Good Morning DINKS. We are in the middle of the gift giving season and I want to tell you about some of my favourite gifts from Christmas’ past. My favourite gifts were not the most expensive gifts, but they were the ones with the most thought put into them; and that is what makes them special.
Money can’t buy happiness, but I have to be honest and say that nice things (used to) always make me smile. Maybe it is because I am materialistic, or maybe it is just because I like nice things. Less than 5 years ago the market was strong and I was making a six figure income working in commissioned financial sales. I was closing million dollar deals and I thought that I was professionally invincible. I thought that I was happy because I could afford nice things, but the truth is that with more money comes more problems. To make a long story short, the market crashed and so did my personal income.
Now I am making less money but (for some reason) I am a lot happier. I can’t explain it except to say that I enjoy the stability in my professional life. Losing almost half of my annual income has been very humbling, and I wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world.
Over the last few years I have learned to enjoy the simple things in life, aka the things that really matter. My lack of disposable income really hit me like a ton of bricks during the holidays. I had a “privileged” upbringing. I wouldn’t say that my parents were rich, but my sister and I were definitely never without. I have really learned to enjoy the time with my family over the last three holiday seasons. I learned that gifts don’t have to be lavish, and they don’t have to be expensive; gifts just have to come with a personalized effort. That is what really matters to me, there is nothing like the feeling of receiving a gift that was handpicked just for me.
People who don’t have a lot of money put an extra effort into their gifts because they can’t afford to dazzle people with their riches. Some people don’t have a lot of money to spend on gifts, but they may have the time to make the gifts special. I have received three gifts over the last three years that I totally love and still continue to use today.
Last Christmas my Aunt gave me a snuggle blanket. My aunt knows that one of my favourite past times on the weekends is to take naps in the afternoon. She picked out a little beige blanket for my nap times that fits me just perfectly because I am not very tall (only 5 feet). I also sleep with it during spring and fall when it isn’t cold enough yet to sleep with my big comforter. The beige snuggle blanket may have only cost my aunt $15, and I totally love it.
In September of 2009 my cousin and I went to Spain on a family vacation with my Dad and my younger sister. In December of 2009 as a Christmas gift my cousin gave me a 2 inch photo cube with 6 pictures from our trip together. I love my cousin and I would travel the world with her if we had the time and money to do so. She may have bought this photo cube at the Dollar Store and it doesn’t matter. My cousin handpicked 6 of my favourite pictures from our trip to Spain. I still keep the photo cube on my night stand.
Last Christmas that same cousin bought me a $10 silver necklace from H and M. My cousin is a student and she can’t really afford to buy Christmas gifts, so the fact that she spent any money on my gift made me feel like a million dollars. I wear the necklace all the time; it’s classy, it’s simple and it’s totally me. My cousin knows that I don’t like to wear gold jewellery because I think it looks totally ridiculous and cheap compared to my pale skin. She took the time and effort to pick out a necklace that she knows I would love.
Photo by Creative Tools
DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) Finance is a blog discussing personal finance for couples. While by no means financial experts, we own a variety of assets including real estate and stocks. We've both been up to our eyeballs in debt and have made tons of financial mistakes. However, we've both successfully retired that debt and we both do learn from our failings. We hope that our voice in this blog can help others in achieving their goals!
