Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Keeping track of gifts over the years

Between thinking of a gift idea, buying a gift, giving a gift, and remembering what you already gave as a gift, gifts can require a lot of organization!

Make that easier with morgan4’s tip: you can move your tasks through that whole process in a single list, comparing past gifts, current purchases, and ideas for later all at once.

I got tired of losing track of what gifts I had bought people, when I gave them, and what else I could get them, so I started keeping my gift list in RTM. I have a list called Gifts where I keep all this.

When I come up with a gift idea for someone, I enter it on the Gifts list and tag it as “gift-xxx-buy”, using the person’s initials in the tag (in place of “xxx”). If it’s an online purchase, I add the URL. If it’s from a store, I add the store as a location and tag the item with the store’s location.

When I buy the gift for them, I change the tag to “gift-xxx-purchased”, again using the person’s initials. I also add a note to the reminder telling me where I put the gift so I don’t forget to wrap it and give it to them.

Later, when I actually give them the gift, I edit the note to say when I gave the gift and mark the reminder as complete. That way, I don’t have to worry about getting them the same gift twice, since I can always go back and look at the completed gift items for that person.

Thanks for sharing this tip, morgan4! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

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