The 12 Better Days of Christmas

The Christmas wreaths hanging in the store window say "Noel", "Peace", and "Joy". Yet you are rushing out of that store and on to the next one feeling completely stressed out. You need to buy more Christmas gifts, but your running out of money, time, and ideas. You thought Christmas was to be a time of celebration, but as you pass through more and more check out lines you are getting further away from a festive holiday mood. Save the elephants volunteer

Christmas gifts for family or anyone else are nice but should never make you stressed or depressed. With all the self applied pressure to give great Christmas gifts it is easy to end up in debt and unsatisfied.

Is it possible to have peace and happiness in addition to frugality and saving time? Yes. I propose the following 12 new ways of looking at Christmas that will save your time and your money and make this Christmas more meaningful than ever before.

The two most important things you can do are to be aware of what is important and meaningful to the people you care about and plan ahead. Knowing what is important to your loved ones will allow you to find better ways to make their Christmas special without worrying about your bank account and credit cards. Knowing how, when, and where to find those special things will make Christmas gift shopping an exciting experience rather than an unpleasant one.

1st Day of Christmas

Refer to this year's gift game plan.

What is it: A gift game plan is a list you keep during the year that notes the things that you've learned are important and meaningful to the people close to you.

Why: When you give something from your gift game plan you and the receiver of the gift do better because your gift has a value that is much higher than just the purchase price.

Example: Christmas is coming, you have little money, and you want to give your sister a gift that is inexpensive, but will be meaningful to her. You see a note on your gift giving game plan that she mentioned back in May that she loved a particular bowling ball in the public use racks at the bowling alley. It is transparent, has blue sprinkles throughout it, and has just the right finger hole sizes. She tries to hide it every time she is done bowling so she can find it easily next time she comes in. You are a regular customer at the alley and approach owner. It turned out that she is willing to sell you this ball because she wants to buy new balls for the alley anyway. She takes your offer of $10 for this used ball and even has the pro shop polish it and engrave your sister's name onto it for an additional $5. You didn't have to spend much money, but your sister is thrilled by the effort you made and that she now owns the "sprinkle ball"!

Action Plan: As a gift giver a better way to ensure that your gift will be appreciated is to make sure you know what is important to the gift receiver. During the year keep a holiday gift list. Every time someone important to you mentions something that is meaningful to them write that down on your holiday gift list. Same goes if they mention something they would really like to own or a problem they would really like to have solved. If you keep this list current you will have lots of ideas on what to get as momentous gifts for Christmas. You will find that often the best gifts / the things that mean the most to your family and friends don't cost as much as the things you would have bought instead just so you had something to put under the tree.

2nd Day of Christmas

Create beautiful memories instead of ugly debt.

What is it: While there are people who create debt for themselves during the holidays by giving gifts you can inexpensively create a unique memento to a special memory from the past year.

Why: Ever hear that a picture is worth a thousand words? A creatively documented memory could be worth thousands of dollars to the person receiving it!

Example: Want a meaningful gift that will not put you in debt? Think about recreating a special moment from the year with pictures. I once took a picture of a friend who was bowling with her 4 year old daughter who had never bowled before. The picture showed my friend at the bowling line with her daughter while assisting her with her very first roll. I had the picture enlarged to an 8x10 shot and put it in a nice frame I bought on sale during the fall clearance. My total investment in this gift which memorialized this special moment was about $8.00.

Action Plan: Be on the lookout throughout the year for ways to memorialize special events. Collect new and old pictures, video or audio clips, certificates, ticket stubs, and other objects that you can use to remember a special day. Create a collage of pictures. Give a video of the "big game" to the soccer star in your family. Scan an old picture and have it printed as a poster.

3rd Day of Christmas

Write a letter not a card.

What it is: A short, handwritten note or letter that you include with a gift where you would have typically put a greeting card.

Why: When you receive a handwritten letter from someone there is a message you receive before even reading it. It says that the writer cares. Only people that care enough about you, the message, or both take the time to actually handwrite a letter.

Example: You were laid off for almost 8 months this year and are not in a financial position to buy a gift for your friend Chad. Chad helped you find your new job, however, and you want show him that you are grateful for his help this year. You hand write a letter to Chad and tell him that he is the example of what a true friend is, that you appreciate him, and that you will be there for him if he ever needs help as well. You include a picture of yourself sitting at your new work area and write "Thanks for getting me here Chad!". Chad feels special and important. You acknowledged his effort and documented your gratitude in special way.

Action Plan: Remember something special about that person from this past year and write a short note about it along with a "Merry Christmas". Tell them you think about them, love them, care about them.

4th Day of Christmas

Leverage your dollar when making holiday purchases.

What is it: Leveraging your money means creating ways to get more value out of your purchase. Find the sellers that need your money and leverage your willingness to buy into a better deal.

Why: In order to regularly improve your lifestyle and stay ahead of increasing living expenses you must be able to get more value for your money than is typically offered.

Example: A rule of thumb in leveraging your money is to get 25% more or pay 25% less. For example, you need four new tires for your car. You determine that $100.00 per tire is a fair and reasonable price. In order to leverage your money appropriately you should find a way to buy four tires for $300.00 (75% of $400.00) or get an additional $100.00 value for your $400.00 purchase. If you find a "Buy 3 Get 1 Free" sale you will get 4 tires for $300.00. If you a free oil change, free tire rotations, and a $50.00 restaurant gift card in addition to your $400.00 tire purchase you leveraged another $100.00 of value out of your purchase.

Action Plan: Christmas is the best time of year to get extra for your money. Once you have decided what it is you need to purchase figure out a fair price and then seek out the seller who can beat it. That means, for example, that you get more of the goods your purchase, more favorable payment terms, longer or more inclusive warranties, a 25% or better discount off of a true "good" price (not the inflated "compare at" price), free and faster delivery, cash back, free trips / rooms / meals / clothes / gifts cards, or any combination of these and other incentives.

5th Day of Christmas

The labor of love - give your time and labor instead of your money.

What is it: Everyone has two important assets - your time and your money. Instead of disproportionately using just one of your primary assets (money) for gift giving seek balance by finding opportunities to give your time as well.

Why: You can potentially leverage your time and skills to give a gift that is much more valuable to someone than just another store bought box. What can you fix, solve, or handle for someone? With your time you can help someone solve a costly problem, assist them in some way to make their life easier, or fix something in their home that is broken.Elephant charities

Example: Your paycheck may not be the best indicator of what your time is worth. Your employer may pay you $10.00 per hour. However, if you spent an hour working on your mom's car, changing the oil/rotating the tires/washing it, that hour of labor you gave your mom may be worth $30.00 to her.

Action Plan: Again, being attentive to the people who are important to you will shed light on what are their burning issues. During the course of the year these people will have mentioned many problems that they are facing and your time can be of value in solving those problems. Give them a meaningful gift by solving their problem and saving your money!

6th Day of Christmas

White elephant gift giving - one man's old boots is boy's dream come true.

What is it: The best gifts are not always brand new but may come with lots of mileage and loaded with character.

Why: Everyone's sense of value is different. That gift you find may be old, but is perfect for the person you want to give it to because perhaps this gift packs lots of nostalgia, completes a collector's masterpiece, or even replaces a long lost memory.

Example: Mike, at the age of six, wanted to be a fireman. Mike's first grade class had just visited the fire station. They got to sit in the fire trucks, use the sirens and lights, look at the tools and hoses, and turn on the alarm at the station. He was very excited about pretending to be a fireman for the day.

At Christmas his parents gave him a fireman's previously used boots and coat along with a cheap toy fireman helmet. Mike thought he had died and gone to heaven and reacted accordingly. Of course, the boots and coat did not fit and Mike's parents had bought what was basically garbage to the firefighters for a tiny donation to the volunteer fire department, but that didn't matter to Mike. He had real fireman equipment and you couldn't have bought him a better gift. Volunteer Sri Lanka

Action Plan: In your travels during the year look for items that can be acquired for little cost and would be valuable to someone you want to give a gift to. As resources for such gifts look at live and online auctions, estate sales, garage sales, antique shops, online and newspaper classified ads, and even your own attic.