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Monday, January 05, 2009

Early Christmas Shopping


If you are one of those people who gets their Christmas shopping done early every year, you probably find you are the envy of your friends around the holiday season. This is especially true if you make a habit of letting others know you have already finished your Christmas shopping. The vast majority of people do not get their Christmas shopping done early and may be envious of those who manage to finish their shopping early. The fact that most Christmas shoppers wait until the last minute is evident by the crowds who fill the malls and shopping centers in the final days before Christmas.

If you are one of the people who always finishes Christmas shopping early, you may already have a method to accomplishing this goal. However, if you are like the majority of people who spend every year Christmas shopping at the last minute, you might find some of the following tips helpful.

One of the best ways to get your Christmas shopping done early is to try to do a lot of it in the first couple of weeks after Christmas. Although the stores are usually quite crowded on these days, there is not the same sense of urgency which prevails in the days just before Christmas, so the atmosphere is more relaxed. Also, many stores are holding sales, so not only can you do a large portion of your shopping, but you are also likely to save money in the process.

Another way to get your Christmas shopping done early is to plan on doing all of your Christmas shopping online this year. This is an excellent idea because most retailers will wrap the item for you and ship it directly to the recipient. You will pay a little more for these services but the convenience of not having to do the wrapping yourself and avoiding long lines at the post office is certainly worth the extra fee. Committing to Christmas shopping online really helps you to get your shopping done early because you know you have to make your purchases early in order for them to arrive on time.

Another way to get your Christmas shopping done early is to plan on purchasing two gifts for each person on your list at the time of their birthday. You can give them the first gift for their birthday and store the other item away until Christmas. This helps to get your shopping done early, so you can avoid the hassle of going to overcrowded malls and shopping centers and searching for last minute Christmas gifts. If you follow this simple strategy, when the Christmas season arrives, you will already have most, if not all, of your Christmas gifts purchased. You can spend your time relaxing and enjoying the holiday season instead of running around trying to find the perfect gift for each person on your list. While this strategy is effective, it is important to note you could be destined to some last minute shopping if you have people on your list who have birthdays in late December. In this case, you will have to plan ahead and purchase their birthday gift and their Christmas gift early.

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