We all love holidays, don’t we? Seeing a new place is always exciting and I love to bring gifts for everybody when I am holidaying. And Every time I get “not-so-ravishing” comments for the gifts I decide not to buy anything for anybody next time onwards, but given how generous I am when it comes to gifts, I forget my resolution and it becomes a vicious circle.
One day while analyzing my monthly budget, I realized that whenever I travel, I always overshoot my allocated budget, and major contributors are gifts for others and the souvenirs from the place. That’s quite obvious because rest of the things, (like stay, travel) is generally pre planned. And given I am not such a big foodie, food never consumes my money. :)
This time I have decided to think about this little more and lay down some rules to follow while travelling, mainly not to overshoot my budgets. Some of the things that I have come up with so far are:
1) Buying clothes native for that place are big no – no
2) Buying the handcrafted stuff from that place has to stop. They take up more money later to fit in my living room; else they go in my closet unused.
3) Do little research on the place before going, specifically looking at the weather condition prevailing there. Use it to decide what all to pack.
4) Purchasing something that is too delicate not allowed.
5) Things that can’t fit in my bags need not ne shopped for.
6) Only those gifts are allowed that can be used in my native place.
7) Decorative stuff as gift items is strict no. Everyone has their own taste for decorating their homes.
I am quite sure there can be many more things to be avoided. I can always append this list later, but this might be a nice starter for now.
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Awww, it wouldn't be a vacation unless I brought back a cheesy refrigerator magnet to grace the ice box!
ReplyDeleteWe do Christmas in my family using the shoebox method. Meaning, there's a shoebox for every member, in the closet all year. Gifts have to fit into the shoebox. So vacations to me are the perfect time to look for shoebox fodder. Like last year, when we were at a company function in Vegas, I must have spent $50 in the M&M store for the boxes. Expensive? Yes, but worth it to me, since I usually have Christmas shopping done by November, and can enjoy the holiday season pressure-free.
But I'm with you, there's only so much kitsch a house can hold. And buying decorator stuff for someone else is unacceptable, unless you find it very cheap and don't care if they use it or not.
wow. I loved this shoebox idea. I will do the same now for my DH's now on. quite cool. Thansk Emily for sharing such a nice idea.
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