Are you one of those people who keeps forgetting birthdays? So you give yourself aguilt trip and then do one of two thing:1.Avoid the situation

Sprint to the mall to get some last-minute gift, stressing and overspendingas you go.If this sounds all too familiar then let me ask you, haven’t you had enough of this?

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Of missing out important people?

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Of buying gifts that you don’t even like?

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Of resorting to the money in an envelope trick?

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Of spending too much on people you don't even get along with?If so, then read on for how to claim total control on your gift spending, nurture therelationships that are important to you and stop wasting money needlessly andstressing out.

1. Decide to Change

To make any change you must decide to do it. OK, that sounds incredibly obviousbut without consciously setting your mind towards the new you who has control andsaying goodbye forever to the old you who stressed and frittered cash, you will notactually change. Decide to take control and look forward to reaping the rewards.

2. Make a Birthday List

Like any big task it's important to break it down into manageable chunks; for giftsfor birthday this means making a list of everyone important to you as well as thepeople you currently buy gifts for. It can get to be quite a large list what withfriends, partners, family, colleagues and other acquaintances. Don't getoverwhelmed, just concentrate on the important ones first. This list is going to begrow to as time goes by and you’ll keep referring to it.

3. Set a Budget

For each of those people on your list decide how much you are willing to spend oneach one. Note that it's perfectly fine to decide on a zero amount- in some cases allthat you need to do is simply acknowledge a birthday, and this can be as simple asa phone call.Pay very close attention to the amounts for people you don't actually like thatmuch, sometimes you can find yourself overspending on people who aren't reallyimportant. I'm not suggesting that you start cutting yourself off from people butrather, bring yourself closer to the people who are important to you.This list can be very useful: it lets you see your total budget for a year, which maycome as a surprise. It also facilitates more equitable choices in terms of how muchyou spend on each person e.g. assigning the same amount to siblings.

4. Add Details

For each name on your list you now need the actual birth date- the year is helpfulso you can be aware of landmark ages like 18, 21, 30, 40 etc. It is also very useful