Rocking Christmas gifts during inflation: Straight Up with Tiana Lowe
Tiana Lowe
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I’ve never loved giving gift cards in the best of times, and now, with the worst inflation in 40 years eroding the value of them in real time, there’s even little reason to gift them. There’s an exception to this rule and one that subverts the unfortunate reality of the time value of money: gifting experiences. Call your father’s secretary and schedule the parents a dinner cruise or a winery tour.
That brings me to my next suggestion: The best gifts are the ones you can eat, drink, or cook. Wineries you adore are often on sites like Rakuten, which offer discounts to consumers and earn a commission from retailers for directing your business their way. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, shipping chains aren’t apocalyptic, so why not send out for a California red?
CHRISTMAS IS CANCELED: ALMOST 7,000 FLIGHTS SCRAPPED OR DELAYED AS BOMB CYCLONE CAUSES TRAVEL CHAOS
One of the best gifts I’ve gotten for my best friends is a wine advent calendar, and one of the best I’ve received is the sort of olive oil Fig & Olive serves with its crostini. But if you can’t afford EVOO prices, which are up some 15% in the last year, try nice steaks, which have actually deflated in price since last winter. A cooler full of filet mignon? It’s a Christmas miracle!
While the internet provides delivery miracles, consider shopping brick and mortar for your friends and family in the neighborhood. Thanks to both inflation and the Federal Reserve’s (necessary) rate hike campaign, consumer spending slid below expectations, leaving retailers like Target stuck with a glut of inventory. Unable to clear their warehouse space quickly enough, many stores are slashing prices to make room for incoming inventory.
Other gifts nobody would oppose? Shea butter soap bars, sandalwood candles, a halfway decent paring knife, really fast iPhone charges (yes, I’m always losing mine), or even something as simple as a canvas bag full of nonperishable groceries. Unlike that Amazon gift card, which depends on Jeff Bezos not raising your prices, a bag of jasmine rice or jar of honey will never leave you. It will only fill you. In fact, Santa should gift me a stocking full of pasta this year, and I’d be completely satisfied. But I’ll also accept a bottle of wine under the tree.
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Want more tips for last-minute Christmas gifts? Check out the latest episode of the Washington Examiner‘s new series, Straight Up with Tiana Lowe.