I KNOW it's Christmas but I do find the orgy of gift giving a bit much.
Every end-of-year event or break up involves buying gifts. There's your kris kringles, Santa's visit to the kindergarten or the pony club, a present for the sports coach - the list goes on.
It's costing me a fortune.
And at one kris kringle I didn't actually get anything - my "gift" was a goat, which apparently I gave to a needy family in a village in Africa.
How's that a gift?
Tina, Traralgon
Dear Tina,
Tell me about it.
I've already spent the Christmas budget and still haven't bought anything for the family.
And I don't really get the goat thing as a gift either.
Don't get me wrong, I reckon it's great to donate to the Third World but isn't it a bit presumptuous for someone to do it on my behalf?
It seems like they're saying, "Oh Agnes is too stingy to give to charity, so I'll do it for her and deduct it from her Christmas present account, and I'll get a warm glow as well." Nice.
Still, it can't be any more disappointing than when you put a lot of thought and effort into buying something top-notch like a bottle of wine or an interesting DVD for the kris kringle but all you get is a novelty kangaroo-paw bottle opener or a packet of baby wipes.
Once I got a baseball cap that someone got free with a drum of Round Up - how lazy is that?
So to avoid wiping out your Christmas budget, draw up a list of who you are prepared to give a present to and just buy them a voucher - from the $2 shop.
And if you get a useless gift, like last year's diary, just wrap it up again and save it for next year's kris kringle.
Unless it's a goat that someone else gave away on your behalf.
