I Spend My Holiday Shopping Budget Sharing Experiences With Loved Ones

Our experts answer readers’ investing questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess investing products). Paid non-client promotion: In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners. Our opinions are always our own.As someone who’s Muslim, I didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas, and my family doesn’t often give gifts to each other during birthdays or celebrations. I also inherited the habit from my mom of not wanting to collect a lot of things that I wouldn’t use in the long run, so I’d often turn down gifts and buy what I wanted for myself. I lived in tiny apartments throughout college, which made me extra critical of any gift to the point that I’d ask myself “what will this replace?”Instead of gifting each other physical things, my family usually celebrated special occasions by going to dinner at the person’s favorite restaurant, a way that we could all get together and form new memories. I carried this mindset once I graduated college and had more room in my budget for discretionary spending on birthday and holiday gifts.I take inspiration from my fiancée. She’s one of the best gift givers I know, so I’m inspired by her ability to find the perfect gift based on what people have said they love or need. Admittedly, gift-giving doesn’t come naturally to me as a love language, but I have a knack for learning about people’s big dreams, like where they’d want to travel to next if they could pick anymore, or what shows or events are at the top of their list.In the spirit of gifting experiences and making memories, I use the portion of my budget set aside for gifts to buy tickets for a museum, show, or event. These experiences are often pricier than smaller items that usually make it on all the gift guide lists, which is why I tend to gift one big experience a year versus multiple smaller gifts.To make it more special, I usually write a personalized card that explains why I’m grateful for the person in my life, and how this experience is a way they can celebrate through quality time.When it was my time to buy gifts for my fiancée, I decided to do it my way too. Leading up to our first Christmas together after I graduated college, I found out that Waitress was my fiancée’s favorite Broadway musical, and its final show was coming up. I found a $99 flight to New York and got us tickets to see the Waitress together, which ended up being our last big trip before the pandemic.Four years later, we still reminisce on this trip when we got our Playbills signed by the actors, ate pizza in Times Square, and ran around amid the larger-than-life holiday decorations that adorned the entire city.When the pandemic hit, I still wanted to provide special experiences for my fiancée. For her birthday and later our anniversary, I decided to book a fancy hotel room where we could play board games, have a spa night, and shop at the local businesses without worrying about where to park our car.Plus, this hotel room came with a fancy bathtub, so we made a trip to Lush to pick out our favorite bath bombs and got some snacks for a movie night that we could enjoy in our room. This experience is one we look back on fondly, and it made the day even more special than spending it at home.Other years, I’ve gifted acts of service, like a coupon gift with offerings like one planned date night, one round of laundry or dishes after a long day, or a movie of the other person’s choice.Whether it’s as simple as having a spa night or as extravagant as going on a trip or seeing a show, there are many ways to celebrate the people you love. What matters most is finding an gift or experience that fits the person.Some of the other experiences you can book for a loved one include a cooking class where you can learn how to make a new dish or cuisine, dressing up in fancy outfits and going to high tea, getting tickets to a show or event, or making something together at a pottery class or paint and sip workshop. These experiences are the ones that you’ll remember for a lifetime.

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