Do you struggle every Christmas with what to put in your spouse’s stocking? Have you finally found the perfect gift only to get it home and find it doesn’t fit? There always seems to be this added pressure when choosing gifts for your spouse that you just don’t experience when filling your kids’ stockings. You want to show him how much you love and appreciate everything he does for you. You want to find that perfect gift that says, “Thank you for being my support, my partner, and my best friend.” That’s a lot of pressure for a gift. Is it any wonder that you struggle? This year, I have some tips to help take the pressure off plus 5 amazing free stocking stuffers that won’t cost you a dime!
[bctt tweet=”Don’t miss these 5 amazing free stocking stuffers that won’t cost you a dime! #stockingideas”]
Take the Pressure Off
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Shift Your Thinking
Instead of thinking you need to find the perfect expression of love, focus on spoiling your spouse. When you look at stocking stuffers this way, you stop thinking about you and your feelings and start focusing more on what your spouse would like. This helps takes the pressure off “finding the perfect gift”. This also will make it easier to find something you know your spouse will love!
Change the Treats
If you usually buy large bags of mixed bandy to divide among all of the family stockings, don’t this year. You can still absolutely do this for your kids but take it a step further for your spouse. If he loves dark chocolate covered cherries make it a point to go to a local gourmet candy store and buy a box of 6 for him. Picture his face lighting up after pulling that shiny, red ribbon off of the pristine white box and opening it to find 6 of his favorite candies nestled inside!
Don’t Underestimate Free Gifts
Sometimes you feel guilty when you don’t spend anything on a gift but those are almost always the most memorable gifts. One of the best gifts you can give to anyone in your life is the gift of your time. Your spouse is no exception. Don’t be afraid to give a gift that only took time to create or that gives a promise of distraction-free time together. If you’re stuck on ideas, I’ve got 5 ideas to get you started.
5 Amazing Free Stocking Stuffer Ideas
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Homemade Jerky
Believe it or not, you can make jerky out of pretty much any meat so don’t be afraid to make some using the meat you already have in the freezer. In our family, we love jerky made with ground turkey. I promise you that my husband would be ecstatic to find a bag of delicious homemade jerky in his stocking on Christmas morning.
Game Time
Extra video game time isn’t just a great stocking stuffer for kids. If your husband loves video game it is probably a point of argument in your marriage, whether it is the amount of time he spends playing or that he gets lost in the game and forgets to take out the trash. Whatever the arguments are, it will make this gift so much more meaningful when he opens it. On Christmas Eve, wrap up one of his game controllers with a note letting him know that you are going to have a special date night together to play Halo together. Don’t worry if you suck, I promise he will just be happy that you’re sharing this with him.
The New “Mixed Tape”
Remember when you were in high school and you gave or received a mixed tape from your boyfriend. You still smile thinking about slipping the tape into your Walkman, sliding on your headphones, and pressing play. Such a simple idea still has so much power 20 years later in your memory. Recreate this for your spouse by creating a playlist of music that makes you think of him and putting it on a flash drive.
Help With a Project
If you spouse has wanted to put up a shed or organize the garage give him the gift of help. This can be physical help by actually lending him an extra set of arms on the project. However it doesn’t have to be. The gift of prepping the area by clearing all of your stuff out of the garage or cleaning up the toys and debris in the back yard. It can also mean setting aside a weekend that you take the kids to visit the grandparents so that he can have his buddies over to complete the project without little ones running around.
Over-the-Top Romantic
If you want to do something totally amazing and unexpected for your spouse, cut up 100 slips of paper. Next, write something you love about him on each one. Fold them in half and completely fill his stocking with them. (You might want to put some candy in first as incentive to get all the way to the bottom!)
Now you have 5 amazing stocking stuffers that you don’t have to spend a dime on. You also have tips to alleviate the pressure of finding the perfect gift. Remember to think of spoiling your spouse to refocus your efforts on gifts they would like. Also, plan for your spouse’s stocking just as you would any other holiday gift, including budgeting for it.
See where I’m linking up!
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