You may also be dreading the present coming from the giver with the worst track record, expecting perhaps a loud jumper, a jigsaw puzzle featuring Teville Gate or even a novelty singing toy?

The longstanding joke of the awful Christmas present can actually equate to an awful lot of waste, with many of these items held on to for a diplomatic period before being consigned to the dustbin.

If you ever visit a museum of nostalgic toys and fashion accessories, you will find many examples of novelty toys in particular that have probably long ceased to work or been kept by anyone else.

Big Mouth Billy Bass anyone?

This was a toy that was particularly popular in the early part of this decade, but I would be surprised if many exist outside the darkest recesses of people's lofts these days.

Add to this the boxes of chocolates that lose their appeal once the New Year diet kicks in, the kitchen gadgets that don't quite match the promise, the perfume that gathers dust and the DVDs or CDs that aren't to our taste and it all adds up to a monumental waste of money.

Although this sounds very Scrooge like, I am probably as guilty as anyone else of participating in this annual charade.

A big beneficiary of this waste are charities, either indirectly through the donation of large numbers of these items after Christmas or directly from people who have made the leap from a consumer-driven Christmas to a more altruistic version where donkeys are purchased for African villages and the like.

For the serious bargain hunter, a January visit to your local charity shops is probably a great idea since many unwanted Christmas presents will end up there.

The politics of present giving will probably ensure that most of us will simply endure unwanted present fatigue for many years without doing anything about it.

Manufacturers will continue to pander to the need for 'unusual' gifts and we'll no doubt see a multitude of these for years to come.

Yet, there is another way – in my view some of the best gifts are not 'things' but tickets for days out, theatre trips or other experiences that are unforgettable and do not result in a lot of wastage.

Make sure you do your research first though!

Tickets to see the latest boy band will not go down well for someone who is into opera.

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