Give the gift of time this Christmas

Are you getting overwhelmed with the amount of unnecessary‘stuff’ in your life? Perhaps you’re feeling the financial pinch this year? Or maybe you just don’t know what to buy your loved one for Christmas? How about giving them your time…

Seriously? Yes seriously! There can be so much pressure to give the perfect gift, (or more commonly, gifts!) that we overspend our budget to ‘prove’ our love. As if there isn’t enough money already flying out of our wallets with all the other costs of the season. So how about this for an idea (and naturally it might be best to get your S/O onside here to save any awkward Christmas morning moments when you are hidden under a pile of wrapping paper while all he/she has is a bunch of envelopes!); 

Give the gift of your time;

• How about pledge to be her servant for a day; she gets to relax all day while you do everything, and I mean everything. From making the bed in the morning, to cooking, cleaning up, making coffee etc.
• What about a voucher for a massage for him?
• Cook her favourite meal
• Promise to get the kids ready for school for a week
• Wash and polish his car
• Breakfast in bed for a week
• Get creative and make something

You get the picture… all it needs is a little imagination and the joy of giving can last much longer than that one whirlwind hour of opening and piling up (unnecessary?) gifts.

It’s fun, it involves real effort and it can save a fortune. And if you really decide it didn’t work, then don’t do it next year. What have you got to lose, apart from an over sized credit card bill in January…?!