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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to keep track of the gifts you give

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Speaker 1: each year. Not only will this help you avoid unintentional duplicates,

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Speaker 1: your records will help you make better and faster decisions

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Speaker 1: about what to get for all of your family and friends.

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Speaker 1: I have a lot of kids, so Christmas inevitably involves

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Speaker 1: a lot of gift buying. Each year, I keep track

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Speaker 1: in a little notebook of what I plan to get

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Speaker 1: and what I have bought for each of the kids.

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Speaker 1: I will admit that a big reason I started doing

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Speaker 1: this was to make sure it was all about equal.

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Speaker 1: When you have five kids, this is a major consideration.

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Speaker 1: But since I am already tracking for my kids, I

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Speaker 1: also keep a list for my husband and other family members,

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Speaker 1: friends and employees. I have been doing this for a

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Speaker 1: few years now, and at some point in last year's

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Speaker 1: shopping I had the happy realization that these records meant

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Speaker 1: I could look back on past years and see the

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Speaker 1: gifts of Christmas past. I could compare my ideas for

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Speaker 1: this year to what I had given in the past,

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Speaker 1: and remember things that had worked particularly well. It strikes

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Speaker 1: me that perhaps not everyone does this, and if you don't,

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Speaker 1: let me suggest that this is the year you start

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Speaker 1: keeping track of gifts. That way, future you will have

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Speaker 1: a list of your own gifts of Christmas past. This

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Speaker 1: list does several good things. First, reviewing it means you

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Speaker 1: won't inadvertently give a person the same gift two years

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Speaker 1: in a row. Some gifts are totally fine to read gives.

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Speaker 1: Go ahead and give your aunt that cheese sampler she

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Speaker 1: loves for a decade if you'd like, But your aunt

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Speaker 1: does not need multiple copies of, say, the Robert Carolyndon

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Speaker 1: Johnson biographies. If you can't remember if you actually followed

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Speaker 1: through on that idea or not, your list will tell

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Speaker 1: you. You also won't miss out on following through on a

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Speaker 1: great idea because you're worried you might have given it

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Speaker 1: the year before. Did you give your sister in law

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Speaker 1: that cookbook you thought was perfect for her or did

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Speaker 1: you just think about it? I don't know, but if

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Speaker 1: you didn't give it before, you can give it this year.

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Speaker 1: With a list, you will know for sure. Reviewing what

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Speaker 1: you gave to one person in a previous year might

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Speaker 1: also spark your thinking about what to give another person

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Speaker 1: this year. The yard game that delighted your nephew last

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Speaker 1: year may be equally appealing to your godson this year.

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Speaker 1: Or maybe you see that one kid really liked a

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Speaker 1: toy five years ago and your youngest is now that age.

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Speaker 1: If you can no longer locate that toy or it's broken,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's time to buy another one. If you'd like,

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Speaker 1: you can keep track of the gifts you receive as well.

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Speaker 1: It can be good to do this to make sure

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Speaker 1: you properly thank the person, of course, but sometimes people

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Speaker 1: will ask you what they can give you. If you

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Speaker 1: really enjoyed a cheese sampler someone else gave you, you

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Speaker 1: can mention that that was a hit with your family.

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Speaker 1: I know I can't always remember what would be a

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Speaker 1: good gift for me in the moment, and maybe you

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Speaker 1: can't either. A list can help in any case. I

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Speaker 1: think one of the things that makes holiday gift giving

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Speaker 1: feel stressful is that we often think we are starting

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Speaker 1: from zero. Come late November, it's like, oh dear, what

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Speaker 1: on earth am I going to get everyone? But when

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Speaker 1: you look at last year list and the list from

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Speaker 1: the year before that, it will spark ideas and maybe

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Speaker 1: it can help with the brainstorming. I am a big

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Speaker 1: fan of anything that makes the holidays less stressful. Now.

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Speaker 1: Of course, if you don't have a list from last

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Speaker 1: year and the year before that, I understand that this

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Speaker 1: tip may be less useful. But as the saying goes,

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Speaker 1: the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago.

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Speaker 1: The second best time is now. Start your gifts of

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Speaker 1: Christmas past and present. List now and you will be

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Speaker 1: a little more jolly come next November. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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Speaker 1: me at low Ura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before

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Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.