Every year the card companies seem to create more holidays and the gift companies push every holiday season more and more.
It's not surprising that holidays are amongst the most stressful times of the year. There are demands from the family, friends and co-workers for your time, parties to attend, gifts to buy, children who want more than you can afford, parties to arrange, and so much more.
Christmas in particularly gets very stressful because of these very pressures and leads to the highest rate of relationship break ups and suicides in a year!
So how can you cope with these stressful seasons?
The first major cause of stress is gifts.
You need to know firstly who you are going to be sending gifts to. Write down everyone you need to purchase a gift for and then decide if you really need to buy them a gift or not. You may be able to arrange just to buy presents for the children, or not to buy each other presents, for example.
It's important to set a budget for your gifts – this could be a total amount or how much you are going to spend per person. This is vital because it is so easy to go overboard and before you know it you've maxed out your credit cards.
Look for wholesalers or other places where you can buy your gifts at a reduced price. Last year I bought most of my presents from a wholesale supplier when I went there to buy stock for my business. I saved a small fortune and people received gifts that amazed them.
Get the people you are buying for to make lists of what they want, or to give you specific ideas – this reduces the stress of trying to find the perfect present.
There's nothing wrong with asking, and it means you get the person what they want rather than something that gets put into a cupboard and forgotten about.
Shop online – the Internet is now a powerful tool for e-commerce, and you can do most of your shopping without leaving your house – this reduces the stress associated with trying to park your car, fighting your way through crowds and so on.
If you must go out shopping for gifts then do it well before the event. This means you will miss the crowds and still have plenty of time for any shopping you forgot.
I've also found it is worth picking up a few generic gifts such as boxes of chocolate or biscuits. You use these when you get an unexpected gift from someone or in case you forgot someone. It makes your life easier as you do not need to rush out and fight through the crowds to get a last minute gift.
With a bit of planning and forethought, buying gifts in the holiday season can be a very pleasurable and enjoyable experience. For the last few years I've used the Internet and wholesalers to buy my gifts and it has been so much more relaxing. By following some of the above points you can relax and enjoy the holiday seasons again.
