to her. Giving mom and dad new cooking utensils because you've noticed their's are pretty worn out is much better than getting them personalized coffee mugs when they already have a closet full of mugs including their favorites that they use every day. The mugs will get buried or even given away. The utensils will be used and appreciated daily.

Keep it simple. Keep it general. Keep it practical. Don't focus on the wow factor when they open the present. Focus on how much use they'll actually get out of the gift.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i too have also given gifts of experiences. I prefer also to get gifts of experiences. but i realized it's a priliveged position to be in to have "everything" you can want. And don't really "need" something. Although I will say that some of it is when you have "enough" you are able to buy everything you want or need. Then it's hard to buy for those people and be bought for. Because you aren't about to buy a crazy expensive $20k or even $5k bracelet for your sister or mom. But that would be the only thing that maybe they "want" they don't buy for themselves.

[kork13]

That's definitely the same dynamic that I've found as well -- as my family has become more wealthy & able to purchase most "wants" without concern, the best gifts are those that someone COULD buy for themselves, but they WON'T because of personal resistance or otherwise. If not those, then the experiences make great gifts.