A confession, an advertisement, an idea

This year I had a great idea: get all of my Christmas presents for free.

Hence the confession portion of this post.

Before I had ever even purchased anything on Groupon, I had $10 credit. Apparently if you broadcast your individual url and people click on it and then buy something, you get $10. In the months since I first spammed the world with my personal link, I’ve accumulated probably $400 worth of Groupon credit. After finding great gifts for my nephews with a groupon, I realized I could probably do this for everyone, and so far have been successful. Note that my brother John is still stumping me and will be my downfall. Last night as I rummaged through Nordstrom Rack looking to buy him something, I realized not even I am that cheap. So, for John, I might cave and spend actual money at Target.

That being said, I have now done all of my Christmas shopping (sans John) for free. Oh—I almost forgot my advertisement portion. Click this link if you’re a first time groupon user and I’ll get $10.

Now for the idea. Every year my ward has a service auction with the proceeds going to provide Christmas for needy families. Last year I did not have any spare money and subsequently did not spend a dime at the auction. This year I decided to spend all of the money I would have spent on presents—and hopefully a lot more—at this service auction.

I love the C.S. Lewis quote about how we need to give enough that it is uncomfortable for us. Christmas is a magical time where people are more inclined to be generous and help those around them. My hope is that I can recognize the needs of those around me all year round. So there’s my idea—let the law of diminishing returns touch your heart and be generous.