Present buying? Engineer it.

Christmas is almost over for another year, and congratulations for surviving it intact. Or did you?

If you are anything like me, you may have failed miserably at the business end of the Christmas. The present buying. It's not that I don't 'get' or understand the needs of my other half, but I have concluded that when it comes to deciding what to buy, I am assaulted with too many options to make an accurate decision.

The question is, can I find a solution which may help me reduce the choices available?

Perhaps if we can firstly remove certain key variables? For instance, some couples set a ceiling to the amount of money which can spend on presents. By restricting the total spend you are solving a number of problems.

Since most presents really are not worth consideration unless you spend say £5.00, you are essentially restricting the amount of presents that you can buy. Also spending the bare minimum on every present does not offer up much of an opportunity to bestow upon your partner a fancy gift or two.

Therefore, I propose that the main present be determined [or enquired after] before shopping commences. It is also noteworthy to mention that blowing the entire budget on the main event is not preferable, as opening smaller, or lesser valuable presents is also part and parcel of a winning spread of gifts.

The question that remains is if you have set a price ceiling on the gifts [as determined by personal financial constraints], how much of that can you spend on the main event present? I propose that this is related to the amount of presents that you intend to buy. The amount of presents that you purchase must also be related to the amount of presents that your other half is set to receive from others. For example, if your girl friend is estimated to receive say 10 presents from her close family and friends, then this infers that you may be freed up to spend a larger proportion of the available funds on a single present.

Based upon the previous statements, I propose using the following algorithm.

First we must establish the number of presents which you should consider giving using the equation below:

Number of Presents N = [15-[A+0.5C+0.3P]] / 2

Where A = number of adults which are planning on giving presents to your partner.
Where C = number of children planning on giving presents to your partner.
P = number of pets in the household.

Always round down..

Once you have determined the number of presents, then simply apply this to one of the equations below:

Price Ceiling [£] x 0.75 and 0.25 for 2 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.60,  0.30 and 0.1 for 3 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.60, 0.20, 0.10 and 0.10 for 4 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.50, 0.15, 0.15, 0.10 and 0.10 for 5 presents
Price Ceiling [£] x 0.45, 0.15, 0.15, 0.10, 0,10 and 0.10 for 6 presents

Example: Your partner is expecting presents from 4 adults, 2 children and the house contains no pets.


Therefore N = [15-[4+1]] / 2 = 5 presents.


The couple decided to spend only £75.00 on each other due to their financial situation.


Therefore each partner may spend up to £37.50 on the main present, £11.25 on 2 presents and £7.50 on the final 2 presents.

So there you go, use the equations wisely and perhaps you will have more luck than me next year. Well actually, I did try following the formulae - and I think that I decided upon the number of presents correctly.

Apparently cook books are still a no no though.

Merry Christmas and have a prosperous, and a very happy New Year!!


Engine[er]