When someone you love is having a birthday, getting married, or celebrating another important milestone, you want to pick a great gift. You also want the gifts that you give over the holidays to reflect your thoughtfulness and generosity. Some smart advance planning and thrifty shopping can help you pick out gifts that wow your loved ones.
Consider the Utility of a Cash Gift
Some gift-givers are reluctant to give cash as a present because it seems unthoughtful. There is an outmoded school of thought that an envelope of bills lacks a certain degree of gift-giving etiquette or decorum. In reality, this isn’t the prevailing attitude about getting gifts. Consider whether you’d really be offended or happy about opening up a card and finding a cash or check?.
If you’re debating whether to give someone money as a gift, ask yourself whether the intended recipient could use it. The only recipients who couldn’t are folks who already have tons of cash on hand. You’re probably better off going with a thoughtful memento for the super-rich folks in your life, but don’t automatically rule out cash when you’re brainstorming ideas on what to give most people.
One advantage of gifting cash is that you don’t have to wait to receive an order from a merchant for your gift to arrive on time, but be sure to use a reliable transfer service whenever you send money. A Ria international money transfer is a safe bet when you have to send money to another country. You can transfer money to someone’s account or you can direct it to a designated location where the recipient can pick up the cash directly.
Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
Ideally, you should get your selection process underway well before the occasion when you need your present wrapped and ready. The most important reason that you don’t want to wait until the last minute is you want to leave as many options open as you can. Waiting until a day before you’re going to give a present means you may have to buy it in person, which might preclude you from ordering something special or getting the best deal on a purchase.
To avoid a time crunch, put events in your calendar as soon as you learn about them. Set reminders a few weeks in advance so dates don’t sneak up on you.
Get Into the Right Mindset To Choose the Perfect Present
Instead of worrying about what you should buy, try to think neutrally about what you need to do. Neutral thinking lends itself to good decision-making. In fact, buying someone something is an opportunity to make someone feel happy and cared for, so you should go about it joyfully.
If the first emotion that you experience when you think about choosing a gift for someone is a twinge of dread, it doesn’t mean that you’re a lousy gift giver. On the contrary, it shows that you really care about giving your friends and family members presents that they’ll truly like.
