Giving your Children the Gift of Experiences not Things

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Chase Ultimate Rewards. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently I have been fascinated with the concept of giving the gift of experiences to those you love rather than things. This may or may not have been prompted by the piles of toys that my children have seemed to accumulate over recent years and seeing the lack of interest that they have in them over a short period of time. I’ve also read multiple articles that have supported the fact that people who take time to make memories together have a longer lasting sense of happiness than those who only give items to those they love.

This illustrates the point, “You might buy a pair of shoes and think your shoes are really nice, until you see your friend’s shoes and they’re nicer. But people’s experiences – their vacations and their times out with their friends isn’t susceptible to social comparisons.” source.

In a day and age that comparison is so readily available, it is easy to get caught up in the “grass is greener” mentality with possessions whereas when it is a special moment/experience shared between two people or more, those are things that you cannot compare or necessarily replicate. This was the kind of thing I wanted my family to focus on! My family is extremely close and I owe it to the days we spent on the lake as a family, or chasing each other through the trees at our family cabin. I want my children to build relationships with each other so that in times of need they have their family to turn to. My husband and I took this message to heart and started discussing ways that we could make the change in our own family and our marriage as well. We started to try focusing on ways to create memories rather than possessions. We went to the theater more, took more walks, started working out together, and took time to go to mountains.

When my husband has work conferences we have tried our best to make that a quick little get away for us as a couple. It only happens every couple of years, but it is just enough time away that we feel refreshed and can focus on each other. Our eleventh anniversary is coming up soon and rather than get each other some “thing,” we are going to his work conference together in Vegas and planning to see a special show together and have a few dinners without our children there with their needs and wants! 🙂 We’ll be able to focus on each other! We as a couple decided that we wanted to do something with our children as well. We would still get our children something for Christmas to open on Christmas morning, something from us, and something from Santa Claus. But, the majority of our money we had reserved for Christmas would go towards a family trip.

 Last year was the first year we did it and to be honest, we were a little worried that the kids might be disappointed with the number of presents under the tree. We were happily surprised that they were not! They each received something that they were excited about and then we surprised them with a trip to Disneyland. Our children are small and this was the first time we were attempting to go. We knew that they wouldn’t fully understand the concept of Disneyland because they have never been, so we showed them the special app made by Disney and talked about the rides and all of their favorite characters that live at the special castle. We really like to travel in February because the winter can be dismal here in Utah. In fact, we don’t travel throughout the year much because we save our pennies for this time of year. The trip went so well and it has been something that the kids have talked about all year long. We hope to be able to take our family again this next year and we like to plan our travel with Get Away Today to save money on our bundle. You can use MyMommyStyle as a code to get $10 off your package.

Another way we like to save money on our travel is by using our credit cards rewards. Chase Ultimate Rewards is a personalized rewards program available to Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire and Ink from Chase cardholders. When you use any of these cards, you earn points on every purchase and those points can be redeemed for your choice of rewards including travel, experiences, merchandise, gift cards and even cash back. So purchase those socks, that dinner, and a gift for mom all while saving for your next get away! With the holidays right around the corner, this is a great way to stretch your dollar and save money. For even more savings, redeem your credit card rewards when booking holiday travel, shopping for gifts or planning your holiday party!

 Chase Ultimate Rewards gives cash back via direct deposit to cardholders starting at $20 for 2,000 points. Merchandise redemptions and gift cards are available at the same prices you’d pay in store without additional mark-ups (i.e. a $50 product/gift card costs 5,000 points). Chase Ultimate Rewards can also be used for exclusive, VIP access to concerts, sporting events, movie premieres and more. Rewards can also be redeemed for travel on any flight, any time without blackout dates and restrictions. You can visit Chase Ultimate Rewards to learn more.

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