Year-Round Christmas Gift Shopping: 10 Tips to Keep Your Gift Costs Down
By Krisann M Blair
Shopping for Christmas should be fun and enjoyable, but for many, the costs associated with gifts can spoil their Christmas spirit. By shopping for gifts year-round and storing the gifts in an organized manner, gift costs can be reduced. Follow these 10 tips for year-round shopping and start saving today.
1. Create a central location for all your gifts. When you return from a shopping trip, place the gifts only in this location, reducing the chances of losing the gift and having to purchase another one.
2. Have a theme for your holiday purchases and shop accordingly all year long. Keep everyone’s own likes in mind but tailor it around your theme. For example, a general theme of “warmth” can include everything from blankets, socks, hot chocolate, coffee, scarves, mittens, boots, hand warmers, and the list can go on, not everyone gets the same item, but everyone gets an item with the same theme.
3. Create a record system to record your purchases on, including the item name, person it was purchased for, occasion, price paid, original price and the date given.
4. If you already have gifts that are not assigned, record the information about the item on an index card and place in a card box. Keeping a record of all unassigned gifts is easier to “look through” than looking through gift box every time you need a gift to see if you have something on hand to give.
5. Always be on the lookout for a good bargain – you never know what you will find where. Even though it might be a good deal, avoid buying gifts without having someone to give the gift to. Buying items just because it “was too good to pass up” will only cost you more money in the long run.
6. Shop out of your gift box first for extra gifts you need. Allow your children or grandchildren to shop for others from your unassigned gifts, helping to rotate your items.
7. Combine several small gifts you find on sale together to make a larger gift by placing the items in a basket, stocking or other type of container.
8. Remember – people do not know you got their gift at 90% off! When giving gifts that have an amount attached, look at the gift as if you paid the original price for it and not the sale price to avoid “over spending” in the eyes of others.
9. You can “control” your children’s wants just like the TV – get them excited about gifts you have already purchased by showing them the items in stores and catalogs. This really works, just ask my children about the year they received hooded character bath towels – I made a big deal every time we went to the store that had the towels and they were thrilled Christmas morning.
10. Get to know a sales clerk at your favorite store to find out when and how the store marks items down. Also learn where in the store the markdowns are placed – some stores have a small room, others you walk along the back wall to find the best deals – keep on the lookout and learn the pattern at your favorite store. For added savings don’t forget to sign up for store emails and text messages for coupons and deals.
Krisann Blair, a.k.a. the Christmas Coach, is a speaker, author of Composing Christmas, and the founder of http://www.ChristmasOrganizing.com. Krisann has been helping people organize for Christmas for over 10 years and believes that no matter how big or small your Christmas celebration, you should always start with a plan to help you have a less stressful Christmas holiday.
