Alison's Money Rule

The R mantra - Regift.

Posted November 28, 2011
Originally Published January 5, 2010

Start the New Year off by reforming your gift buying excesses with the help of the R mantra -- Regift.

I know that I nattered at you before Christmas about not buying useless stuff for people who won’t remember what you gave them. Most of you probably did it anyway under pressure of self-imposed guilt.

While you may be heartily sick of hearing anything to do with presents, I offer another thought to help you deal with this expensive habit as the year unfolds.

We focus on the end of year holidays as the primary gift buying extravaganza, but when you examine the rest of the year what you buy for friends, family and colleagues likely far exceeds what you spend during the festive season.

Think showers, weddings, Stag and Does, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, baptisms, Bar and Bat Mitvahs, retirements, promotions -- oh my!

Here’s one way to prevent all these events from digging too deeply into your wallet. Tag and bag. Take all your unwanteds and unneededs from the holiday season and assemble a regift pile. Forget anything not properly packaged, stuff that looks like it came from the dollar store and handmade items -- no matter how nice, passing them off as crafted by you is plain bad Karma.

Nix most edibles with the exception of boxed items such as an artisan honey or jam set. Oh yes, and anything dated, like calendars, is history.

Now, take careful note of who gave the regift prospect to you. Missing this step can be fatal. My husband’s dear godmother once gave me a lovely glass apple ornament which I ended up handing it back to her a couple of years later. I received a tart dressing down as a result.

In my regift drawer this year is a bath set that does not look like a grab and go from the corner drug store, a mouse flashlight that will delight a nephew or grandson and a charming pine candle that is too fragrant for my husband’s sensitive nose.

Follow this process through the year and you will always have on hand an inventory of items that cost you nothing but, hopefully, will be appreciated by a recipient.

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