Dear LPG,

I have a really short message today which comes from a lesson that I learned a couple of years ago. 

I am hoping that LPG will put this message out about a week or so before Christmas 2020 because that is the time when most people have done nearly all their present buying, but there always seem to be one or two people that we have yet to get something for. The problem will be that you just cannot think of what to get them this year so panic sets in.

I did this a couple of years ago and the person in question was a nephew.  I had no idea what to get him.  I thought that I could have just given him money but I always find that a bit of a cop-out because I never know how much to give and, after all the choices I had made for the rest of the family I did not want him to think that he might be a ‘last-minute thought’.  He is fairly technically minded so I felt that a voucher from an appropriate shop would show that I was thinking about him, so I chose to buy him a Maplin’s voucher for quite a lot of money, but you may remember that just after Christmas that year, that chain of shops went into administration and he ended up buying anything while there was still time.

In the light of the times we find ourselves in this year when so many shops are having financial issues, I just would like to remind readers that with a few days to go it may be better, if you find yourself with a similar present buying problem, that this is not the year to limit Christmas present choices.

In a nut shell my message is this year give the money as a last resort.  It has been said before and has been a subject broached in the media but as that ‘time is running out’ feeling hits, I hope that this reminder might be a good thing.

MP, New Cross.