Thanksgiving is upon us, and that means the official dawning of the Holiday Season! The holidays are a time filled with snuggly blankets, hot cocoa, and all that other fun wintery stuff. However, the holiday season also entails another important thing: holiday shopping. Holiday shopping can get pretty stressful, so here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years, to help with the stress of holiday shopping!
First, there’s the typical holiday shopping days:
1. Black Friday
Okay, if you’re bold enough to go out into the craziness that is Black Friday shopping, go for it! The deals are really great and you can find some pretty good sale items, too.
2. Small Business Saturday
This is a great way to support your local community and find some really cool items that you might not be able to find in big-name stores.
3. Cyber Monday
If you’re too timid to go Black Friday shopping and you don’t want to necessarily go out to the mall to shop, cyber Monday is perfect for you! Online vendors and/or stores, like Amazon, offer really good deals! Often times, you can find more options for your family and friends when it comes to buying the perfect gift online.
Here are some more tips to be less stressed while shopping for the holidays:
1. Shop in the middle of the day on a weekday
If you shop in the middle of the day on a day like Wednesday, the stores will be less crowded and the sales racks will typically be more organized, as it’s earlier in the day. Now if you have a job, this can be a bit more challenging, but you can shop a bit during your breaks or if you get off of work early. You can start to accumulate gifts gradually to give your loved ones later. This is also a good strategy when it comes to budgeting for you holiday shopping.
2. The clearance section
Believe it or not, the clearance and sale sections of stores can hold some hidden gems when it comes to gifts. And if someone gave you a list of the gifts they want – depending on when they made it – that gift that’s on their list might just be in the clearance section.
3. Thrift stores
This is perfect for those people who have a vintage style and/ or love the weird objects and clothes that you can only find while thrifting. Often times, the prices are pretty low and some of the greatest gifts are from thrift stores
4. Gift Cards
No, don’t buy them gift cards, use your gift cards. This is more of a long term way of doing your holiday shopping but this is a trick I learned. If you don’t go shopping a lot but have acquired a good amount of gift cards, use them to shop for gifts. Prices can fluctuate a lot during this shopping season and if you use gift cards to buy your presents, you can save a good amount of your own money while getting all the gifts you want to get for your family and friends.
5. Make your presents
This option is perfect for those who aren’t really on a budget but want to give really heartfelt presents. You can always go on a run to Micheal’s or any craft store, buy the supplies you need, and make the gifts. Just as a warning: sometimes it may seem that the supplies might cost more than actual gifts, but the use you get out of them (making multiple gifts for different people) will be well worth it. That being said, here are some ideas for DIY presents: a decorated picture frame to put a picture of you and your loved one(s), a deck of cards featuring 52 things you love about the gift recipient and a jar of 365 affirmations for the person to open every day of the new year.
Worrying about the price of a potential gift for someone you care about can be pretty stressful, especially when you’re a college student. Since holiday shopping should not cause a sense of anxiety, finding different ways to shop on a budget can be really helpful during this season. That being said, the holiday season is a time of giving and a time to reflect on the year you had and look forward to the new year ahead. Give to others, donate winter coats, tell your family and friends how much they mean to you, and don’t forget to take a moment for yourself once in a while.
Happy Holidays!