Now that Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas season is in full swing, here are five tips to help you with your Christmas shopping:
- Make a list and a budget: By setting a budget and keeping track of whom you are shopping for and precisely what you intend to buy will help tremendously. Avoid making impulse purchases with credit cards and shop around for deals, if you are patient and persistent you should be able to score some sweet holiday deals. It is possible to find good deals without breaking the bank and putting yourself in debt.
- Use the internet: If you use the internet and plan ahead it will save you lots of time and help you retain some of your sanity that holiday shopping can attempt to take away from you. You can look at websites of online retailers and price match to know where you can obtain the products you desire for the best possible price. If you want to avoid the madness all together, shop online and wait for the merchandise to come to you.
- Bargain shopping: With the ever present holiday competition amongst businesses, it is easy to find great deals on items long before Christmas. During the holiday season most retailers will price match their competitors. If you know you want to buy a few items from one store, but another store has a better price on one of them, just bring in the advertisement and you can do all of your shopping in one location.
- No gift cards: Each year millions of dollars in gift cards go un-used due to expiration dates and the lack of using them. While the thought might be they can purchase what they want and everyone is happy, not so much. If the gift cards expire, the only ones happy are the retailers receiving free money. Give cash, people are highly unlikely to not use cash, plus it never expires.
- Pick and choose: Try and avoid shopping peak hours if possible. It is easy to get overwhelmed with large crowds and crazy drivers. Try and shop early in the week when the crowds are smaller, if this is not feasible try and shop early in the day on the weekends.
