Holiday time is here and with the time of cheer comes the pressure of shopping and gifting. Buying and wrapping gifts for family and friends are one of the most gratifying things one can do however, they rip a very large hole in one’s pocket. A hole, most students cannot afford. The essence of the entire process of presenting gifts to those in our lives is to express gratitude and to make them feel loves during the cold season.
Due to my uncooperative bank account, I came up with a bunch of possible ideas to achieve the above aims without needing to starve yourself.
1. Tell them
Write letters, or even a small note. Make it personal and add some anecdotes from your relationship to make them feel a little special. Before everyone breaks up for the vacation and heads off in every possible from London, back home, express what you feel about all the people who made this semester memorable. Friendships consist of constant bickering, and hilarious insult hurling, so why not add a few moments of expressing gratitude into the mix. It will be a nice balance.
2. Spend Time With Them
Weather this is virtually or in person, spend some time with the people around us. It is also the end of semester, so make a list of all the people you did not spend as much time with as you would have liked and use this time of year (when motivation levels are drooping, everyone is frustrated and ready for a break and bright lights and holiday cheer fills the air) to go and stroll around markets and parks or if time is not on your side, even get a cup of hot chocolate.
3. Holiday offers are your best friend
It is virtually impossible to not give into the “capitalist scheme” that holidays have begun to become. You cannot not get at least some people gifts. My advice – as much as back Friday and Cyber Monday deals are not very helpful, they can be a great tool to use to save a couple bucks while doing your necessary shopping. The biggest problem is that it is most natural to start picking up things for yourself. That’s where the money vanishes before we realise it.
The happiness you see on someone’s face when you get the, an expensive gift does not compare even nearly to when you give them a well thought out gift from the heart. So, as obvious as this is, take your time to think about what you could potentially give someone because this allows you the ability to accommodate the price aspect. One of the many reasons we spend a lot of money on gifts is because we end up becoming frantic last minute shoppers.
So this holiday season, let’s care for our wallets just as much as we do our family and friends whilst also having the most loved, happy and memorable holiday time, no matter what you celebrate!