Early Christmas Shopping

Most of us have gone at least once through the ordeal of doing our Christmas shopping at the last minute. Do you remember the crowds and the chaos in the stores where you could hardly move your shopping cart? Do you remember standing in line for ages to pay for the gifts you had fought so hard to get? After such an adventure many people swear that next year they will do their shopping early, but few manage to actually do so. Here are some tips that might help you avoid the same ordeal this year.

There is one radical approach – do all your shopping one year in advance. It might sound a little crazy, but the fact is that the first few days after Christmas most shops are still full with unsold merchandise so there’s plenty to choose from. At the same time, many retailers offer good discounts just to get rid of the stuff, so you can save a lot of money. You can buy all the sweaters, ties, scarves or personalized gifts you want so that next year you will have plenty of gifts for all the sisters, aunts or grandfathers in your family. Unfortunately this does not work for kids who tend to be very well informed on the subject and usually put on their Christmas list only the latest toys in the market. Another category of items you cannot buy a year in advance are phones and electronic items. You really cannot offer your teenage son or your husband a smart-phone that was news the year before.

A good way to avoid the crowds of holiday shoppers is to order all your presents online. You can surf the Internet in the tranquility of your home or even at the office if you have a little spare time. You can compare prices on different sites and find out what is hot this season. If you have friends and relatives who live in different cities you can have the gifts delivered directly to their door, saving yourself a trip to the post-office, which is also rather crowded at this time of the year. Experts say that more and more people are doing their Christmas shopping online so you must be careful to place your orders well in advance if you want to get your gifts before the holidays. You probably can’t tell your little angel that Santa was very busy on Christmas Eve and he’ll be visiting your house in a week or two!

Some people have what you might call a calendar method. Basically, what you have to do is mark on your calendar the birthdays of all your friends and relatives. When you go out to buy a birthday present for someone on your list, you also buy him or her a Christmas gift, which you put in storage until the holidays. Even if you have several friends born in December, there is really no harm in buying their presents in November or even earlier. It’s a good way of making sure you don’t forget anybody on your list and you won’t have to worry about the dreaded Christmas shopping spree. All you have to do is unearth all those gifts stored away in the closet and wrap them creatively. You’ll have all the time in the world to decorate your house for the holidays and write your Christmas cards. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Please do share your comments below.