How to Shop for the Holidays
Create a budget for your holiday shopping., Keep a list of all the people you want to give presents to with you for 6 months before Christmas., Use a reward points, credit card, or a mileage plan to buy presents., Buy expensive gifts on layaway...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create a budget for your holiday shopping.
Whether the holidays create a stressful financial situation, quantifying the amount you plan to spend on presents will give you a structure to your shopping.
The following are some ways you can create a budget:
Think back to holiday shopping seasons over the past 5 years.
Choose a year where you spent a reasonable amount and still bought presents for everyone on your least.
Peruse your year-end spending reports for your debit and credit cards.
Add together the approximate charges for presents and divide the amount by
10.
The result should be the amount you set aside from January through October.
If you cannot track down your year-end spending reports, then make a list of all the people you plan to give gifts to.
Allot a dollar amount next to each name.
Add up all the presents and divide it by
10.
Save accordingly each month.
Set up a Very Important Purchase (VIP) spending account at your bank.
Set up an automatic monthly transfer of the monthly amount that you have determined you need to save.
Set a date in November to receive your money in your checking account. -
Step 2: Keep a list of all the people you want to give presents to with you for 6 months before Christmas.
Save an email version, so you can access it from home, work or your phone.
Jot down ideas for presents as you think of them, and you may find your shopping will be finished weeks or months earlier than usual. , Many mileage plans have shopping sites where you can use miles to pay for purchases.
You can also redeem rewards points for gift cards, which you can give to people who are difficult to shop for. , Large stores like Walmart and K-Mart offer layaway programs both in the store and online.
Pay over the course of a few months and pick it up in time for the present exchange. , Pick 2 or 3 items to shop for every week.
This will help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to easily cross things off your to do list every week. , Shopping on Amazon can help you to avoid shipping charges, by choosing "Super Shipper Savings" offers.
Shop on Etsy.com to find one-of-a kind items. , Choose which deals are worth spending the time on.
Call ahead to make sure there will be a large number of products, so you know you are likely to get the deal when you get to the store. , Look out for online store emails ahead of time, and shop on the computer.
Although this is now believed to be the biggest shopping day of the year, it may save you time and money over Black Friday deals. , Pick one craft per holiday season and shop sales at your local craft store.
People appreciate homemade jams, bath salts, decorations, clothing and more. -
Step 3: Use a reward points
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Step 4: credit card
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Step 5: or a mileage plan to buy presents.
-
Step 6: Buy expensive gifts on layaway
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Step 7: starting a few months in advance.
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Step 8: Spread your remaining holiday shopping evenly among the holiday weeks.
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Step 9: Shop online as well as in stores.
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Step 10: Go to BlackFriday.com to research Black Friday before it happens.
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Step 11: Shop Cyber Monday for your electronics deals.
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Step 12: Make something
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Step 13: if you cannot find something.
Detailed Guide
Whether the holidays create a stressful financial situation, quantifying the amount you plan to spend on presents will give you a structure to your shopping.
The following are some ways you can create a budget:
Think back to holiday shopping seasons over the past 5 years.
Choose a year where you spent a reasonable amount and still bought presents for everyone on your least.
Peruse your year-end spending reports for your debit and credit cards.
Add together the approximate charges for presents and divide the amount by
10.
The result should be the amount you set aside from January through October.
If you cannot track down your year-end spending reports, then make a list of all the people you plan to give gifts to.
Allot a dollar amount next to each name.
Add up all the presents and divide it by
10.
Save accordingly each month.
Set up a Very Important Purchase (VIP) spending account at your bank.
Set up an automatic monthly transfer of the monthly amount that you have determined you need to save.
Set a date in November to receive your money in your checking account.
Save an email version, so you can access it from home, work or your phone.
Jot down ideas for presents as you think of them, and you may find your shopping will be finished weeks or months earlier than usual. , Many mileage plans have shopping sites where you can use miles to pay for purchases.
You can also redeem rewards points for gift cards, which you can give to people who are difficult to shop for. , Large stores like Walmart and K-Mart offer layaway programs both in the store and online.
Pay over the course of a few months and pick it up in time for the present exchange. , Pick 2 or 3 items to shop for every week.
This will help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to easily cross things off your to do list every week. , Shopping on Amazon can help you to avoid shipping charges, by choosing "Super Shipper Savings" offers.
Shop on Etsy.com to find one-of-a kind items. , Choose which deals are worth spending the time on.
Call ahead to make sure there will be a large number of products, so you know you are likely to get the deal when you get to the store. , Look out for online store emails ahead of time, and shop on the computer.
Although this is now believed to be the biggest shopping day of the year, it may save you time and money over Black Friday deals. , Pick one craft per holiday season and shop sales at your local craft store.
People appreciate homemade jams, bath salts, decorations, clothing and more.
About the Author
Kimberly Gray
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in crafts and beyond.
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