Do You Have Any Tips for Stress-Free Holiday Shopping?

‘Tis the season to be massively stressed out! Seriously, is there any time of year that causes us more anxiety, second guessing, and general craziness? I know that for me, the stress leading up to the holidays usually culminates in a Christmas Eve freak out. It usually revolves around the general idea that nothing I bought is good enough, that the kids won’t be happy with what Santa brought, and that I am generally a failure at motherhood. Most of you know what I mean.

Despite my Christmas Eve emotional nightmares, I am usually pretty organized going into the holidays. With 4 very active kids and a full-time job, I have to be, otherwise nothing would get done. Here are a few of my tips for having an organized, if not peaceful, holiday season.

• Start your holiday shopping by making a master list. Write down the names of everyone you need a gift for: include family, friends, teachers, babysitters, everyone who is important to you. Don’t forget to include those who traditionally receive a holiday gratuity, like the newspaper delivery person or the garbage collector. Note ideas for what you think each person might like. It’s helpful to have a list, not just so you can keep track of your purchases, but also so that you can buy things as you see them. Since most of us are working within a budget, you can use your list to keep track of your spending as well.

• I also make a second list; as a matter of fact, I devote a whole separate page in my day planner to gifts for my kids. Whenever one of the kids tells me about something they want for Christmas, I write it down so I won’t forget. Then, after I buy the item, I check it off my list.

• Once you’ve started your lists, you are ready to brave the crowds at the mall. Holiday shopping should be done as early as possible in the season, because it is only going to get more crowded as the holidays progress. The only benefit to waiting a few more weeks is that prices may come down around Thanksgiving, depending on whether the early holiday season is a successful one for retailers in November.

• If you’re going to order any gifts online, if possible wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving, because that’s when you are going to score the best deals. Web sites offer their very best discounts that day, as it is the biggest online shopping day of the year. That’s also the day you are most likely to get a free shipping deal as well.

• Over the course of your holiday shopping, don’t forget to pick up a couple of inexpensive, generic gifts. I’m talking about items you can give to just about anybody who happens to show up unexpectedly. Great choices for this include pillar candles, card games like Table Topics, or bound journals with blank lined pages.

• One final tip I want to offer is to wrap items as you buy them, so that you won’t get stuck on Christmas Eve, with an overwhelming task ahead of you.

What about you? Do you have any holiday shopping tips to share with us?