Do you experience gift-giving anxiety? Maybe you never actually had the words for it, but the stress and pressure to get the perfect gift and to pull it off financially is undeniable. Well, today, in honor of Black Friday, when this feeling can be at its peak, I'm inviting you to wave farewell to gift giving anxiety. Let's take the pressure off of feeling like you have to break the bank to give the best gifts. Whether you're crafty, tech-savvy, or simply looking for fresh inspiration, this episode is your guide to making this gift-giving season uniquely special. And my fellow MS sisters, if you want a more personalized approach to creating your MS diet and lifestyle, check out my private coaching program. It includes a comprehensive assessment, personalized strategies, and lifestyle support.

Each month, I only accept three new clients. So if you're interested, apply now at Alenebrennan.com/coach. Now on to today's episode. There are 1 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the US. So that makes you one in a million. And you have a special purpose in this world that no diagnosis can take away from you. So if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind and life from multiple sclerosis, welcome to my MS podcast. I'm your host, Alene Brennan. For as long as I can remember, Black Friday shopping was just as much of a holiday tradition as decorating the tree and baking cookies. We were those shoppers that got up early in the morning to be the first in line.

Now, we didn't camp out at Walmart overnight, but we were at the mall at 6am with a mapped out plan of which stores we were going to hit up first. We were serious shoppers. And we got serious deals. I actually have a lot of great family memories from Black Friday, and I still love a good sale. I have my list ready of what I want to purchase this weekend as well. But I also know that some of the best gifts that I've received over the years are not the ones that had the biggest price tags attached to them. They were often the gifts that had the most

one of the best gifts I've ever received, and I still have to this day. So that's what I want to share with you today. I have six unique and pretty heartfelt ideas to freshen up your holiday gift giving, again, without breaking the bank. I hope you love them as much as I do, and that you find at least one to do this season. But if you're like me, you'll have a hard time choosing because they're so good. Can I say that on my own podcast? All right, Alene, get on with it. Okay, idea number one, personalized photo books. Let me start this one with a question. How many photos do you have on your phone right now? Like really, how many? Because I have 39,000. 39,000 photos on my phone.

That is insane. Now, that may be a reflection of me being a new mom and wanting to capture every precious little moment of my daughter as she's growing up. And it wasn't too long ago that my husband and I got engaged and married and went on our honeymoon. So I was in an era of all of those big milestones in my life where I could capture them so easily on my phone. And I am so grateful for that. But 39,000 photos? Again! It's insanity. That's insane. Imagine that all piled up in like those old school photo books that we used to have. Well, I started thinking about it and I'm like, I appreciate being able to go and flip through them because I do. I will scroll back to different events and reminisce.

But what about the family and friends that are in those pictures? They don't get to do that. And some of them actually never saw the original photo that I have. That's why I absolutely love photo books. I gave one to my husband from pictures of our honeymoon. And then I also did one for my in-laws last year filled with pictures of them and their granddaughter. They're so special and so meaningful. And the reality is very few people will take the time to put together a book like that for themselves. But it can be so easily done with online apps like Shutterfly, Snapfish, and even CVS has great photo options. I literally just ordered our Christmas cards last night on CVS and they have great 50% off deal right now.

So there's a nice way to take advantage of a Black Friday sale with a gift that's so meaningful. Last year, we actually got photos done and I got some canvas prints done at CVS as well to hang on the wall. And you don't necessarily necessarily need to do a full book. If that's not your thing, or if that's not really appropriate for the person that you're giving it to, you can always print just a single picture on like a canvas that can be hung on the wall. I did that last year for Christmas. We had some family photos done and I had them printed on canvas again, done at CVS. They were really inexpensive because it was when they had their 50% off sale. And now we have like a collage of them on our wall.

And it's so sweet, especially as the year has gone on to see like how much our daughter has grown. It's just, it's fun. And now she looks at them. And she'll point up and say, 'mama' and 'dada'. They're just fun. So another variation of this gift idea, my husband gave me, I think it was for my birthday last year. He gave me a picture of our wedding that was in this frame. And on the mat of the frame, it had a wedding prayer written on it. And I'm sure it was something that he got on like Etsy or, you know, like one of the sites like that. But that was so meaningful. So again, it doesn't have to be a collection of photos in a book.

If you want to do that, that's fantastic. And like tells a story of whatever timeframe or event that you're capturing. But you can also just make a single photo really meaningful by getting a canvas printed or by having it on a mat or a frame that is unique or special as well. But photos are just so meaningful because they capture memories and being able to enjoy them throughout the year is so nice. So that is why I'm kicking off the gift giving idea with a photo book or a special photo print. Next up, oh, I love this one too, a curated playlist or podcast collection. I'm going to totally show my age here, but remember when you used to make those mixed tapes of your favorite songs, many of which were recorded directly off the radio to give your BFF or your sweetheart?

Well, the modern day version of that is a playlist of your favorite songs or podcast episodes that the person you're buying for would love. Personally, this is one I want to be on the receiving end of. So I am legit adding this to my wishlist from my husband. He's the DJ in our family and he always has the best music going and he has great playlists. I don't take time to make playlists. I just don't take the time. And I'm always like jealous of him when he has the music already queued up where I get in the car and I'm just putting the radio on and listening to whatever is on. Am I like the last person in the world that still listens to the radio? Me and K love that.

Oh, I love it. But I would love for him to make me a playlist and he could take it in so many different directions. As I shared, you know, many times before, he and I actually grew up together. So he could do a playlist of all the music we listened to when we were growing up. Or he could recreate our wedding playlist of our favorite music played at our wedding, including our first dance, the song we walked out to, the dance that he did with his mom or I did with my dad. Like that's something that you could so easily recreate and would be so special. You could do childhood favorite songs or family memories, love songs. Like again, just so many different directions that you could take this in.

Now, if you wanted to do the podcast collection, you could develop a collection of podcast episodes that are specific to a topic that the person that you are giving it to is really interested in. Or you could also do it maybe on like a person of interest that they have. Does that sound like a crime was committed? But you know what I mean? Like if there's a particular speaker that they enjoy or a leader or a sports player, you could find different podcasts, episodes or like interviews that they've done and pull that together. Just make sure that if you do the podcast collection, that you include an episode of my MS podcast, because obviously it's a generous gift to all. Sorry, had to give a shameless little plug there.

But to make a playlist, you use like Spotify or Apple Music, whatever like platform you want, you create the playlist and share it. For podcast, you can create a list and probably the easiest thing would be to put it in an email. But if you wanted to give them something tangible, you could list all of the episodes on a card, whether that is like just a regular greeting card or like you make something, if you're crafty, you know, you could kind of make something up and then tell them that you're going to send the email with all the links because you want to have all of the links like convenient for them. That's part of the gift. But yeah, like create a special podcast, podcast collection, or playlist that you could give somebody.

And this is completely free. It's completely free. So this is one that would be definitely late on the budget and definitely not break the bank, but super meaningful. Okay, what's next? A self-care kit. Encouraging others to take care of themselves is such a gift. It is such a gift. And I love that this gift can be done on any budget as well. You could get like a cozy blanket from HomeGoods and include maybe like a cup of your favorite herbal tea. For me, I would do traditional medicinal throat coat tea. I love it. It's so good. And then you could even like toss in an Amazon gift card there to allow them to like pick out a favorite book or something. Or if you're crafty, you could make your own blanket.

I really want to learn how to make those blankets with like the big yarn. Apparently, like you don't even need any needles or I don't know. I don't know how it works. But I always look at them and I'm like, they're so pretty. They're so cozy. And apparently, they're so easy to make and doesn't cost a lot of money. Or if you wanted to go in a different direction of self-care, you could do like an all-natural eco-friendly basket of natural bath salts, some soap, maybe essential oils. Or you could just do like a gift card to a place that offers massage or nail services, depending upon who you're giving it to. But you could do a dollar amount or just keep it simple with a manicure.

It's not going to be as expensive as a massage, but it's still a really nice gift to receive. I'd love to receive a gift card for a mani or a pedi. Yes, please. All right, next up, a personalized recipe book. I know, can you stand it? It just feels like each one keeps getting better and better. So do you have family recipes that you could compile into a book that you could print and give to each of your family members? Like how special, how special. You could either handwriting them out or you could print them into a book. You could even include some stories or pictures of family memories behind the recipes, talk about just really making it so unique. I feel like this one can be so overlooked, like they're just the recipes.

Yeah. Those are family traditions that are being passed down. And without them being written down, they could easily get lost with just one generation. But this could be something so special to give. And here's the beauty of these gifts. Both this recipe book and the photo book, they're of course amazing to receive. But you also get to enjoy a lot of fulfillment as you're creating them. Because again, it's like with the pictures, you're flipping through the pictures and going through all the memories. But that could be the same for the recipes too. Like you could pull out a cookie recipe that you made as a kid and just completely forgot about. And all of a sudden it just brings back all of these memories.

And you even see like a little stain from the vanilla extract or whatever it is that's on there. They can bring so much joy creating them as well as giving them. Now, if you're thinking, all right, Alene, great idea. But it actually sounds a little painful given that I changed my diet to manage MS. And now I don't need any of these family recipes anymore. So it's a little bit of a sore spot for me having to see all of these amazing recipes that I don't get to eat. I get it. Oh, oh, how I get it. But here's an idea. What if you pull together this recipe book as is? Just recipes exactly as is. And then over the course of the next year, you pick one recipe per month to create an allergy-friendly version of it.

Just one recipe a month. That's so doable. And you might just find that in doing so, you actually start to enjoy the process of cooking or baking just a little bit more. And you're getting so much inspiration and learning so much about different ingredients in the process. Who knows? You might even come up with some pretty spectacular recipes that you end up publishing your own recipe book to give next holiday season. So there you go. You have your gift giving idea for this season and next season. Already done. All right. Next up, a themed movie night kit. Put together a movie night kit based on their favorite movie or show. This could include a Netflix card with themed snacks or drinks or other things that are like relevant to that movie or show.

So here's an example. I still love Sex and the City. So you could do a Cosmo cocktail or mocktail kit, whichever would be appropriate. And then you could. Even include in there one of those like high heel wine bottle holders, you know, the things that you put in in place of the cork that, you know, often have like the decoration on top. You could do one with a high heel or something like that, or maybe like a little diamond. And then you can even do a face mask or nail polish. Just make it glamorous. So fun. Or if you wanted to go in a completely different direction, you could do a Downton Abbey one. So do like a really beautiful teacup, which you can get at like TJ Maxx or Marshalls or HomeGoods, just because something is beautiful doesn't mean that it has to be expensive.

And here's the other thing. If you go to some of these other stores like HomeGoods and TJ Maxx, I don't think that they tend to run many Black Friday sales. Their stuff's already discounted. So you can get good deals without having to be in the thick of all of the lines and crowds that day, or just look online. Thank you. Amazon pretty much has anything and then it'll have it at your doorstep tomorrow. So you could do a beautiful teacup with some specialty teas, or you could do a recipe for some delicious scones or better yet, just give them scones or bath salts. So that could be like a Downton Abbey one or ready for this one, Eat, Pray, Love. You could go through like each of those categories there.

For eat, you could do like a pizza stone because she has that amazing scene where she's in Italy and just devouring the amazing pizza, or specialty olive oil, a gift card to a cooking class. And for pray, you could do a yoga mat, a journal, or a gift card to a yoga class. And then for love, you could do a fun playlist of love songs, or that part of the movie was set in Bali. So you could even do some massage oils, or am I saying this right? BAlenese jewelry, like This could be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. These are just ideas to spark some inspiration for those in your life that you're giving a gift to. But you could keep it simple.

You could make it elaborate. It's the creativity and the thought behind it that makes it really fun. Okay, I saved the best for last. The inspiration for this gift came from a gift that I received after my mom passed. I know it's an odd time to receive a gift, but at the time I was working at a health club and I was leading the nutrition department and the nutrition team. And my good friend was leading the team of personal trainers. Well, he organized both teams to write a note to me about our friendship and they are all handwritten notes. They put them in a gift bag and gave them to me my first day back after my mom's services. The notes were as unique as the individuals of that group.

Some were really heartfelt. Others were filled with inside jokes just to bring a smile to my face. And others were inspirational. Some were short and sweet, just a few sentences. And others were pages long. But the collection of letters was so unique and special, and meant so much to me at that time. So I still have this gift bag filled with all these letters to this day. And I do pull them out every once in a while to re-read them. Just for a little pick-me-up. So this idea could be recreated in a lot of ways. One of the ways that I was thinking that would be super fun would be to create a memory jar. You could get a simple mason jar and like tie a pretty ribbon around it, and fill it with notes of like special memories that you have with this person, inside jokes, reason why you appreciate or love them.

Like just make it something that is so special and unique to them. And they could be like something that's just written on a little piece of paper. You can really keep it simple and definitely low cost, but how special. Actually, you could even make this a fun holiday tradition. Like while you're baking cookies and the cookies are in the oven, you sit around the table and write notes that you put in everyone's jar. So like think back to when you were in elementary school and it was Valentine's Day and everyone had like their bag on that little table. And then one by one, each student got called up to put their Valentines in all of the different bags. Think of that concept.

But instead of the bag, you have the mason jars, or maybe you do use just a gift bag because that's simple and cheap and whatever. It's just easy. But then everyone in the family is sitting around like writing notes to each person and they get up and they put them in the basket. And then those are given each year under the tree. Like how special, how special is that? And here's the thing, you never know what's on people's minds and hearts throughout the year, even your closest family and friends. So you never know when this can come in handy, when they're having a hard day and just need a little pick-me-up. This is something that they can reach for and be reminded of fun memories or how much you mean to them, or there's a joke on there that makes them laugh at just the right time.

This is a gift that can not only bring joy the day that you give it, but for so many days, weeks, months, even years afterwards. Okay, I certainly hope that this episode brought you joy in discovering a fresh spin on holiday gifts that are thoughtful, meaningful, and easy on the budget. So let's do a quick recap and make sure you jot down any that you are going to do this holiday season. First up, the holiday photo book or canvas print. Next, a curated playlist or podcast collection, a self-care kit, a recipe book, a themed movie night kit, and the memory jar. Remember, the value of the gift is not on the price. It's on the thought and care put into it. Now, let's keep this conversation going over on my blog at Alenebrennan.

com/ backslash blog. Share your budget-friendly, meaningful gift ideas or experiences in the comment section of this episode's blog post. This way, we can keep generating ideas for one another on how to bring joy and save money this holiday season. Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events, and programs, head over to Alenebrennan. com. See you on the next episode of my MS podcast.