Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to do a gift debrief. Figure out
Speaker 1: what worked and what didn't work in your gift giving
Speaker 1: this past holiday season. Make notes to guide you in
Speaker 1: the future. So we are now about a month past Christmas.
Speaker 1: For those who celebrate Christmas or any other December gift
Speaker 1: giving holiday, you may be glad to be done with
Speaker 1: major gift giving occasions for the next eleven months, but
Speaker 1: a little reflection right now can save future you a
Speaker 1: fair amount of stress. If you've got kids, you can
Speaker 1: reflect on what they received and what worked and what didn't.
Speaker 1: What are they still playing with now one month later?
Speaker 1: What turned out to be a dud? Did anything create
Speaker 1: a lot of excitement when it was opened? Did other
Speaker 1: siblings look wistfully at something or did you misjudge interests?
Speaker 1: What about the volume of presents? Was it just right
Speaker 1: or was it overwhelming? For other folks in your life.
Speaker 1: It might help to write down what you gave and
Speaker 1: what you received while these items are still relatively fresh
Speaker 1: in your memory. It is easy to find yourself wondering
Speaker 1: come November whether you gave your nephew a Duffel bag
Speaker 1: last year. Ten months hence, you will know that you
Speaker 1: thought about giving him one, but you might not remember
Speaker 1: what you decided a month after the holidays, though you
Speaker 1: probably still remember ber and you can also see if
Speaker 1: that duffel bag is getting any use by this point,
Speaker 1: and thus evaluate whether it was a good idea or not.
Speaker 1: It can also be easy to forget which friends and
Speaker 1: family members you exchanged gifts with, or even cards with.
Speaker 1: No one likes the awkward dance when one person gives
Speaker 1: a gift and the other doesn't, so write it all down.
Speaker 1: If you've still got the holiday cards somewhere, and let's
Speaker 1: face it, it is entirely possible that you still do.
Speaker 1: Write down the names and addresses in a spreadsheet. Next November,
Speaker 1: this will be all good to go. You might also
Speaker 1: start creating a list of gift ideas. The upside of
Speaker 1: doing this so soon after December is that you can
Speaker 1: remember what was a hit for some people and transfer
Speaker 1: these ideas to other similar folks. You're new if you
Speaker 1: love the Duffel bag, so you buy one next year
Speaker 1: for your godson. If one set of older relatives really
Speaker 1: liked a digital picture frame, probably another set will like
Speaker 1: it next year. If you particularly enjoyed a bottle of
Speaker 1: wine from a colleague, well now you've got the name
Speaker 1: of a winemaker to order in bulk from for other
Speaker 1: people's gifts next year. And if something didn't work out, well,
Speaker 1: now you know. I will note that I gave my
Speaker 1: husband something I really thought he would love, and as
Speaker 1: of a few weeks post Christmas, it was still sitting
Speaker 1: there in the room where we opened presents. I thought
Speaker 1: it made a lot of sense as a gift, but
Speaker 1: I guess he just wasn't as into it as I
Speaker 1: imagined he would be. I now know to look in
Speaker 1: a different direction for gifts in future years. Santa isn't
Speaker 1: the only one who benefits from making the list and
Speaker 1: checking it twice. Keeping a list of gifts given or
Speaker 1: gifts received helps you make smarter choices in the future,
Speaker 1: wasting less money and making people happier in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our talk. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter. Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four than breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts. At iHeart media
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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
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