The holiday season is right around the corner. It’s a great opportunity to spend more time with the people we care about, but with budgets to meet, gift lists to fill, and travel plans to coordinate, there’s no doubt that it is also one of the most stressful times of the year. To help make things a little easier, we’ve put together a few tips.
It’s never too early to start
How many times have we all heard that it’s easier to do holiday shopping early? Probably a lot. But it’s the type of thing that is easy to forget in practice. Most years, you’ll find Thanksgiving flying by and the stores crowding up before you’ve even found the time to think about holiday shopping. That is why people are shopping earlier and earlier for the holidays.
Resolve to make this the year you take initiative and get your shopping done early. If you do, you’ll have more time to find deals, choose the right presents, avoid crowds, and even balance your budget.
Shop online to save time and money
Gone are the days when you had to fight through crowded malls or go out into the cold to find the perfect present. While many people still love to take part in Black Friday sales and shop in person, these days we also have the option of shopping online.
One of the biggest advantages of online shopping is you can really do your research and find the best deals. Special discounts are much easier to take advantage of with digital shopping because there are services and websites to help you find promotions and offers. You can even install coupon clipping software right into your web browser.
Like a particular brand or company? Check out their holiday gift guides, like the AT&T Holiday Gift Guide. Got your eye on a brand new phone? Add it to your cart at ATT.com and share with your loved ones. They can benefit from early savings – and hints – too!
Stay on budget by agreeing to a price limit within your family
It’s easy to go overboard on holiday spending. Among families, one great tip is to agree on a spending limit for gift exchanges beforehand. This way, nobody spends too much or too little because everyone knows what to expect. And you can always share a wish list!
Stick to your price limit and watch how limitations can help unleash your creativity.
Consider your friends’ and family’s hobbies
The most important part of picking a Christmas gift is showing your loved one that you put thought into your decision. This means you need to put yourself in your loved one shoes. You might love a particular item but that doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for the people on your list.
This part of holiday shopping might be easy for when you’re buying for your closest friends and family, but it can get a little trickier for many of the other people on your list. Do you have a clear idea of what your in-laws do for fun, for example?
Don’t overlook experience gifts
Many people feel like a Christmas gift has to be something you open out of a box, but there are many other ways to make your favorite people happy. It’s getting more popular, especially among young people, to give experiences as gifts instead. Maybe your loved one would rather have a membership to a favorite gym, a subscription to a great TV service, tickets to a concert, or a dinner at a great restaurant. Not all gifts come in wrapping paper, after all.
Remember what’s really important
All of these are great ways to stay focused, save money, and find the right gifts for the people you care about. Hopefully, these tips have been helpful, but if you still find yourself getting stressed, try to remember that the season is supposed to be about spending time with the people you love. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Looking for more holiday tips? Be sure to check out this article on how to make holiday shopping easy.
This article is AT&T sponsored content written by Matt Johnsen, a TechBuzz contributor. The statements in this article are his own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of AT&T.
