The Holiday is season not only the busiest time of year, it is also the most expensive. Between gifts for loved ones, friends, and those for acquaintances you don’t consider members of either category yet who awkwardly gave you a gift, holiday shopping can take massive toll on any budget, especially the meager one of a college student.
Of course Etsy, Pinterest and Martha Stewart offer an abundance of options for Do-It-Yourself enthusiasts. However for those of us without access to an abundance of creative talent or the hot glue gun necessary for such artsy endeavors, there is still hope. A few simple tricks allows the average Deisian to keep everyone on his or her list without going broke.
Most obviously, for the gifts themselves: think small and simple. Baked goods, festively wrapped, take only a few dollars to assemble, and can serve as gifts for multiple friends. Besides, what is more conducive to spreading holiday cheer than the wafting aroma of freshly baked Holiday cookies? Other simple ideas include offering to pay for a coffee, or guest mealing a friend at Usdan or Einsteins, as we all know most of those go unused anyway, and the time spent together during a cup of coffee or meal, will likely be more memorable than any grander, more expensive gift would have been.
Less obviously, another area that leaches time and money is wrapping. Far too much time and money is devoted to the packaging of gifts, materials, which, in end, are thrown away. Here one simple solution proves most effective: Reuse! Not only will your wallet thank you, but the environment will as well. Between previously used wrapping paper in perfect condition, and newspapers and magazines that fill our world and recycle bins, modern life offers a plethora of options with which to wrap gifts. Besides, you’ll likely get extra points from the receiver for not only going green, but also employing a little extra creativity.
In the end: less is more. Holiday gifting is about the gesture, not the gift itself. If the friend, family member, or seldom-appreciated acquaintance, you’re giving to cannot remember that, well he or she probably isn’t worth the gift at all.