Posted by Lending Club :: April 16, 2008 @ 7:30 am

When it comes to gifts, they say it’s the thought that counts. From a personal perspective, I certainly believe that. I have a hard time when people ask me for gift ideas. Perhaps it’s my frugal nature, or the fact that I’ve budgeted for desired purchases, but there isn’t much that I really want.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, it often takes depriving myself of a planned purchase to come up with a gift idea. So I may continue to wear sneakers in need of replacement, just so that someone will be able to get me something that I really need. I guess that means that I often try to offer needed items to would be gift givers instead of wanted items. Again, this returns to the fact that I live a simple life and don’t really have any wants. If I don’t give a suggestion, that doesn’t mean I’ll get something I don’t like, it just tends to be something that I wouldn’t have spent my money on.

So gifts that I receive either fulfill a need that I’ve been depriving myself of, or they get me something that I wouldn’t have spent money on to begin with. In this way, either gift is somewhat of a waste. As a result of this line of thinking, everyone in my family has begun spending less on “stuff” as gifts, and more on the gift of ourselves. We do this by spending money to travel to see each other, to eat well during the visit, and get prints made of the digital pictures we take. Most purchases wear out over time, but the memories we make endure.

It’s easy to get caught up in the pattern of buying more and more lavish gifts for one another to outdo what we’ve done in the past. It seems to me that a gift twice as expensive isn’t necessarily twice as good. If credit card debt mounts to pay for such extravagance, then the value added diminishes even more.

By giving successively more thoughtful gifts, while reducing the amount spent, you can make the transition more smoothly. Once you make the decision to curtail spending on gift giving, you can make small steps to reach your personal finance goals.