Essential Tips for Christmas Shopping

Christmas is around the corner, and the festive atmosphere is beginning to unfold around the city centres with people looking for bargains, deals, and promotions to get gifts for their loved ones. Because many people still wait till about December to start shopping for Christmas gifts, it always puts them under pressure physically, emotionally and financially; causing some to even forget the excitement of the Christmas season.

This post summarises essential tips to prepare for hassle free Christmas shopping.

Make a list and start saving early

Make a list of people and loved ones that you plan to give gifts to and start saving early towards your shopping list. Don’t wait till December before you start planning your Christmas budget as you already have monthly bills that need to be settled and you don’t want to go over your limit with your credit facilities (Overdraft or CC). By making a list, you should be able to adjust your budget appropriately so as not to affect your budget before and after Christmas.

Many families don’t plan and budget for Christmas gifts early enough, and they end up using their credit card which they will not be able to clear within the zero percent interest rate period.
This invariably leaves families in debt more than before Christmas. If you’re like me, that has a large extended family – for which the costs can easily add up, my wife always prepares the list far ahead from Christmas so we know, in advance, people we are giving gifts to – and can budget for this.

Shop early

After making a list of gifts, it’s a good idea to start shopping early; either online or by going directly to the shopping mall/centres. Shopping online would help to ensure that you avoid traffic jams and crowds, but make sure you order way ahead of time to avoid late delivery disappointments.

Online shopping

The internet allows anyone, anywhere to shop online at your convenience to buy any products.
Throughout the year online retailers always have one promotional deal/bargain or the other just to push out the products that are still left in store, in preparation to stock new ones. You can search all over the internet to get great deals for the Christmas gifts you are looking for.

Shopping Mall

You can also take a stroll to the shopping centre during your lunch break to beat the crowds, or plan it for weekend to hunt for good bargains, to save money, and ensure that you get the item(s) that you are looking for on time. The only problem with shopping during lunch breaks is that everyone else seems to have the same idea to ‘beat the crowds’, so sometimes lunch hour shopping can be nearly as busy as shopping at weekends!

In 2013, during the Christmas shopping season, one of the big names in football was seen at Pound Land looking for bargain items, Mirror. If this renowned footballer can be looking for offers/bargains, what’s stopping you or I from looking for bargains to save money.

Below are some popular online retailers that are currently running promotional offers in various gift categories

Deals from Half Price Perfumes

Up to 80% off
£1 clearance
Everything £5
Everything £10
In conclusion, you should really start your Christmas shopping now to avoid late delivery, and avoid being stuck in the traffic particularly at weekends when everyone will be out shopping. Most importantly get cracking with your list to ensure that you don’t overspend and enter the New Year with debt.