Christmas crunch

I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone. It has literally flown by what with the wedding plans and honeymoon etc, and now it’s two and a half weeks until Christmas! Unbelievable.

So it’s no surprise that I have done basically no Christmas shopping at all – it’s a mater of time and money. Having a wedding this year really did empty the old bank account, so I am trying to think of good ideas for gifts that don’t involve burning a hole in my pocket.

So this is what I have come up with so far:

-Edible treats – cookies, cakes and preserves in fancy jars (no one will remember what I got them if they think back in a year’s time, but at least they’ll enjoy eating them).
-Gift vouchers – not really a personal gift (let’s face it, vouchers are great for those feeling lazy).
-Pot plants – plants that flower in festive colours, but may not stay alive for more than a few weeks depending on who you give them to.
-A homemade voucher booklet good for massages, foot rubs, housework, a candlelit dinner, taking out the bins etc.
-A hanky set (yay!), socks, underwear (the kind you get from Big W).

Really, I’m not crazy about any of these ideas... and I am not too sure how happy I would be to get any of them. Maybe all items as one combined gift?

Ok, so they’re lousy ideas and I guess I’m just going to have to be good and budget like crazy.

I read in a Sydney Morning Herald article that around November and December we collectively load an extra $3 billion worth of purchases onto credit cards each year - $1 billion of that doesn’t get paid off.

You know, if we were all good Christians, we wouldn’t worry about the gifts, because they’re not the most important thing during this time. But it’s society’s way of making a dollar and the lure of the beautifully decorated shop windows is too hard to resist.

Wish me and my bank account luck!