Gifting Intentionally This Holiday Season

Emily here from the Whitney English team! Today I’m sharing our gift-giving rules to help guide you through the season.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when gifting during the holidays. We all want to gift with intention, right? We want to celebrate our relationships. We want to show our loved ones, our caretakers, and service givers, just how much they mean to us. But how do gift with intention and not over-extend yourself mentally and financially?

Let’s dive into our rules for gifting intentionally this holiday season!

Create a budget, Then Adhere To It
This is an obvious step in the process, but one I often skip. You’ve likely already started shopping for the holidays but do you have a budget? Do you have a list of people you’d like to give to this season? Take a few minutes and write it all out. You will thank yourself later when you have a concise list to reference and a budget to adhere to. These tools will help filter decisions as you shop.

Now, you’ve got to stick to your budget. I’m notorious for throwing money at a gift to check it off my list. It can feel easier to go over budget. It’s not hard to throw a few extra items in your cart or feel guilted into spending more than you want to spend. Resist the urge.

Follow a Gifting Strategy
I love a theme. These gifting strategies are great for helping choose gifts the recipients will love. Here are a couple of my favorites:

• The gifting rule of four. Find four gifts for the recipient, something they… want, need, wear, read. This is a great option for children or immediate family members. I’m already brainstorming four ideas for my mom.
• A family or personal experience. Classes or workshops, a fun dinner out, an adventure or trip. Making memories is the best gift. Bonus points if you’re able to join in on the fun.
• A special keepsake. Is there a cherished heirloom you’re ready to pass down? I will never forget the year my grandmother gifted me with her charm bracelet.
• A handmaid or homemade gift. You don’t have to be an artist to produce something wonderful. Artwork, handmaid pottery, a poem, scrapbook, or collection of your favorite photos. The ideas are limitless. And who doesn’t love baked goods?

Give Yourself Permission to Not Find the Perfect Gift
I love beautiful, artisanal, handmaid items as much as the next millennial gal. But I also love a store-bought cake when necessary. Step back from the pressure to be perfect and celebrate gettings things done. I want to enjoy the holidays, not go crazy finding the perfect thing for every person I’ve ever met.

If it’s within your budget to grab the biggest, greatest gift you can find, do it. But not at the actual expense of your budget or your sanity. If you can’t find the perfect gift, that’s ok. Grab a gift card, write a genuine note of love and appreciation and send it on. And if that’s too much, no problem. Reach out to friends or family and ask to make plans for the new year. No gifts are necessary, just make time to be together.

Shop Early, Shop Small, Shop However You Can
By now you’ve likely heard about how supply chain issues will impact the shopping season. Not to mention over-extended mail carriers. We see it every day with our own manufacturing partners and fulfillment team. Simply put, it may take longer for anything and everything to arrive. Shop early to ease your own stress.

Keep an eye on your favorite shops and sign up for their email newsletters so you know when things will be on sale. You can always unsubscribe later if you don’t LOVE their content. Side note — sign up for our email newsletter and don’t unsubscribe because we only send out great content! 🙂

Keep Track & Stay Organized
Our team put together a great Holiday Prep Checklist printable. It includes tips for planning out your shopping and space for holiday gift tracking. You can download it for free right here. I love tracking gifts as I go, cross-referencing the budget I created at the beginning of the season.

I also suggest reserving a dedicated space in your home to store all your gifts for the season. A box, a hall closet, whatever works for you. A friend of mine once misplaced a gift for her husband and found it months later under the bed. Keep all gifts together and you won’t be searching high and low the night before Christmas.

Stay tuned. Next week I’m going to share some gift ideas from the Whitney English Shop. I’ll also give you a preview of the best deals we’ll be offering this holiday season.

Is there anything we missed? What are your best holiday gifting rules? Share below!