If you plan well, you can head into Christmas day a little more relaxed. By planning I mean creating a written list of every last present or pea you need to buy, or acquire in the next three days. Stress-lowering strategies include:
Seek advice If you've left it late thanks to indecision, ask friends, family and colleagues for gift suggestions. A problem shared is a problem halved. Your friends could well have clever ideas, or even something you can re-gift. At least they'll get the thinking juices going.
Shop local Save time and head to your local shops with your list. Sure some main streets contain little more than $2 Shops, vape houses and liquor stores, but you might still find something that can be wrapped imaginatively. Pharmacies and cafes are great sources of presents ranging from perfume to coffee beans or keep cups. Or if you're really lucky like me you'll have a local store, museum or gallery that stocks extra special New Zealand-made gifts.
Shop early ... or late Greg Harford chief executive of Retail NZ says shop at opening time, or leave it until later in the evenings when most people have gone home. Personally I've found the malls to be largely deserted after 9pm on the days leading up to Christmas. Some Westfield malls are open until midnight between now and Christmas.
Gift cards are a handy option. Photo / 123RF
Buy gift cards Some people love gift cards, others hate them. If it's the former then a gift card allows the recipient to go shopping for themselves, or take an experience. I'm a great fan of GrabOne vouchers as gifts, because there is a lot of choice of what to spend the money on, and your money goes further. Most gift cards can be bought online or from Gift Station stands.
Shop online, but give an IOU The perfect time saver is to shop online, print out a picture of the gift and wrap it up. Another option is to gift a shopping trip so you can buy whatever it is together after Christmas. If you're cash strapped with no money left in the holiday kitty, simply give the IOU for a gift of your time, or buy it next payday.
Buy gifts from the supermarket Never discount the supermarket. Almost every aisle has something you can wrap up and give ranging from fancy dates to honeys chocolates, cheeses, seeds for the garden, toiletries, and much much more. No risk of a stocking stuff up if you take your time. Even staples such as soap and peanut butter come in posh varieties these days from the likes of Ecostore and Pic's.
A bottle of wine makes for a good gift. Photo / 123RF
Buy wine or beer Check out the local wine store or supermarket aisle for your gifts. If you want to make it more interesting choose a wine or beer that's a conversation starter such as the Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Bell Ringer a new wine variety for New Zealand out of Gisborne, available at New World this week for $18.99.
Fill a basket or box Do this with supplies from the supermarket, local shops, or your to-be-re-gifted stash if you have one. Choose some yummy foods, nice toiletries, chocolates or even things like seeds from the garden centre, then wrap the gift well.
Whatever you choose to do, take a moment or two to consider the recipient's likes and dislikes. It's no use grabbing dad a poker set and mum a reed diffuser simply because you read they're the top gifts this year. They might hate them. Likewise people just don't get the idea of an Oxfam goat and others just love a present that supports a family in poorer parts of the world. And some children might live for Lego, but mine never took the bricks out of the box.
