How to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list

I pride myself on being a great gift giver. As the big sister, I have to be the one with the best gifts every year. This obviously isn't a competition for anyone else, but it is for me, against others, but also against myself year after year. I try to find the most thoughtful gifts for every person on my list. In my opinion, the best gift is something that truly speaks to the person and shows just how much you love them. Since this is a competition, I have a strategy and I won't be gatekeeping it anymore!

The older you get, the harder it becomes to buy gifts for your adult friends and family, because you realize that they can buy whatever they want or need with their own money. So the trick becomes to buy something they would want or could need, but they don't know they want or need it yet. To do this, you need to know them like the back of your hand. What are their interests, what makes up their personality, and what was their favourite childhood toy... You kinda need to read their minds and take note of everything.

Finally, Giftful is a free website where you and your friends can make and share wish lists with each other. This way, you don't even need to keep track, your friends do all the work for you and you can anonymously buy gifts from their lists.

Having notes for everyone can help you not only get meaningful gifts for the holidays, but you can keep your list going and get them gifts for any other occasion (birthdays, mother's day/father's day, anniversaries). However, if you keep adding to your notes, you'll have to take things away too. For example, let's say you have a friend who loves to read and for the past years, you've been getting them books and reading accessories (reading light, bookmarks, etc.) and they suddenly get a digital reader or start listening to audiobooks instead, you need to keep note of that so you don't get them gifts they won't have use for anymore.

The notes app on our phones has a purpose and that is to take notes. Throughout the year, keep track of everything. A few key things are:

• Things your friends and family said they would like to have
• Things your friends and family mention they might need (ex. your dad saying he needs new tools because his are getting worn out)
• The new hobbies your friends and family have taken up or have been meaning to start doing (ex. your friend wants to start making fun cocktails for all the dinner parties they host)
• Things you want! We usually pick friends that are like us, so something on your list might be perfect for one of your friends too.

Step 1: Keep Track

Finally, most of us shop online now, and, as I said, the Christmas season is the busiest time of the year for businesses, so shipping takes a little longer than usual. Of course, this doesn't really apply to Amazon. But, as we're all becoming more socially conscious, we should be ordering products from small local businesses. This not only helps them but helps put more money into our own economy. Plus, they have the best niche stuff for the perfect gifts.

Another reason to get your shopping done early is that certain items are in higher demand at different times of the year. People don't buy winter coats in the summer or swimsuits in the fall. This is when liquidation sales come in handy. At the end of the summer, swimsuits sell for much cheaper than they do in June. So if you know someone that goes on tropical vacations every winter, get them beach and summer accessories in October, when they're all on sale.

It is never too early to buy gifts. If you see something you know one of your loved ones would love, get it. The Christmas season is the time of year when most businesses make most of their money, and there are usually great sales. However, during the spring and summer, the "dead season" of the retail world, many places will have sales to attract consumers to their stores. So there is no specific season to buy gifts because you can always get a good deal.

Step 2: Early bird gets the worm