Guard Your Retirement Savings with these Gift Giving Alternatives

Have you recovered from your 2017 holiday spending? Or were you hoping it would magically take care of itself by now? According to the Motley Fool, holiday shoppers spent an average of $967 during Black Friday 2017, and need at least 3 months to pay off that debt.

Well…it’s March! How much of that debt have you whittled down? Not only that, what about the birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and unexpected gifting events popping up since then? Debt isn’t fun, and if you are over 50, any debt makes saving for retirement a daily, stress-inducing challenge. In order to avoid adding to your existing debt, implement these low or no-cost gift ideas to help reduce future gift-giving overspending.

Preplan Your Gift Giving

Build your list and check it—often. Who is on your gift-giving list? Do they still enjoy gift-giving and receiving? Would your recipients prefer something else: more phone calls or visits rather than a food basket, new toy, or gift card each year? Ask! You may be surprised at the requests, including the younger generations.

List their likes & interests. To make sure you are on track with gift-giving, ask what they like and, even better, what they need. Millennials may request a contribution to a big-ticket item, for instance, rather than a new clothing item. As above, you won’t know if you don’t ask.

Create a gift expenditure budget. Think beyond the holidays to include birthdays, graduation, anniversaries, and other gift giving events for your loved ones. How much can you comfortably give without going over budget?

Plan throughout the year. Shopping is a year round activity. As you interact with your loved ones, travel, and roam the internet, opportunities will arise that lead to an ideal gift for someone. Be open to these and enjoy a 12 month holiday shopping season rather than 4 weeks. Small, reasonable purchase spread throughout the year and worked into your expenditure budget are easier to manage than an end of year dump.

Gift Giving Options

The gift of time. Our time is just as valuable as our money. Therefore, an elderly family member may crave more together time. An adult child may need daycare at odd hours. Your spouse or partner may desire a quiet night at home. Similarly, a child may want extra play time after school. Sometimes the most needed gifts involve our time. As a result, look to your availability as a valued gift.

The gift of talent. Another overlooked gifting opportunity is your talent. What hobbies, skills, or talents do you enjoy? If it’s cooking, offer to cook a monthly meal at your son’s home (assuming they live locally). If gardening is your hobby, consider canning some of your best veggies or making herb blends. Are you a technical whiz? Teach a parent how to use Facebook or a smartphone. Tutoring? Handyman? Are you highly organized? Consider organizing a home office space for a loved one. Younger children may enjoy having you host a special party. Review your skills, expertise, and availability then offer these as gifts. These high-value offerings will be fun and will save money for the giver and recipient.

Travel as inspiration. Whether you travel locally, nationally, or internationally, you’ll encounter special places and items that would make an ideal gift. Keep your loved ones in mind as you travel and you may discover the perfect item that that no Black Friday sale, no rewards program, and no cyber Monday will offer.

Avoid Overwhelm

Smaller is better. Avoid the pressure to supersize your hobby. Instead of creating a king sized quilt, build a wall hanging. Rather than building an entire photo album, create a collage. It’s okay to think big, but make the project creation manageable too. The result: it won’t take as long or cost as much, leaving more TIME for yourself or others.

Take your time. With advanced planning comes time to create. Whether you incorporate your gifts of time, talent or travel, you’ll have enough time to put what you need together for your gift.

Do you fear your gift won’t be appreciated? That’s the importance of preplanning. The more you know about your recipients, the less likely the gift will be underappreciated. Think of it another way: how soon after a typical store-bought gift is given, is it forgotten? A more unique gift will be more appreciated than a random gift card or a new gadget.

As you proceed through the year, collect, create, and save up the gifts you gather. If desired, wrap and label them in your left over wrapping paper and stash them away for stress-free, budget friendly and debt-busting gift-giving.

…and write yourself a note on where you hid those goodies and for whom. If you forget, no worries: they’ll make a great gift for a birthday, anniversary, or other special event.

What ideas do you have for retirement savings and shopping alternatives? Share below!

Kristen Edens
Managing Midlife