Welcome to the first EFM gift guide of 2024! No better place to start, as there’s no one I know better how to shop for than myself :) And I actually do plan to shop for myself this Christmas, as funny as that might sound. There are a few reasons why… First, I am committed to a Christmas morning that is not simply my children opening gift after gift. I want them to see other people (a.k.a. me and John) opening and enjoying gifts, too, and understand that this morning is for them, but not all about them. This is tricky, though, because while John and I try to exercise restraint in our giving, the handful of gifts we select for them are just the start: our kids also get gifts from two sets of grandparents. And aunts and uncles. And great aunts. And their siblings. Which is so wonderful! But in contrast, John and I get gifts from… each other. Maybe one or two or three. And as both sides of our families have moved to swap systems or exchanged gifts for experiences, the balance of boxes under the tree has become more and more lopsided. So yes, I’d like to even things out a little, and if I need to buy myself gifts to do so, I’m okay with that: I like getting things that I believe will improve my days or bring me little glimmers of joy, but gifts are not my main love language. Second, I’m frugal. For years, in our early life together when we were living on less, I built my Christmas list with great care, earmarking things month in advance that I wanted but that simply didn’t fit in our budget. I’m grateful for all the gifts from parents and in-laws and siblings