Christmas Shopping Hacks
I’m
one of many who look forward to that stretch of time between Thanksgiving and
New Year’s Eve. I’m happy to welcome the
glittery decorations, and I go out of my way to be kind and caring. Even though some chain stores are already
offering the artificial trees, lights, bows, ribbon and wrapping paper, I mark
the beginning of the holiday shopping season from Thanksgiving onward.
This
upcoming Monday is October 2. There’s
nothing remarkable about it except that the Christmas holidays are twelve weeks
away. Put another way, that’s twelve
weekly paychecks, or seven bi-monthly paychecks.
Christmas
/ holiday shopping seems straightforward, but for many of us it isn’t so
easy. I used to be one of those “not so
easy” shoppers. It wasn’t time that I
lacked; it was money. Back in the day I
worked for a municipal government, receiving a paycheck every two weeks. The holidays would draw near, yet I
continually procrastinated in terms of shopping. The last paycheck I received before Christmas
was my signal to get shopping. However, paying
rent and utilities came first, which left me with a laughable amount of money
freed up for shopping. I love to shop
for unique gifts for family and friends, and my list of people shortened and my
“per-gift” amount likewise shrank because of my procrastination. I didn’t like this, and discovered a way to
circumvent those restrictions.
Most
will think that they have plenty of time left to shop, but take a peek at the
following chart which outlines the number of shopping weeks until
Christmas. I added columns that outline
what folks shop for during the rest of the year. I present it as a visual example of those
spontaneous extras we pick up at the store during the rest of the year. Christmas
/ holiday shopping? Probably not, during
mid-October. For example, we usually spend
our money purchasing candy, decorations and cool costumes during
mid-October. Remember this, though: money can only be spent once. It’s our choice whether it’s spent on cutesy
things that are used now or gifts for others later in the year.
Number of Shopping Weeks
until Christmas
|
Date (Monday)
|
Shopping Theme
|
You’re most likely shopping for…
|
# of Shopping Weeks until Christmas
|
|
10/2
|
This week,
next week |
·
End of Summer Clearance
Sales
|
12
|
|
10/9
|
11
|
||
|
10/16
|
HALLOWEEN
SHOPPING
|
·
Candy
·
Chocolate
·
Cool Decorations
·
Costumes
·
Pet Costumes
|
10
|
|
10/26
|
9
|
||
|
10/30
|
8
|
||
|
11/6
|
THANKSGIVING
SHOPPING
|
·
Candles / Decorations
·
Fixin's
·
Tableware
·
Turkey
|
7
|
|
11/13
|
6
|
||
|
11/20
|
5
|
||
|
11/27
|
CHRISTMAS
SHOPPING
|
·
Decorations
·
Holiday cards
·
Special outfit
·
Tree
·
Wrapping paper
|
4
|
|
12/4
|
3
|
||
|
12/11
|
2
|
||
|
12/18
|
1
|
||
|
12/25
|
|
|
|
* Start shopping now *
Shopping
for stocking stuffers & Chanukah gifts provide an easy slide into
full-blown Holiday shopping. Prepare a
list of family and friends that you’d like to gift. It’s not necessary at this time to think of
specific gift items, for now just have that list handy. Many are surprised when realizing how many
gift opportunities we pass daily. Drug
stores (CVS, Walgreens) have candles, coffee mugs bows and ribbons. Most gas stations offer gift cards for gas,
which are great for college students. Purchase
nice pen sets from office supply stores, along with fancy notepads.
Full disclosure: I received a box of paper clips as a "just because"
gift, and I loved them. Why? They're purple.
To
get in the mode of thinking about early gift buying, look at the gift shops
listed below; they're gift shops
visited from my blog offering online shopping:
Creative, Artsy and Garden Oriented
Geared toward Action
Scientific Curiosity
The
sites above offer unique, curious, and special offerings. I omitted the gift shops that have little or
no online shopping. Remember...
12 weeks left…
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