November is here, and Christmas is getting closer to being here by the minute. I officially kicked off my Christmas shopping today and bought my first Christmas gifts. It feels good to get started, and hopefully when December rolls around, I will be done. Here is how I tackle holiday shopping.
Make a Christmas Budget. My first step before I begin shopping is to make a list of whom I plan to buy presents for. In our family, we don’t exchange names, and we just buy for the kids. So, once I’ve listed nieces and nephews, friends, husband, and daughter, I then move onto making a Christmas budget. Some people save all year for Christmas by opening a Christmas account with their bank that automatically withdraws however much money you want each month and puts it into a special savings account. It’s a great idea and one that I always mean to do but never get around to it. How I come up with my Christmas budget is usually put a cap on presents for everyone. Small children usually have a cap of $10 while older kids have a cap of $20. The budget for friends’ gifts usually runs around $20. Then I figure out how much money I can squeeze from the family budget. If I’m short the amount, then I readjust the projected spending amounts. Usually sales help me come in way under budget for practically everyone.
Read those sales papers. It seems the one-day sales have begun. Tomorrow is a huge sale at one department store, so I have to check it out. There will probably be sales from now until Christmas. If I just keep a watch out for them, I should find some pretty good deals.
Shop online. There are just some things online that I can’t find in any store that would make a great gift for the kid who has every toy that Wal-Mart sells or that friend who is really hard to buy for. I have one friend who does all of her Christmas shopping online. Imagine not having to fight all the traffic and crowds this season! Using coupon codes and shopping sites like Overstock.com that keep shipping prices low will ensure good holiday deals on the web.
Buy holiday-themed items first. I have learned the hard way that when I see something cute like a holiday tin, it’s best to buy it then because there is no guarantee it will be there next week. So many times the store has such cute items when they first stock but it quickly falls into disarray with all the holiday shoppers. I just buy it when I find it and then I don’t have to worry about finding it later.
That’s how I make it through the holidays. For the most part it works well. Share your tips for surviving holiday shopping by leaving a comment.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:10 pm
It’s that time of year again…you would think that we would learn from the year before how we should do things.
I try to do my Christmas shopping every month. JUst buying little things adds up so I don’t feel so overwhelmed by the time December comes.