Category Archives: Uncategorized
Who Is This Gift For?
It’s December 27, gifts have been opened and waffles have been eaten. But one gift this year was a huge miss for me. I think that I picked some good gifts in general. My wife squealed and jumped up and down when she found out what she was doing and my son’s face lit gratifyingly. … Continue reading
Tagged Christmas, Christmas eve, christmas morning, Gift, gift giver, Giving, good gifts, grandchildren, grandma, great time, Holidays, Human Interest, Love, love actually, Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart Mistake, mistake, morning surprise, mother in law, Opinions, Santa, Santa Claus, stocking stuffers, surprise, thoughtful gifts
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Are Picking a Terrible Gift for You Niece or Nephew?
If you don’t have nieces or nephews congratulations, you are not going to be the worst gift giver at Christmas. Oh, wait, you do? Bad news. Economists, being the super fun party people that we know them to be, have studied the economic value of Christmas giving and, unsurprisingly found that many Christmas gifts have … Continue reading
Tagged aunts and uncles, behavioral psychologists, birthday gifts, booby prize, Christmas, christmas gifts, christmas present, confidence, Gift, gift certificate, gift certificates, gift giver, gift givers, Giving, how to pick a gift, mistake, niece, nieces and nephews, waste money, wish list, wish lists, wishlist
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This one is too big, this one is too little, this one is just wrong.
There are few gift giving rules that apply across different people… but I might have found one. My son doesn’t want clothes, my sister in law does. My brother still wants action figures but my nieces think he’s crazy. Because giving good gifts is so hard, we don’t spend a lot of time thinking … Continue reading
Tagged behavioral psychologists, best gifts, birthday gifts, blind spot, Business and Economy, cheap christmas gifts, cheap gift ideas, cheap gifts, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, confidence, couples, Gift, gift idea, gift ideas, gift recipient, gift recipients, Giving, inexpensive christmas gifts, inexpensive gifts, Joel Waldfogel, Price, relationship, shopping, uncomfortable questions, warm fuzzies
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Flawed and Perfect – Can a Bad Gift Land Your Perfect Mate?
Let me tell you about the gift that got my wife to marry me. It wasn’t the ring. The ring comes way too late in the process to be persuasive, or at least it did with us. Instead I sent her an extremely persuasive box of homemade baklava. Read on to find out about the … Continue reading
Should You Give the Gift of Cash?
It’s the easiest thing in the world. And, usually, it’s not really what you want to do. Giving a gift of money is complicated emotionally and socially and there’s just too much going on to give one pat answer. Why Not to Give Money Much of the stigma attached to giving money (in American culture) … Continue reading
Short version – Giving Is Like ‘Chocolate, Sex and Money’
What now? We all know that it is better to give than to receive. But ‘Chocolate, Sex and Money’ better? That is the surprising result of a study done at UCLA that looked at the effects of social support on the giver. I’ll spare you the details (painful electric shocks) but it turns out that the person providing … Continue reading
Tis Better to Receive Than to Give
We all know the quote: “‘Tis Better to Receive Than to Give” Right?* That’s why every kid has a hard time going to sleep on Christmas eve and why we keep hoping to get an envelope from nana with a two dollar bill in it. But did you know that getting presents from people also … Continue reading
Tagged Ben, ben franklin, Birthday, Christmas, Christmas eve, Franklin, friendship, Gift, gift giver, gift idea, Giving, group gift, happiness, Price, psychologists
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Do You Know This Key to Organizing a Group Gift Idea?
You did it! You found the perfect gift for mom (or dad or your boss or your brother). But there’s still a problem: Your gift idea is perfect in every single way except for the price tag. You may feel like you cut off the head of one problem just to have two more grow … Continue reading
Happy Valentines from XKCD
Tracking Gift Ideas on Twitter
Hi guys, Just a quick post; I’ve tried before to search Twitter for gift ideas because it seems like people talk about their gifts a lot there. I’ve been defeated in the past, though, by how much noise there is on Twitter. I am a complete Twitter newbie, but just following 20 or so people … Continue reading