Christmas Shopping For Your Employees

If you have employees or you deal with quite a few sub contractors and your company has had a successful year financially, you may, want to share some of that success by giving out bonuses. My suggestion is to not just give bonuses, make it personal and show your employees that you see them as individuals and not just a means to an end. Purchasing Christmas gifts for your employees also.

Christmas shopping for your employees is not an easy task, however. There are a number of factors, which contribute to the difficulty of the situation. The number of employees is one such factor. You may have a large number of employees and they may not share similar interests making it difficult to decide on a gift. Additionally, you may be concerned with the prospect of employees talking about their gifts and jealousy arising if it is believed some employees received more expensive or better gifts than others. This article will discuss some of these concerns and will offer tips for dealing with these dilemmas.

Favoritism is a serious issue which all bosses should carefully consider when Christmas shopping for their employees. Bosses should assume the gifts they give to their employees would be discussed and compared so it is wise to not purchase any gifts, which will be viewed as favoritism. One way to avoid this problem is to purchase the same item for each of the employees. This may seem impersonal but office politics often takes precedence over sentiment and in this case it is wise to give each employee the same item to avoid any potential problems. I started my journey in self employment with a purchase of a laser engraver, so I assure you that you can get the same thing for all of them and make it absolutely personal by placing their names on the item.

You may opt to give more expensive items to higher-ranking employees. This is an acceptable practice as long as each employee on the same tier is given the same gift and employees on higher tiers are given the same gifts as their peers at that level; make the gift fit their position.

Bosses also have to consider finances when Christmas shopping for gifts for their employees. This is a particularly important concern especially in cases where the boss has a large number of employees working for him. In this case the boss may have to consider giving only small token gifts due to the large number of employees. If you are paying for these gifts out of your own pocket, it is not reasonable to expect to purchase extravagant gifts for many employees.

In some cases, you may purchase gifts for the higher ranking employees (managers, foremen, etc.) and a lot them a budget to purchase Christmas gifts for the employees that work under them as it is viewed to be a method of keeping morale high and retaining employees.

The important thing here is to express good will to your employees and sub contractors by making them feel that you were thinking of them as an individual and not a number. The smallest gesture can go along way. Even though they appreciate the bonus, it still doesn’t have the same impact as a personal gift.

Now, saying that, don’t skimp on the bonuses. If they truly deserved the bonuses, make sure that you don’t use that extra money on gifts and leave them with financial issues because they might have been depending on that bonus to help with their Christmas shopping.

 

Black Friday is Coming

Christmas Shopping the Day after Thanksgiving

I know, I know, you are still trying to get ready for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast and don't want to hear about Black Friday. For those readers who may not be accustomed to U.S. holidays and traditions, or you may just live off the grid, another famous tradition in this country is the day after Thanksgiving, which is commonly referred to as “Black Friday”.

This day is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the years and for many signifies the first day of Christmas shopping.

While the term black Friday was originally used to represent the day in which retailers returned to profitability many who work in the retail industry use this term as a way to describe the crowds and chaos which accompany Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.

Likewise consumers expect significant sales to go along with the large crowds, which flock to stores, camp out the night before to be the first ones in the door and often fight each other over the last toaster on the shelf.

For many shopping on the day after Thanksgiving it is a tradition, which wouldn’t be missed for the world. These individuals look forward to the sales and starting their shopping as a way to get into the Christmas spirit.

These individuals can be counted on to arrive before the malls and shopping centers even open to get a great parking spot, to make multiple trips to their cars to drop off packages before returning to the shopping area to make more purchases and to almost literally shop until they drop.

These are the individuals that retailers count on each year to boost their quarterly earnings and to help them report profitability for the year.

Those who enjoy Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving feel this way for a number of different reasons. Some enjoy shopping on this day for the tremendous sales, which are inevitable.

Still others enjoy shopping on this day because they like to take things one season at a time and figure now that Thanksgiving is over; it is time to start focusing on Christmas.

There are even others who like shopping on this day for the excellent people watching opportunity the day presents (trust me, the only reason I would get out on Black Friday would be to watch the craziness that takes place).

Whether or not they get any actual shopping done these individuals flock to shopping malls on the day after Thanksgiving because they know there will be tons of other shoppers to observe.

Finally there are those who start their Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving because of a sense of tradition. It is these individuals who have simply always started their Christmas shopping on this day out of habit.

Their parents probably started Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving and they simply learned this is the day to start Christmas shopping. They will also likely pass on the habit to their own children.

Conversely there are other shoppers who absolutely refuse to step foot inside a mall or shopping center on the day after Thanksgiving (ME). For these shoppers trying to get any shopping done on this day is near impossible.

They are willing to sacrifice the opportunity to buy some items as gifts at excellent sale prices just to avoid the cattle stampedes of shoppers who swarm the stores on this one particular day.

However, it is important to note that just because these shoppers avoid shopping areas on the day after Thanksgiving does not mean they don’t enjoy great sale prices on the Christmas gifts they purchase.

These shoppers may take advantage of sales throughout the year to accomplish their Christmas shopping within their set budget. Or, like me, you may do most of your smaller items, stocking stuffers, etc. the week after Christmas to set up for next Christmas and then only concern yourself with the bigger gifts as it gets closer.

There are still others who typically do not do any shopping on the day after Thanksgiving but these individuals do not necessarily avoid the malls and shopping areas on this day either.

Whether you are an early Christmas shopper, a last minute Christmas shopper or just a people watcher, you likely understand it is appropriate to expect large crowds in malls and shopping centers on the day after Thanksgiving. It is up to you to decide whether or not you choose to join the shoppers on this hectic day.

Now you are probably asking why I posted all of this. First, I want to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas season, second I want to remind you that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so try not to celebrate being thankful on one day only to follow it up by being ungrateful the next. If you are getting out and about on Black Friday, remember that every retail worker, from the store clerk to the server at the restaurant is going to be stressed that day and swamped, so give them a little slack. Also, thirdly, I want to remind you to be safe if you are getting out and about for this sub-holiday tradition that we call Black Friday.

Take care.

Planning Your Thanksgiving Party on a Budget

 

Are you hosting a Thanksgiving party this year?  If so, how much do you intend to spend on your party? 

Unfortunately, a large number of party hosts do not have as much money to spend on their party as they wish they had, but at the same time, often spend more than they wanted to. Whether you are looking at a personal party or a business party, budget can get you in over your head and make you regret the holidays if you aren’t careful.

While this may make you want to change your mind, about hosting a Thanksgiving party, it doesn’t have to. There are a number of different ways that you can go about planning a memorable Thanksgiving party while on a budget.

One of the best ways to plan a Thanksgiving party on a budget is to develop a plan for everything.

You will want to plan what types of foods you would like to serve at your party, how many guests you would like to invite, and what forms of entertainment you would like to have on hand. 

Making a detailed list of everything mentioned above is the best way to determine how much money you could expect to pay for everything that you want. 

Now, it is important to remember that what you could expect to pay might not necessarily be what you could afford to pay; that is where the budgeting comes in. 

After you have created a list of what you need to purchase, including food and other party supplies, you will need to determine exactly how much money you have to spend on your Thanksgiving party. 

If you notice a difference between what you want to spend and what you have to spend, you may find that you need to cut a few corners.  While it is nice to have the Thanksgiving party of your dreams, you will not want to go broke while doing so.

If you eliminate a certain type of food or a number of guests, to cut down your costs, you may easily be able to add them back on, depending on how much money you save when shopping for all of your needed Thanksgiving party supplies.

If you want to save money, when purchasing the supplies needed for your Thanksgiving party, as you likely do, there are a number of different steps that you can take to make that happen. 

Perhaps, the most important step to take is buying your food whenever you see it on sale, especially if you need to have a large amount of food.  Whether your party includes snacks or a full fledge Thanksgiving dinner, you can save yourself a fairly large amount of money by purchasing your food or drinks while they are on sale.  Typically, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, you will find that many grocery stores lower the prices on their most popular Thanksgiving foods and cooking supplies.  This may be the best time to get your shopping done.

Since a party really isn’t complete without decorations, you may wish to purchase party decorations for your home.  For the largest selection of Thanksgiving decorations, it is advised that you purchase your decorations as soon as they hit the store shelves.  Unfortunately, it seems as if many retail stores skip Thanksgiving and jump right to Christmas.  This means that many retail stores are limited on the number of Thanksgiving decorations they carry and when they are gone, they are often gone. 

For the most affordable Thanksgiving decorations, you are advised to shop at discount stores, dollar stores, and department stores.  However, since there is a good chance that thousands of other shoppers are looking to get the same deals as you, it is important that you act fast, while you still have the chance. As I have often heard people like Brian Tracy say, “success loves speed’, and in this case speed can make or break the bank on supplies.

Along the lines of Thanksgiving party decorations is party seating.  Whether you are hosting a formal Thanksgiving party, complete with a sit-down dinner, or just a casual party, there is a good chance that you may need extra chairs and tables.

Your first impulse may be to buy them yourself, but you can save money by renting extra furniture from one of your local rental stores, particularly a party rental store.  You can also get extra tables and chairs, for free, by asking those that you know if they have any seating arrangements that you could borrow. 

The tips mentioned above are just a few of the many ways that you can plan a Thanksgiving party on a budget.  With the right amount of planning, it may be a well-kept secret that your party was not only easy to plan, but easy to afford.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

(My favorite Recipe)