Make Your Own Registry for Gift-Giving

Today’s article is about managing holiday shopping when you have lots of relatives and no idea what to get them.

The quick and dirty tip is to use a Web-based To Do list like TaDaList.com to manage and share your holiday lists with loved ones. Or at least with people you feel obligated to buy stuff for.

How to Figure Out What to Get Everyone on Your List

Once upon a time, holidays were simple. We had two parents, three adult children, and one significant other. We all knew each other and bought each other gifts we thought would be nice. Life was good.

Then in the space of a year and a half, BANG! Two more significant others, three kids, and new relatives barging in left and right. Suddenly, it was impossible to know who wanted what. I thought Bernice wanted the expensive moisturizer and Jonathan wanted the power tools. Oops. It was the other way around. Now Jon’s freaking out about his complexion, and Bernice is freaking out because she needs a power drill to finish the nursery.

Then another cousin got married. The bride and groom told us to check out the “registry” for gift ideas. Do you know about these things? They’re great. You put together a list of stuff you want and people buy it for you! Hello, I want one! But why wait for weddings? If everyone had a registry, all the time, think how much easier it would make gift giving.

Create a Gift Registry

Hmm… If only…

Well, thanks to the miracle of technology, our family now has a registry, year-round. We used a free “To Do list” website to start our own registries. Here’s what we do:

We created a page for our family called “The Family Registry.” Each of us created a separate TO DO list on the page. We called all our relatives and explained they should set up a registry, for our convenience. We phrased it more diplomatically: “Tell us what you want. Then if we still love you when the holidays roll around, we’ll buy it for you.” (Just kidding! We always love our relatives. Even Bernice.)

We told them to high-tail it to the page and fill out a list so we knew what to buy. Now everyone is much happier. We know we’re getting something we want. We know we’re giving something our loved ones want. So it’s good bye to those embarrassing returns-counter run-ins. “Er, Mom. Fancy seeing you here. Er, This? No, no, this isn’t the sweater you gave me. It just looks the same. Exactly the same…”

How to Create Your Registry

Since the registries don’t have to be about products, we also ask for favors. My list might include, “a home-cooked meal without me having to do dishes” or “a month where someone else buys the paper towels when we run out.”

Then when holidays or birthdays come around, we just visit the page for gift ideas. It’s simple, quick, and useful. Try it out. It’s free: tadalist.com.

Other Web-based “to do” lists include blablalist.com and tudu.ess.ch. Shopping sites sometimes support wish lists for that site’s products. For example, Amazon.com lets you set up and share wish lists for Amazon products.

So set up your own registry today. Tell your family and friends. Get them doing it too, and pretty soon, the holidays will be a stress-free adventure in love and consumerism. Web-based gift lists are especially useful since you can access them from anywhere.

The big item on my registry is questions, comments, and feedback from listeners like you. Please send topic ideas and suggestions to getitdone@quickanddirtytips.com. Work less, do more, and have a great life!