If you are to become an effective gift giver, you may have to change your attitude about money.
Each of us has an individualised perception of the purpose of money, and we have various emotions associated with spending it. Some of us have a spending orientation. We feel good about ourselves when we are spending money. Others have a saving and investing perspective. We feel good about ourselves when we are saving money and investing it wisely.
If you are a spender, you have little difficulty purchasing gifts for others; but if you are a saver, you will experience emotional resistance to the idea of spending money as an expression of love or appreciation. You don't purchase things for yourself. Why should you purchase things for your spouse? But that attitude fails to recognize that you are purchasing things for yourself. By saving and investing money, you are purchasing self-worth and emotional security. You are caring for your own emotional needs in the way you handle money. What you may not be doing is meeting the emotional needs of those closest to you.
If you discover that your loved one's primary love language is receiving gifts, then perhaps you will understand that purchasing gifts for them is the best investment you can make. You are investing in your relationship and simultaneously filling their emotional love tank. Don't worry about your savings, you will always be a saver. Investing in the emotional needs of others is one of the most gratifying investments a person can make. Gary Chapman.
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