Christmas is just around the corner and it’s a perfect time to give to loved ones. But, it can be tricky to balance buying for friends as well as family. It can become more stressful than fun, and by the time Christmas rolls around you might ready to just give them their presents and move on. However, the holidays are a special time to give back.  With that being said, here are some guidelines to gift giving.

1. Establish a clear price range with your friends. It would be pretty uncomfortable to buy a friend an inexpensive gift and they spent a lot to buy something sentimental or special, or vice versa. There’s no need to feel obligated to buy for all of your friends and your friends’ friends.

2. Establish how many of your friends you are buying gifts for. This will make it easier to keep in your budget. Try to make sure other friends are not there when you are exchanging gifts if you did not buy gifts for each other to avoid awkward situations.

3. Don’t tell people what you are purchasing other friends just in case it gets out. It’s tricky when someone finds out a gift you are getting them because you then have to reconsider purchasing a new gift or leaving it be.

4. Try not to wait until the last minute to buy your gifts. With finals, traveling, and other important events around this time of year, it shouldn’t be an anxious event to go Christmas shopping.

5. Try to avoid buying gift cards. Presents at the holidays should be sentimental and mean something, and gift cards can be given to just about anybody. Two years from now, your best friend won’t remember that you got them a $15 Target gift card.

6. If possible, avoid exchanging gifts on a school day. It might be quite a lot to carry throughout the school day and during finals. Not only that, but it would be unfortunate for a different friend to see that there was a gift exchange that they were not included in.

7. Most importantly, don’t stress. You don’t need to feel like you have to impress your friends with how much money you spent or who gave or received the greatest gift of the season. They are your friends, this is supposed to be a judgement free experience and will form plenty of memories.

Exchanging gifts at Christmas time with friends can be a great experience. After the stress of finals and half of the school year already coming to a close, it’s amazing to share with your friends during the most wonderful time of the year.