That’s roughly $11 billion spent per day, primarily on consumer electronics and the accessories and media that make them hum. Throughout the entire holiday season—essentially Black Friday through Christmas day—more than $450 billion was spent last year in the United States. This, on top of the billions we spend the other 360 days of the year on the same products.

It’s hard not to pass judgment on this type of frivolous spending, particularly when there are so many needy people in the world, in our own neighborhoods. To be sure, many of these purchases are intended to brighten the holidays for a lot of unfortunate children and families, which has given me and my family time to reflect on just what holiday giving is all about, and how we could change our pattern to better reflect our personal desires to live in a better world.

For a lot of years we made “Christmas Angel” purchases at our local shopping mall, helping to meet the specific requests for underprivileged kids. We don’t have a lot of money, but we certainly have more than so many others and knew we could easily help a child or two have the same bright and cheery Christmas morning as our own child. This form of giving brings our family a lot of happiness, but we’ve always wanted to do more.

We started looking for charitable organizations that were already helping children around the world, primarily to see if we could find a really good fit. In short, we want our charitable donations to do the most good.

Our search yielded a great deal of exciting and even inspiring information. Did you know that for a measly $4,500 nearly 500 people in Sudan and Sierra Leone, Africa can drink clean water from their own well? For $6,500 the same number of people in Uganda and Kenya can get the same clean, fresh drinking water so badly needed.

The amount of money spent on one holiday weekend in the United States could build 10 million freshwater wells.

Now, they don’t need that many wells, but that’s the point. If we spent a mere 10% less on just Black Friday weekend and put that $4.5 billion into a charity like The Water Project or the Advent Conspiracy through its partnership with Living Water International, we could effectively end the very serious and lethal water problems in these four African countries, which include drought and contamination.

We looked further into this and discovered that $10 will provide fresh drinking water for one person for an entire year. Ten lousy bucks! $50 will help an entire family, and $250 will provide fresh water to an entire classroom for a whole year.

Less than a twenty-five percent of what is spend over Black Friday weekend, and approximately two percent of what is spent throughout the holidays–$10 billion—will solve this problem once and for all.

Can you imagine these Central African nations with no water-related problems? So can we, which is why we’ve made a couple of important choices this year. As in years past, we’ll eschew Black Friday and all its trappings, and we’ll ensure that we help an entire classroom have fresh, clean drinking water for an entire year. Won’t you join us?

Imagine what we could do for hunger!

About the author: Tim is a marketer for Cabledeals.org. He is an avid promoter of global issues and prayerfully wishes there was more he could do to help those with true needs. To learn more about Tim and to see what he is up to follow him on Twitter @TimLCooley

You may already be internet savvy and know the all the wonders of hassle-free online shopping or you may not, but either way there’s no reason for you to leave the house to do your Christmas shopping this year.

Online shopping is taking over the way we browse, purchase and pay for everything from big electrical purchases to our weekly grocery shop. Although new trends are having a huge effect on our high streets and how the retail business works on a whole, there are some great advantages to shopping online for both businesses and the consumers.

The recession has already hit some major high street retailers harder than anyone could have imagined, century old UK-institution Woolworths being one of the biggest documented casualties. Research shows that since the recession one in eight shops on the UK high street is now abandoned. Is this a just a “bad patch” for the retail industry, or the first signs of an industry required to adapt or be left behind forever?

Renting floor space is a huge cost and brings in vital elements such as being in a busy, noticeable and accessible location.

Online these costs are no longer a necessity. Storage space and an office may be required, but the costs will be considerably lower. Instead of finding a physical location you’ll be required to stand out online using methods such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) to push yourself up to noticeable spots in search engines, directories and social networks. You can do this by paying services directly to be at the top of their chain, paying an external company to run campaigns for you or doing it yourself. With the right marketing you’ll be seen in just as many places if not more than you would with television/radio, billboard and magazine adverts.

Staff and upkeep is also reduced drastically. Running a store means keeping a shop floor organised, tidy and manned by as many staff members required to do these duties whilst helping and serving customers. Running a store online means still having some staff members to deal with queries, stocking and dispatching orders as well as website upkeep (which again can be outsourced or done in house), but with an organised system in place less team members will work just as efficiently.

Shopping online is safer and easier than ever.

With the above overhead costs being lessened considerably by businesses, it means they can offer the same product on the high street but at a fraction of the cost. Over the last ten years, many high street retailers have relied on a paranoia and lack-of-understanding of online shopping to keep customers coming through the doors. As more people wise up to the savings they can make online without having to leave the house and battle the queues, these numbers are dropping and with that goes the number of shops open.

When online shopping first came out, many people were skeptical and thought the idea would never take off. The idea of buying something you can’t physically see or feel without any interaction with other humans followed by handing over sensitive payment details is still daunting to some people today. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Companies like Paypal and bank security measures have made buying online safer than ever, and many established companies have earned a trustworthy relationship with their clientele to deliver the best service and products possible. Sites like Amazon and EBay have become the Wal-Mart giants of the online world, with almost every item you could list under the sun easily searchable for purchase.

The only common problem both online and physical shopping have is stock. Popular gifts will sell in both areas and once they are gone, they are gone. However online shopping still has an advantage; all you need to do to see if another store has got said item is type a few words in the search bar and click a few links, rather than walking store to store in the cold and the wet. As long as you are aware of postal opening and closing times and take into consideration the busy mailing period by ordering on time, you’ll have a great festive season shopping online. And all those saved pennies can go towards that all important Christmas feast!

About the author: Rachel Thomas is a product reviewer and writer for beauty products retailer Be Flattered. Working in online distribution she swears by an easier and quicker shopping experience for everyone.

To top it all, there’s nothing better than giving someone a present we know they will adore but shopping for the ideal gift is often stressful. Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start.

What can we buy for the person who has everything? New clothes are always a thoughtful idea but what if we’re not really sure of their taste? There’s nothing more disappointing than finding out that the sweater we’ve given is the wrong size or colour. Or worse, that they already own that very same one. More often than not we work within tight budgets and the latest perfume, designer jewellery or ‘must have’ computer games may be out of our price range.

One way to reduce our stress levels and manage our budget is in creating individual gift baskets as presents. You can either make your own or purchase top gift baskets specially tailored to the treat the people you love.

Choose your theme, from books, chocolate and wine, to a ‘spa experience’ full of indulgent body creams, bath salts and scented candles for the friend who never has time to relax. Perhaps you may want to treat yourself to one.

Decorate the baskets with ribbons or tinsel for a seasonal effect. For children you can hide miniature Santas, reindeer or snowmen amongst longed for toys and games. For sporty boys (and girls) of all ages choose accessories for their sport, whether it’s soccer, golf or ice skating. For those on your list who prefer healthier options, consider seasonal fruit, with a decorative sprig of holly carefully placed to avoid sharp surprises! The thought and effort you’ve put into such a unique idea will be much appreciated.

The options are endless and you can add to it as you go along. Whether you are organized in your planning or a last minute shopper, gift baskets will be treasured by every recipient.

Safe in the knowledge that the difficult issue of what gifts to buy is resolved, you are free to concentrate on planning the seating at the dinner table, buying the tree and organizing the catering.

Who knows, amongst the chaos you may even find some time for yourself in front of that roaring fire. Happy holidays!

Images courtesy of www.giftbasketreviews.net.

About the author: Diane is a blogger on GiftBasketReviews.net, a site that provides gift basket reviews. She enjoys writing about crafts, gifting, and many other topics.

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