The Gift that Everyone wants to Receive

Are you stumped about what to get some of the people on your shopping list this holiday season? You’re not alone! Sometimes it’s really hard to know what people really want. We want to give them something they will like, and use, but this can be a challenge! Well, I’m going to try to help you solve this problem today. I’m going to tell you more about the gift that everyone wants to receive!

The Gift that Everyone wants to Receive

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There are so many people that we want to give to during the holidays. Family, friends, co-workers, our children’s teachers and coaches and bus drivers. The list goes on and on. How on earth could you know what each of these people really want?!

Well, the answer may be more simple than you think. Most of these people actually want the same thing. Or the same kind of thing, that is. What do they want?

Gift cards!

Think about it… Wouldn’t you love to receive a gift card?

Now, I don’t mean that you would love to receive a gift card from your husband or the people who are the very closest to you. You may want a more thoughtful gift from them. But wouldn’t you love to receive a gift card from your secret Santa?

It’s such an easy option… and those that you give it to will actually use it!

So, how do you know what kind of gift card to give them?

Well, first you should think about what you know about that person. Have they mentioned that they love to shop at a certain store? It’s a great idea to give them a gift card to a place that they already shop at.

Or do you see that person with a Dunkin Donuts cup each morning? If you do, odds are they’d love a Dunkin gift card.

If you’re intentionally trying to give a bigger gift to someone, a restaurant gift card might be a good choice. For example, some of my coworkers and I are going in together on a restaurant gift card for our supervisor.

In general, I think it’s safer to go with a store gift card than a restaurant. When you give a restaurant gift card you want it to cover the whole meal, or at least a large portion of it. When you’re giving a gift card to a store you just want the gift card to contribute to whatever they want to buy there. This is especially true if you know it’s a store the person you’re giving it to regularly shops at.

What if you don’t know what they like?

If you don’t know very much about the person you’re gifting to, it’s best to go with something that you just can’t go wrong with.

There are some places that just about everyone shops at, or could shop at. People love to get these kinds of gift cards.

Target is a perfect example of this. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love to receive a Target gift card. You can get just about anything there, and for a pretty inexpensive price. This is great because you can even give just a $5 gift card to Target and they can use that towards just about anything.

Amazon is another great example. Amazon sells just about everything under the sun and almost everyone is shopping on Amazon these days. You can give a gift card (or email gift card) to Amazon and it be used toward anything they want.

If you’re looking for a really great gift to give someone (perhaps something a group of people can go in on) I highly recommend the gift of Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime is an amazing service in which you get free two-day shipping from Amazon, instant access to video-streaming (like Netflix), on-demand streaming music (think: Pandora without ads, and you can search for the song you want), early access to Amazon lightning deals, and much more.  You may even want to give yourself the gift of a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial.

Another great example of a gift card that everyone wants is a Costco Cash Card. You have to be a member to shop at Costco, but this is their one loop-hole. If you have a Costco Cash Card you can shop at Costco without being a member. And non-members can purchase as much as they’d like from Costco so long as they’re paying for a portion of their purchase with the Costco Cash Card. So, by giving this gift card you’re really giving the opportunity to shop at Costco.

Doesn’t this get expensive?

This is a smart question. During the holidays we are filled with the giving spirit and it’s easy to let our generosity overtake our budget. It’s important that we keep track of our holiday spending just as we should keep track of our regular spending throughout the year. And as much as we’d like to, we have to stop ourselves from going overboard.

So, can we give gift cards in an affordable way?

Absolutely! But you’ll need to be strategic about it.

Give gift cards in small amounts. The person receiving it gets not only the gift card but the freedom to buy whatever they want.

Take advantage of sales that offer gift cards as an incentive with purchase. Throughout the year Target offers these incentives on household products such as paper towels. When I see these deals on something I need anyway, I’ll buy them and then save the to gift away during the holiday.

There are also many retailers that offer gift card discounts, such as buy one gift card, get another one for yourself half off. Restaurants usually do this. No one says you have to use the second one for yourself, you can use it as another gift – at half the price!

Update: Today I noticed that Panera is offering a free $10 gift card with every purchase of $50 worth of gift cards. So, if you have a bunch of people that you’d like to give to (teachers, secretaries, mailman, etc.) you could get each a $10 gift card. You can spend $50 and get $60 worth of gift cards. That’s pretty cool. And who doesn’t love Panera?

There are deals like this all over the place, you just have to know to look for them!

I hope this post has helped you with those difficult-to-buy-for people in your life.

I wish you a joyful holiday season!

 

Want more? You may like:

9 Worst Holiday Shopping Mistakes

How to Get Paid for Shopping Online

The First Step to Saving More Money

The 2 Ways to Pay off Debt {Free Printable}

You can read more about my story here: A Spender and A Saver Fall in Love

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