When it comes to holiday shopping there are different types of people. Some, like my Mom, start shopping within a couple of days after Christmas. Others, often including myself, wait until the fall to start for their own reasons. Still others wait until the week before Christmas, which is far too late for me taste. Joely shared her reasons why she feels it’s better to get holiday shopping done early with me, which I am sharing with you with permission.
It’s Time to Start Making Your List
Check the calendar. You know what list I’m talking about. That’s right. Off in the distance, you can already hear sleigh bells. Don’t even start with the faux outrage about how it seems to come earlier and earlier every year. You are not going to boycott Christmas. And you are not going to purchase any fewer gifts. So let’s just skip the foot stomping and pouting, and get right to the part where we make our list and check it twice.
To be clear, you should have already started. This is not just a matter of mindless consumerism. This is mindful consumerism. What’s mindless is waiting until it is too deep into the season before you decide to start shopping for gifts. There are some very good reasons you want to get started right away. Here are three:
Avoid the Door-busters
Honestly, why on earth would you ever want to participate in something even jokingly called a door-buster? It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Crowds in stores can get out of hand. There is nothing good about getting in a line of 500 people in front of a Walmart at midnight so that you can watch the person in front of you snag the last Cabbage Patch Doll. That’s no way to shop.
Besides the new Apple TV, there are no new game consoles coming out this holiday. But there are always new games for the consoles they have. Those games can be in short supply. So it is best to figure out what the hottest titles are. And get them while the getting is good. An alternative to the crazy game rush is to buy your gaming kids an online gaming subscription. Products like The Secret World online game do not require you to stand in line or order early to experience a unique MMO gaming environment.
Preordering Is Your Friend
If you happen to be shopping for a tech-obsessed neck-beard (yes, I’m talking about your husband), some of the hottest items this holiday have been announced, but are not available for purchase. For Microsoft fanboys, there is the newly announced Surface Book: the first laptop hybrid made by Microsoft. Preorders already outstrip anything they ever saw for their tablet products. If you want one by Christmas, you might want to get your order in now.
The same is true for the iPad Pro. In case you haven’t heard, Apple has made a giant iPad: 12.9” to be exact. They will be offering it alongside new accessories: a keyboard cover and a stylus they call the Apple Pencil. You may not see what so exciting about this product. But rest assured, your Mac-obsessed loved one does. It is not yet up for preorder. But you will want to be awake with your finger on the Buy button when it does. unlike many companies, Apple can sell millions of an expensive item that no one has ever touched within about 30 seconds. If you wait till they are in stock at Apple Stores, you will have already missed the holiday season.
Take Time to Enjoy the Holiday
There are lots of reasons why you don’t want to wait till the last minute to do your shopping. The best of those reasons may be that when you are shopping up to the last minute, the holidays become all about the things you buy. But that is a rather limited experience of what should be a much more fulfilling time of the year.
When you complete your shopping early, you have time to spend with family and friends, decorate your house to within an inch of its life, drive around and take in the sights and sounds of the season, and so on… Shopping for scraps, and gift wrapping late on Christmas eve is the worst. Your holiday can be so much more than that. And it will be if you get the consumerist part of it out of the way first.
A bonus reason for making your list now is that you can be a much more thoughtful gift-giver if you take the time to consider what people might actually enjoy, rather than picking over the leftovers. For those who shop early, a better holiday awaits.
The day after Christmas at times then throughout the year looking for classic gifts at bargain prices leaving edibles like baskets and kid toys until last.