We are coming into that time of year when you have to carve out an extra hour of every day to holiday shop. Which, if you’re a busy traveler like me, can be next to impossible. I just don’t get it to be quite honest, I mean we are in 2015 can we not find easier ways to do this? Well fear not, I’ve found a truly simple way to make holiday shopping an absolute cinch. That’s right, easy for you and everyone writing those “Dear Santa Letters”. Check out these tips for saving time, money and sanity during the holidays.
Save Time
- Buy things throughout the year. If you’re like me and you have a bunch of kids to get things for in your family, you’ll want to start doing this early rather than spending long hours in lines, wading your way through traffic and running people over for parking (don’t run anyone over that’s bad).
- Shop online. There are so many ways to not only save time but money online these days. All throughout the year top retail brands are having sales which can equal holiday shopping done before Halloween even hits. Easy breezy.
- Make notes of what everyone wants, likes and needs. I’m not a huge fan of buying to to buy. I always make sure my gifts are practical and will be used. This is something that requires observation and sometimes even asking.
Save Money
- Buy after the holiday for the next year. There’s no reason why you can get your dad’s slippers or husbands pajamas when they go on sale the day after Christmas. Everyone wants to unload their holiday inventory, especially the ‘Christmassy’ stuff. So get your gifts, wrapping paper and decor right after.
- Buy online. I’m going back to this. There are sales through the whole year, especially cyber Monday. You can buy online and save, plus you find the most unique gifts online!
Save Sanity
- Oh my goodness one of my new favorite things to do is get a list from everyone. That’s right an online registry which can be used across multiple retailers. Myregistry.com/wish-list.aspx is an amazing tool for this, I can’t tell you enough, it will make your online shopping experience so easy you won’t even bat an eye.
- Make sure you know everyone’s current sizes (especially kids). This will save you time after the holidays and sanity by not having to brave the return line. That’s the worst.
- Don’t do Black Friday, do Cyber Monday. This is pretty self-explanatory.
Don’t lose your mind over holiday shopping. With these easy time, money and sanity saving tips, you can do it no matter how crazy your travel schedule is. From one busy traveler to another, the collective ‘holidays’ can be conquered!
