“Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.”
~ Dave Barry, humor columnist
Sorry to have another dreary picture for you this morning friends. I had to wait 2 hours just to get this picture and to see the BVI’s. The days have been clearing nicely, but these AM showers have made me want to stay in bed !!
So most of us will be shopping this weekend. Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Time to empty our pocketbooks, right ?!?
Well yesterday, I ran across a helpful article in Good Housekeeping which I thought I’d share. Below is some wise advice, along with some tips of my own, on how we can indulge our gift-giving impulse, without breaking the bank …
10 Tips for Thrifty Christmas Shopping
1. Budget.
The typical person budgets $750 for gift giving. Make a list and stick to it. Split it up into two lists: by recipient and by store. Leave nothing to chance. Use The Christmas List app to keep several lists going at once.
2. Prepare & budget for the extras.
Budget for all the other stuff: greeting cards, wrapping paper, shipping. Look at dollar stores for values (buy wrapping supplies on major discount after Christmas for next year) and ship early for ground rate savings.
3. Shop early.
Research shows that the earlier you begin shopping the less you spend. Procrastinators spent on average $250 more than the early birds. I have a drawer where I collect gifts as I find them throughout the year.
4. Tie your hands.
Handling an object sparks possessive feelings and will make you 10% more likely to splurge. Make “Look, but don’t touch” your mantra. Use mindfulness to watch urges come and go. It only takes about 90 seconds for urges to arise, and then for the mind to grasp onto something else.
5. Stop the momentum.
Research shows that buying one thing seems to unleash our inner spend-thrift. To avoid impulse buying, take a breather after every purchase, even if shopping on-line. I tend to leave things in my Amazon cart for a day or two, so I can whittle it down.
6. Unsubscribe to email alerts.
Consumers who receive email marketing spend a whopping 83% more than those who don’t.
7. Forget yourself.
59% of us admit to buying things for ourselves too as we shop, averaging $140. Based on the typical $750 of giving, that’s 20% of the budget we spend on ourselves!!
8. Let the deals come.
Use apps like Hukkster to help with price-tracking. You can set it to email you when your intended gift drops by 20% (or even 50% off).
9. Give well for less.
Challenge yourself to gift creatively. Some ideas include borrow a friends car for an “errand” run, then return it car-wash clean. Shop goodwill stores. Make art.
10. Save on gift cards.
$25 is the most common denomination given, which can multiply quickly! Check out GiftCardGranny.com, where you can buy unwanted, like-new gift cards at an average of $15 off. Or use Coke Rewards to buy Restaurant.com coupons.
Check out ZenHabits list of the Top 25 Life-Improving Christmas Gifts for Under $10:
http://zenhabits.net/top-20-life-improving-christmas-gifts-for-under-10/
You can also take it one step further … “The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents altogether”:
I don’t think I’d ever go that far, but Leo does present a good case that might help cut the urge to overspend …
“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: The presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”
~ Burton Hillis
How to you stay on track during the holidays? Any tips you can share ??
