I love teaching Nia, but it does not earn as much as my corporate job. I have always loved shopping for Christmas presents. I am a catalog shopper. My hubby and I tend to watch the same movies over and over, so while we are watching V For Vendetta for the 50th time, I will thumb through a catalog. Plus at one time catalog shopping was not that common and very unique items could be acquired that way. Now with the internet you can get anything from anywhere so many things are not as unique. I don’t shop that much any longer. My friends, family, and I are very blessed and we have enough, so I don’t buy them all the cute decorations any longer. I try to stick to stuff that will be used, sometimes I really feel strongly about something that might not rank up there in usefulness so I succumb, but mostly we try to keep it useful. I am not one to go out and do my shopping all at once. To me that makes it a chore. I like to do my shopping throughout the year. So I just look and if I see something that I think someone will like, I get it. For me that also helps out with the I-don’t-make-corporate-bucks because it spreads the cost out over the year. One problem with shopping all year long is I don’t have a lot of space to put stuff because I have so much stuff. So I end up putting it in odd places wherever it will fit. Yes, I have forgotten about things. Just recently I gave someone a birthday present I bought for her years ago because I forgot about it. Found it. Forgot about it. Found it again . . . and you get the picture. Which leads me to my point — yes, I have a point! Instead of keeping a list of what I have gotten over the year I have been taking pictures. I am finding this to be much easier to keep track. I can just glance at the picture and remember exactly what I got for whom.
I must not have taken very good notes in the past because I would look at the list and think, “What? What kind of ‘funny T-shirt’ did I get him?” Then I would have to go look at the actual shirt to know which one I got so I didn’t buy the same thing. I mean I bought it once it would make sense that I would be attracted to it again right. And yes, you would think I could remember what I bought, but sometimes if stuff is on sale you buy it, then months later you remember you like it but forgot you bought it. So I am finding that this picture record keeping is working very well.
For some people I buy a few things, so I just piled it all together and took the picture and labeled that picture “So and so”. So now I know if I am “done” with that person’s give buying or if I want to get a few more things. Then I have all the pictures in one folder on my computer and I just pop in there to see, “Did I by her something already or not?” So much easier than trying to decipher my list.
Also with the picture I can snap a shot of where I have hidden the item so I won’t forget that either! Yeah, I have done that too, I know I have purchased it but I can’t remember where I stashed it. Yeah, I should just clean out a closet and have a designated space, but . . . . for now I have adopted this new method that seems to be working just great!
Do you shop early for Christmas gifts? Are you a Christmas Eve shopper? Do spread out your gift buying?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 