Every year, I offer a list of holiday shopping tips intended to help shoppers avoid overspending their budgets. Since the holiday season starts earlier and earlier each year, I’m moving up my tips post. According to the National Retail Federation, the holiday season actually started in October.
So, here are my 2015 shopping tips as a checklist [Click the list to see a larger version.]:
I definitely needed to read this list because I am such a careless shopper. I am the type to just buy whatever I like, or whatever I put on my list as a gift for another person. Now I realize that, with so many deal during the holiday season, I do not need to rush to grab everything off of the shelves. I can pace my purchases over the next two months and buy what is withing a reasonable spending range.
I am definitely not a smart customer when it comes to holiday shopping. I think my biggest mistakes are a result of time constraints due to last minute shopping. I do not set a budget and I usually buying everything on the same day. It takes some relatively good planning and time to decide on a total budget as well as a budget for each person that will be receiving a gift. It also takes some research and time in order to buy things over a time period rather than on a single day. Due to putting off shopping to the last minute, I am unable to do either of these things. If I am able to avoid this procrastination this year, I think I would save a lot of money.
Shopping online saves a lot of time while also making you a better shopper. 🙂
I think this is a very helpful list of tips. In the chaos of the holiday season we tend to get caught up in many different things and forget to be aware of how much we are spending. Before things get crazy, now is definitely the perfect time to construct a budget and stick to it. It is also a good idea to review the different tips on discounts and savings to give ourselves the best opportunity to save money and be a smart buyer.
Reblogged this on Evans on Marketing and commented:
GREAT Tips to Save Money This Holiday Season!
This was an incredibly helpful read. I often find myself to be impatient while shopping for Christmas gifts, resulting in an increase of money spent. This list will definitely help keep my shopping habits in check and help me save some money. The list also raised many points about certain aspects of shopping that I am not familiar with as I should be!
I so needed this list because I am normally a careless shopper when it comes to the holidays. Seeing all the sales make me feel like I could just buy everything with no issues or regrets, but sometimes you end up with both. This will make me thing twice before going to checkout anywhere this season.
As someone who is not a budget-friendly shopper, I frequently find myself purchasing presents that are more expensive and/or elaborate than need be. These tips are definitely useful, as knowing when to buy presents at certain stores and online can play a large part in helping to save money while shopping for Christmas.
I am definitely not a smart shopper because I don’t do any of these things. I buy whatever I want, whenever I want from wherever I see it first and majority of the time, its all on the same day. These tips are definitely going to help me pace myself, learn to do more research and become a smart shopper.
I really enjoyed reading these tips because they definitely point out many Black Friday myths. I think that in our society it is really easy for marketers to trick consumers into thinking that they need a product now, that now being Black Friday. Many shoppers have a fear of missing out, and therefore if they do not rush to a store during Thanksgiving dinner, they will not ever get the 75″ HD TV that they were wishing for. I like that the tips emphasize looking for products in more than one place. Yes, this may be more time consuming, but with technology comparing prices should not take as long as it may have 20 years ago.
These tips are very useful to me because I usually go crazy with good sales when I am shopping. And after that I feel regretful because I bought so many unnecessary stuff. Knowing better about how black friday sales work mould help me be more rational. Moreover, it is so true that the cheapest deal may not be on Black Friday. I got a better deal during December rather than on Black Friday, not to mention, it is annoying that you have to fight with people to get things you want on Black Firday.
This list is definitely very helpful. I usually do all my gift shopping online on Cyber Monday when I see pretty good deals. I didn’t know the best deals were actually from Dec. 10th to 24th. However, I do already do many of the things on this list like setting a budget, not buying things at full price, looking at the total price with shipping, and comparing prices with other places. I really enjoy getting gifts for people and I try to find the best gifts at the best prices.