While I’m wrapping up Christmas, I’ve been thinking about the things that worked well last year and what I can improve on for this year.
The three things that come to mind are these:
I sent out fewer Christmas cards
I know it’s not just me but isn’t it weird that people don’t send out Christmas cards anymore?!
A friend on Facebook wrote that they’ve been diminishing over the years (true!). However this year I received 16; last year 10.
Anyway, because I didn’t send out a ton like I usually do, I got it all done very easily and I think this (30) is now my new comfort number 🙂
What’s your comfort number?
We got together with lots of friends
This might not be good for you but it was good for us.
The kids love to get out and about, and we’re very good about only planning one “event” per weekend day. By “event” I mean a two to three hour plan.
I got really clever with gifts for non-local friends and family.
1. Did you know you can gift Kindle books (like mine – it’s only $8.99 at the moment) to your friends?
A client and I were discussing something on a coaching call and I recommended a book. I said I’d send her the link because I didn’t have the author at hand. When I was typing up the coaching notes, I went onto Amazon to check and decided to try the gift section out. Her birthday was a few days out so I bought the book and postponed the e-delivery til the day.
Fantastic idea – she and I both loved it.
I’ve since bought Kindle books for many people.
They’re so fun – you can have it deliver immediately, or schedule it, so if you’re super-organised, you can buy books for friends at the start of the month and then forget about your gift-giving.
2. Buy handmade from etsy.com
I have a love-love relationship with Etsy.
I’ve gifted people from here often because the gift is handmade and the shop owners will often put a little note on the gift from you if you ask them in the Notes to Seller.
This Christmas, I bought three friends in the US gifts from etsy. It was so simple and I honestly felt like a genius – no need for me to wait for something to get to them from South Africa. They all had their gifts within days. Nothing like it 🙂
3. Shop from online stores and have the items delivered directly to your friend/ family member.
You save on shipping to you first and then shipping out to the recipient.
I even did this with my own family in South Africa.
How do you handle distance gifting?
