Buy nothing for Christmas

I rarely follow it 100%, but I do believe what people want for Christmas, or as gifts in general, are not consumer objects, but experiences and acts that require the giving of our time, not our money.

Here’s my post from last year about some rules I made up for gifts:

So this year I made two rules:

  1. To buy only experiences. Tickets to plays, events, massages, meals, things that they

Leave a Comment / What do you think?

Your email is never published nor shared (comments policy).

2 Responses

  • Mary - December 16, 2009 at 2:11 pm #

  • A useful thing to keep in mind about offering to babysit and similar things is that if you give people an IOU for it, a surprising number of people feel rather trapped trying to cash it in because the “um, at Christmas you said blah and so now it’s September…” conversation feels like begging to them.

    So if you have self effacing friends and family, it is good to remember to commit to following through on the offer without requiring them to do the bulk of the negotiating about when you can actually do what you said.


  • Henry Jacob - December 17, 2009 at 1:23 am #

  • I agree, it is a good idea to follow.


Scott's Bestselling Books
  • Confessions of a
    Public Speaker
  • Provocative and funny secrets from a veteran speaker, you'll laugh as you learn.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
  • The Myths of Innovation
  • The classic bestseller, now in paperback with 4 new chapters.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
  • Making Things Happen
  • The classic and bestselling handbook for any project leader, packed with tactics and stories.
  • Buy now at Amazon Book Details
Photos from Recent Events (view flickr stream)

You're reading Scott Berkun, All rights reserved unless noted. You can subscribe here Blog RSS Comments (RSS)