Plan Your Holiday Gift Shopping

You hear your friend say she just bought her last Christmas gift for this season and your stomach turns a little as you realize Christmas is two months away and you haven’t bought your first gift yet. Here’s a plan to get you started…and finished…in time to enjoy your Christmas holidays!

Every year, procrastinators all over the country put off their Christmas gift shopping all year until suddenly the big day is upon them and nary a gift is in sight! Don’t despair—by spending a bit of time planning now, you can complete your shopping with time to spare.

The first thing you must do is decide who you will purchase gifts for. This list needs to be thoroughly thought through. You might begin by considering the major areas of your life, and what your gift-giving needs are for each one. The following list is a place to start.

Work—gift exchange, bosses, co-workers, clients

Church—your children’s teachers, your staff, gift exchanges

Friends—are there friends with whom you usually exchange gifts?

School—classmate gift exchanges, gifts for your children’s teachers

Family—yours and your spouses

Service workers—postal carrier, garbage collector, newspaper deliverer, florist, hair stylist, etc.

Your list may be much smaller, or much larger, but take the time to think through your gift giving needs. List the names and the expected time you will need to have your gift ready for giving.

This brings us to the next step: use a calendar to plan when you must have each purchase completed. You will want to allow time for things like school and government holiday time, business closing and shipping time required. You will want to spread out your shopping, and therefore spending, over the weeks remaining before your deadlines.