The Ultimate Guide to Conscious and Stress free Christmas Shopping.
The only thing scarier than Halloween is the official start to the run-up to Christmas. Traditionally November is the month that up and down the country we start to stress about all things tinsel related, don't worry you are not alone! The annual pressure has only been made worse by the constant headlines of impending doom and gloom with the journalist's current favourite catchphrase "Cost of Living Crisis" being used at every available opportunity to suck any joy left out of our lives . This stress and anxiety is very real and felt by many, it can typically lead to overspending and really bad purchasing decisions followed by bouts of guilt.
So enough is enough and we think Healing Alternatives needs to help take the stress out of Christmas Shopping and bring back the fun, merriment and some good old-fashioned cheer.
Here are some of our top tips for making Christmas Shopping stress free and fun this year.
The H:A Essential Gift Box £40
The Sleep Easy Gift Box £90
The Bath Lovers Gift Box £35
Buying consciously is a win, win for everybody. Every year the UK spends approx £24 Billion on just Christmas gifting. Where that money is spent is decided by you. How great would it make you feel to know that however big or small your budget is every year when you gift you can directly make a difference in so many positive ways?
These are some of the ways you can make a big difference when you shop.
So enough is enough and we think Healing Alternatives needs to help take the stress out of Christmas Shopping and bring back the fun, merriment and some good old-fashioned cheer.
Here are some of our top tips for making Christmas Shopping stress free and fun this year.
- Start by making a list of everyone you need to buy gifts for, including children, family, friends, teachers, work colleagues and even pets.
- Break down the list into categories and work out how much you plan to spend on each of the groups or individuals. Coming up with a budget can be one of the most stressful things to do especially if things at home are tighter than usual, but remember less is more and once this is done and you feel comfortable with your Christmas Budget the fun bit can start.
- The great thing about having a budget to stick to when you Christmas shop is that it makes you automatically more conscious about what you buy. Not only are you thinking about price but your mind starts to automatically think about other important considerations. What present would really make a difference or improve that person's life? Will it bring joy, comfort, or wonderment? Would you like to receive it yourself ? is always a good yard stick to go by.
- Take your time and don't feel pressured to make any purchase. Look out for sales and promotions as you start shopping for gifts. November is a great time to meet up with friends and go and visit local Christmas fairs. As well as catching up with friends this is a really fun way to Christmas shop. Discover and support independent brands that will traditionally be offering to donate some of their revenue to a local charity whilst picking up original gifts not traditionally found in mainstream retailers. We love the fairs and if you would like to come and see us in person you can click the fairs link here or in the footer to find out where we will be over the festive period.
- Keep an eye out for the Gift Guides which start to come out now. They can also be another really great source of inspiration when looking for new and original presents to give. We have a dedicated page with gift guides on our website to hopefully help you when choosing thoughtful presents for your nearest and dearest. Click the gift guides link above to be taken straight to them. We are also grateful to have been included in Therese Øretenblad’s annual Small Business Collaborative Christmas Guide. Therese spends a great deal of time curating the guide with the intention of spotlighting new and exciting brands. Another great source to check out is the Christmas Gift Guides compiled by Kate and Sarah at The Glorious Edit. Click the links above to view and discover more.
- Gift Boxes are another great way to save money. Retailers will often combine some of their best sellers together reducing the overall price of the combined products. The beauty of gift boxes is they can be gifted to one individual or divided up and used to gift to several different people on your list. We produce four thoughtful gift boxes every Christmas to help our customers, they make great presents and we are happy to customise the boxes by adding additional products should you wish – just contact us on whatsapp if you need a hand. We also provide a corporate gifting service so please contact us if we can help. To contact us click here.
- The Home Lovers Gift Box £50
Buying consciously is a win, win for everybody. Every year the UK spends approx £24 Billion on just Christmas gifting. Where that money is spent is decided by you. How great would it make you feel to know that however big or small your budget is every year when you gift you can directly make a difference in so many positive ways?These are some of the ways you can make a big difference when you shop.
- The best place to buy affordable, original, thoughtful gifts is from small independent brands. Spending your Christmas budget with independent brands has a direct impact on people's lives for the better!
- If you want to help the environment then make sure you buy from a firm that has a strong sustainability policy and produces its products in the UK.
- Retailers listen to consumers and if you want to put an end to the single-use outer packaging, then buy from brands that are looking to change how we purchase. Every Christmas a staggering 95% of outer packaging is discarded within 5 mins of a present being opened. Think instead about using gift bags which are often used more than once.
- Check out their packaging, if they use plastics make sure that the plastics can be recycled in some way.
- We don’t like Black Friday at Healing Alternatives as we feel it is a major contributor to unconscious spending and so instead that weekend we will be joining up with over a 100 other independent brands to take part at the Wonderlist goes pop, a really positive online event that gives everybody the chance to take their time to discover original independent brands. The event created by the lovely Laura Ludlow runs from Friday the 25th of November to the 27th of November. Best of all its free to get a ticket and every single one of the brands will be offering unique deals over the course of the fair. You can click this link in our blog or go onto our website to find out more.
- This November use our tips to take the stress out of your Christmas Shopping and bring back the fun, merriment and cheer!
