As we prepare for Thanksgiving and shopping the entire weekend from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, I want to share with you my holiday wish list.

LIVING WITH DIABETES IS EXPENSIVE! These are ideas that can help cut the costs this month for your loved ones.

The older I get and think about giving and receiving gifts for the holidays, the more I want that exchange to be meaningful. This year, I decided that it would be much more beneficial to give someone a gift that would help with the cost of living with diabetes.

This is a list of my top 5 items.

1. Glucose Strips. These are so expensive and they are necessary. I’ve used AccuChek and FreeStyle Lite in the past and each box of 50 cost $89 on average.
2. One Drop Glucometer.  This is the most stylish glucometer on the planet and the cost of strips are very reasonable. This is what I am using now and love it. If you want to make a person living with diabetes happy for the holidays, sign them up.
3. Genteel Lancing Device. This lancet is designed to ease the pain and be gentle on your finger tips. Let’s face it, when you are checking your glucose 3-7 times per day, your fingertips will look less than lady-like.
4. Myabetic Purse.  If you have a loved one living with diabetes that is also a fashionista, then check out Myabetic’s website and order one of these beautiful purses. I bought one two years ago and it’s still holding up (although on it’s last leg). I’m impressed by the amount of styles that have emerged in these past two years.
5. Gift Card to Local Pharmacy.  Some people love giving gift cards. If the person you’re buying for is anything like me, I would much rather a gift card to a local pharmacy than to a local restaurant. This would give me an opportunity to buy all the things that I can’t afford after paying for my prescriptions, like a new flavor of Glucerna, or some glucose tables, or new diabetes socks, etc.

I hope you enjoyed this list. Please share with me what’s on your wish list this holiday season.