Tuesday 20 November 2012

Tips to Make Christmas Shopping a Cinch - Yes really!!

Well this time in just 5 short weeks we will be celebrating Christmas - yikes!! So with the date looming closer and closer by the day, I thought that it was timely to share this guest blog post by the fabulous Linda Anderson, founder of  Mums on the Go and principal coach of a2a Coaching.
 
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing tips Linda, I think we could all do with tips to surviving the Christmas Shopping silly season stress free....
 
 
How to make Christmas shopping a cinch

Christmas is but five weeks away. With my third baby having arrived in August, I’ve been determined to get organised early with gift buying this year. Not to mention the fact I have to buy for 13 children, with two loads of presents set to be shipped to UK and interstate relatives. I missed the Sea Mail cut off once and I will never do it again. Not after discovering the cost of Airmail for a big parcel.

Here are my tips for making Christmas shopping easier: 

Tips to make Christmas shopping easier:

Create a plan – I create a list of the children and adults I need to shop for at Christmas. As I mentioned, that includes 13 children. I write down gift ideas, so the shopping process itself is more efficient. Often these are just ideas rather than specific items.

 
Determine a budget – I generally spend about the same for each person, give or take a few dollars. This allows me to see how much I’ll be spending before I launch into shopping mode.

 
Watch for the catalogues – Christmas is one time of the year I’m OK with receiving junk mail in my letterbox. Catalogue browsing can save mums a lot of time and a lot of headaches if shopping with children in tow is unavoidable. While wandering the streets browsing for gifts can be thoroughly enjoyable, getting in and out quickly with kids and babies is preferred here.

 
Shop online – Much of my shopping will be done online this year, as I juggle a new baby in the house. The cost of postage is well worth the time saved driving, parking and the sanity of not taking small kids out shopping. I visited one of the big toy sales online this year, which worked well in whittling down my list. A good tip is to buy as many gifts from one site as you can to minimise postage costs.

 
Not every tip on my list will work for everyone, but if you’re looking to minimise the work involved in gift buying, it’s worth looking at them as an option.

 
Do you have any other tips to share to make Christmas shopping easier?
Thank you so much Linda for being a guest over at Utterly Organised. For more tips and resources, be sure to check out the Mums on the Go website, Facebook Page or follow on Twitter.

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