Joey M.D.

For retail therapy enthusiasts, the Christmas gift giving season is the perfect excuse to go out and indulge your shopping tendencies.

However, shopping may also become quite a bit stressful…and you know that stress is just not healthy at all!  Of course, some people may argue that shopping actually relieves their stress!

Here are a few things I’ve learned through the many years of Christmas shopping to lessen stress.  I don’t always practice them all the time but when I do, my stress level isn’t really too bad at all!

1. Make a Christmas list.  Classify them as family, inaanaks, friends, colleagues etc. and try to prioritize them.
2. Set a budget! Write down how much you are willing to spend for each person.  And do try to stick to the budget!
3. Shop early! If you happen to see the perfect gift for somebody, buy it and save it even if it’s only October.  Then you can put a check mark on that person’s name. :)  Also, malls and the good old Divi tend to be VERY crowded during December, so I generally do not want to go there at around this time.
4. Buy in bulk. If there are several kids on your list of the same gender and age group, chances are they might have the same interests.  You may buy the same gift for them.  You might even get a good deal when you buy from tiangges or Divi!
5. Shop online. You might find things online that would be good for your recipients, without stressing about having to brave the traffic and the crowds at the usual brick-and-mortar stores.  A new resource is http://www.tianggeonthenet.com , it’s new but is aiming to be THE place to find online stores.  Another advantage to online shopping is the ability to compare prices without the salesladies bothering you every so often (a peeve of mine).
6. Don’t bring the kids! So you can concentrate on shopping.  It’s difficult to shop when you have to run after a toddler or feed a baby.  Also, you have to deal with “buy me…” which would seriously alter your budget.
7. Don’t shop hungry. You need the stamina to shop.  So eat first before heading out.  Also, you wouldn’t want to waste time AND money on snacks when you can just
8. Avoid the crowds. I like hitting the tiangges as soon as they open in the morning, when the office crowd is at work.  Of course, that’s because I have some free mornings.  This won’t work if you’re a part of the office crowd, though.
9. Keep crisp bills on hand. And ang paos (Chinese red envelopes) too.  You might just forget an inaanak or a niece and these will certainly come in handy.  Aginaldos from ninongs/ninangs (godparents) are always welcome.
10. Keep “generic gifts” on hand. For those times when some friends drop by your house and you haven’t prepared gifts for them.  Do have some on hand and “color code” the wrappers.  For example, you can have a dark blue wrapper for gifts for men, red wrapper for women, baby blue for boys and pink for girls.  So you can just pull suitable gifts from under the Christmas tree for those unexpected moments.
11. Recycle gifts. I know a lot of people frown upon this, but really, sometimes it’s the practical thing to do.  While a pretty blouse may be in a style you like, your friend might have picked the wrong size.  You can instead give it to your teenage daughter who’s much slimmer than you are.  Or maybe a well-meaning friend may have given you an over toaster, but you just happen to still have 5 more oven toasters that you haven’t even used.  You can perhaps give it to somebody else who may find it more useful.  Here’s an article on my other blog on the art of regifting.

What about you?  What do you do to keep your mandatory Christmas shopping as stress-free as possible?