True value of a gift

December 27, 2007

So Christmas is over and the expenses are finally sinking in. You probably went over budget on food, decorations and specially gifts. It’s hard to keep things under budget. I blame it on the Xmas spirit.
We always hear that it’s not really the value of the gift that’s important, but the thought behind it, but we always end up buying “nice” (more expensive than we should) gifts for the ones we love. We subconsciously think that the more we spend on a gift, the more the person will like it.

This Christmas, I learned (the hard way) that we don’t really have to spend a lot of money on a gift for someone to love it.

My parents helped us throughout the year by babysitting our kids every time we needed. So I decided to give them a really nice “gift” this year. I gave them $700 in cash (besides other smaller gifts). I was expecting that to be their favorite gift. (It’s frigging $700!!!!)

My brother then “sabotages” me by giving them a calendar with family pictures. It was a really nice calendar. Really thought out. He probably spent several hours going through hundreds of pictures, selecting the ones he liked, editing them and composing the calendar. It probably cost him around $40 (besides his time).

I think you can guess which gift my parents loved the most. If you need a hint, it wasn’t mine.

I’m not complaining. The $700 will be a big help with their bills. But my dad couldn’t stop saying how much he loved the calendar and that the true value of a gift wasn’t attached to the price tag. I was actually quite jealous.

It is really true when people say that the true value of a gift isn’t associated to its price tag. It’s how much thought and time you put into it. The numerous hours and thought he spent on that gift made that calendar a memorable gift for my parents. It will be something they’ll cherish for a while (at least a year).

This is important for everyone to keep in their minds, but more so to those trying to save money. Start spending more time thinking about the ones you want to give gifts to instead of spending more money.

Happy belated Xmas.

Posted in Family, Finances, Lifestyle