6 Tips For Enjoying the Holidays With Your New Partner

When you first get into a relationship, figuring out how you’re going to spend your first winter holiday plans together can be both exciting and stressful. It serves as something of a test since the experience will either help your relationship grow or wear it down to the point where you don’t want to be together anymore. If your goal is the former rather than the latter, take these six tips to heart.

1. Discuss the ground rules for your gifts

‘Tis the season for giving and receiving! This is one of the things that makes the holiday season so enjoyable. However, when you’re in a new relationship, it would be a good idea to sit down and discuss how you envision what the gift-giving will look like. You might be hesitant to do this since the whole point of exchanging presents is the sense of mystery and spontaneity, but imagine a scenario in which you’ve bought him/her a pricey piece of jewelry and they’ve given you a $5 used book that they found on the Thrifty Books website. Agreeing to a spending limit can help avoid this problem. Furthermore, you should have a feel for what your partner wants in a gift (and vice versa). For instance, perhaps you prefer something practical that you can use such as clothes and gadgets, whereas they enjoy collecting items or decorating rooms with knick-knacks. The last thing you’d want to do is fork over $800 to get them the latest smartphone when they’re fine with what they have.