Gift Giving 101...

Tis the season to be jolly, yada yada yada.

Three weeks 'til Christmas, Peeps!

Need gifts? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Let Cali help you make short work of the whole gift-giving process in five easy steps, K?

First: make a list of all the people you might have to give a gift to…….try to think of everybody you might need to include.

Second: go through the list and make check marks next to the names of the people you least want to give gifts to….you know, in-laws, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. Once you have checked them off, you need to put some effort into thinking of just the right thing……..to make them mad.

Rule #1: If someone is mad at you, you don’t have to buy them a Christmas gift.

Third: take another look at your much-shorter list. Who would fall for the “I‘m giving money to charity in your name this year” routine? Anybody? Hey, they don’t need to know that YOU are the charity you gave the money to, do they? Of course not!

Rule #2: If you say you gave to charity, you gave to charity! No more information is necessary.

Fourth: take a look at your pared-down list again. Is there anybody on that list that you can re-gift with the crap that YOU got last year?? Anybody at all? Did you keep a list of who gave you what?

Rule #3: If you re-gift, try not to give it to the person who gave it to you, K?

Fifth: If this list is any longer than three people, review the first 4 steps! After a thorough review, you are ready for the actual Christmas gift shopping. Before you leave, let’s check your outfit: jeans, shirt, jacket….check! Cute scarf, matching mittens, knit cap…..check! MasterCard…..check! Don’t leave home without it!

Rule #4: If you have to go Christmas shopping, you might as well look cute!

Hey, where are you going?? Not the mall!! You are headed to any “drug store” that is part of a national chain….Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS, Longs, you get the idea! Look for the gift card display.

First choice? A prepaid VISA card. Second choice? An I-tunes card. Third choice? A Borders card. Fourth choice? Okay, who is this finicky gift recipient? See Step #2!

Rule #5: If your Christmas shopping takes longer than 5 minutes, you’re putting too much effort into it…..

Now, when you have picked out the 2 or 3 gift cards that you need, it is time to turn your attention to gift wrap. You have two choices:

1) go through the process of finding a Christmas card for each person, you know, to tuck the gift card in, or

2) Buy one each: huge gift bag, tissue, and a brick. Place brick in bottom of bag, throw in gift card, cover with tissue and viola! Your Christmas shopping is DONE!

And the best part? There’s a good chance your gift list will be even shorter next year!