A cut-down Christmas shopping guide so you can help disaster victims

As I've written in my previous post here, one way to truly help the victims of typhoon Yolanda is to cut back on your Christmas shopping this year and instead use the money for helping out. Some may say, no to shopping entirely and I salute you for that. But for a mom like me, I guess it's quite understandable if we still celebrate Christmas on a budget even if it's just for the kids, specially since we just lost a loved one this year.

For my family's part, we've donated part of our Christmas bonuses/salaries to the typhoon victims. We also shopped for some groceries and gave out some of the kids' used clothes and toys to R's school drive for the disaster victims as well.

With our remaining Christmas budget, I'm sure our relatives and friends will understand the simple gifts we came up with this year. So how is it for us this year, you may ask? Sharing with you our scaled down gift guide:

For friends and relatives with families - Just think to yourselves, what items are really useful to you? What home stuff do you usually have to buy for your own? Instead of giving the usual wine, fruitcake, or decorative glasswares, which practically become recycled gifts anyway, give usable items. Just to give you an idea, checkout Saizen (the Japanese store) and the Home sections of SM or Landmark. They have affordable home organization or storage solution items as well as other items we use for laundry, cleaning and in the kitchen or bedroom.

Can you spot the kulit bulilit?

For teens - I know this generation is quite difficult to gift, for one, they are generally interested in gadgets (way above our budgets I know). So how about a little something for their gimmicks (the wholesome kind)? Try gifting them with movie cards:

Image from filgifts.com

Or cologne for their everyday use in school:

Image from Bench

For kids - With having two kids, I learned that you don't need to give them expensive toys. Even if you just give them something cheap, kids appreciate them as long as it's safe, colorful, and it's something they can work their hands on and freely imagine with. I think they're hyped more with the idea that they have a gift or a little surprise. Besides, they get to destroy it in just a few minutes only hehe. Kaya it's not practical to give them expensive toys (specially toddlers).

I chanced upon Toys R Us' great sale in Trinoma Activity Center this weekend and scored some great deals. And even if they're not on sale, they have reasonably priced toys for children of all ages, checkout their website: http://www.toysrus.com.ph/ Images below taken from there.

Here are their affordable educational/creative toys:

Toys for girls:

 For boys naman:

In Saizen there are these cute kiddie folding chairs for Php88 each only. We got some also, for when we go out and you suddenly need a place to sit (lalo na si Daddy A habang inaantay ako during shopping). Yup, they're quite sturdy.

For babies - These cuties are the easiest to give, I think. Well because they can't complain haha. But they're so exciting to shop for, with all the cute tiny clothes out there. Oops back to scaling down before I get carried away. Every parent knows how pambahays are important since our babies are home most of the time, though it's something not usually gifted. At your local department store, you can buy sandos/tees and shorts in sets of threes. Just get a bigger size if you're not sure of the baby's size. Bibs, towels and wash cloths are also quite useful. Be careful in giving skin care products though like bath soap/wash, powder, cologne etc. since you may not be sure of the preferred brand of the parents and babies' skin are very delicate.

Image from SM Baby Company

For office mates - Ever since I have been gifting my office/group mates a personalized calendar. It has become tradition I might say, and happily they anticipate it naman. I basically edit a printable calendar off the internet and insert birthdays of my officemates (para alam kung sino manlilibre ng lunch) and the holidays we look forward to (walang pasok! yehey). Then for the cover picture, I do a collage of all our faces. Pwede rin siyang pang Eeny, Meeny, Mini, Mo, sinong susunod na magreresign dito! Hehe joke lang.

For classmates of your children - National bookstore has plenty of activity books, notepads, stencil and stamp sets that are below Php100. Check out Saizen/Daiso's Sanrio rack as well:

For the women in your life (mom, sister, best friends, etc., even your children's teacher) - How about charm bracelets? I'm not talking about the Pandora levels. There are great and affordable accessories at SM or Landmark to choose from. Also check out bag/accessories organizers at Saizen/Daiso.

For the men in your life (dad, brother, friend etc.) - Socks and undershirts are great gifts as well since they are regularly used but rarely replaced. Belt/tie holders are also useful gifts.

For your ninongs/ninangs/titos and titas - Last year at SM Homeworld, during on of their sales, I was able to score Wamsutta 300-500 count Egyptian cotton pillow cases at Php175 for a set of two!

Generic/Neutral gift ideas - Everyone travels at least once a year right? Why not give Travel/packing cubes? This is one travel essential I cannot live without specially with my family of four, it's a great way to organize our luggage. Saizen/Daiso has these as well, at a much affordable price. Pero baka wala na kayo mabili dahil pinakyaw ko na lahat hehe.

Image from here

To be environment friendly you can pack your gifts in an eco/reusable bag like what I did last year (one per family). It saves you time wrapping gifts as well.

Again let's all remember it isn't about the monetary worth of the gifts we give, but the message that comes with it, "you are being remembered in this season of giving and sharing". Like they always say, "it is better to give than to receive." Also the most important thing is that you get to enjoy the holidays with your family. Nothing beats that.

As we celebrate the season, let's not forget our countrymen in the Visayas. Let's say a prayer for them as well.