Care and love the most valuable gifts

TWO more sleeps before Christmas; how exciting for children. But I can’t help but worry about the unnecessary expense and waste during this festive time.

It is an expense thousands of households cannot afford as the cost of presents, extra food and entertainment get added to record levels of household debt. And the waste the world cannot afford.

The cheap novelty items and stocking fillers made under slave conditions, the kilometres of printed wrapping paper, the ribbons, cards and decorations all destined for the rubbish bin after they have been used — and, of course, unwanted gifts.

And, sadly, it’s hard to avoid noticing the stressed faces, grumpy shoppers, road rage and car park arguments at this time of year.

Not only are we under financial pressure, but we’re also under social pressure to buy presents, attend parties and keep up appearances.

I understand it’s not always possible in many cultures and social groups to simply back off on the expense and the parties.

But it is about priorities. If you want to spend $100 on baby Paul’s first Christmas, sure, go ahead. If you want to spend $100 on a bottle of wine, well, knock yourself out.

But each year we spend billions of dollars on presents nobody wants or likes.

Online auction and sales sites are full of unwanted gifts. Listings on these sites jump by almost a third immediately after Christmas.

Last year more than $600 million worth of gifts ended up for sale and that doesn’t take into account the equal amount donated to charities, dumped in the bin or hoarded away to be re-gifted to someone.

Top among the unwanted gifts, according to one online sales site, are clothes, while top among dumped presents are novelty items.

And according to consumer advocate CHOICE many of the unwanted gifts are expensive and often electrical.

It’s the gift list to avoid, because they’re the most unlikely to be used by the recipients, and includes food processors, foot spas, hoverboards, ice cream makers, waffle makers, juicers, milk frothers, mincers, mixers, peelers, pie makers, popcorn makers, pulping machines, sausage makers, slicers, slow cookers, spiralisers, vegie pasta makers, vertical grills and video cameras.

Oh sure, these are handy presents for someone, but not the people who received them, according to the vote by CHOICE members. And often re-gifting just transfers something unwanted from one household to another. Better than re-gifting, donating it to charity or selling is to not purchase the item in the first place.

Giving a gift is supposed to be about carefully choosing something that will be special for the receiver. It’s not about buying any old thing just to tick off a list. A thoughtful present, chosen with care and love is so much more valuable than anything else, regardless of the price.

Let’s cut back on the waste this year and give a little more thought and love in our gift giving.