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