Black Friday was disappointing this year. I barely saw my favorite words: “50 percent off everything.” After camping out at Best Buy and working my way through three different malls all before noon on Friday, I managed to buy only one Christmas present.
Disappointing is an understatement. The work I am left with is unmanageable, especially from the not-so-ideal shopping confines of Gainesville. So what is a girl to do? Giving gifts to my friends and family is one of the best parts of the holidays, and it’s a part I am not willing to give up.
So here is the plan: order, order, order. Online shopping, although not my favorite, may be the best solution. Most stores are having pretty good deals, but the key is not to wait. The closer the end of the month comes, the less time you’ll have to properly shop around, and less sales will be available. A good sale would be about 30 percent off original price plus free shipping. Shipping costs can be crazy high and should be avoided as much as possible.
Sometimes there is a minimum purchase to be eligible for free shipping. Here is the best way to view that: you can either spend extra money on shipping or buy a few more things to get free shipping. Since you will likely be buying a few gifts try to buy from the same place so reaching that minimum purchase price isn’t hard.
As a last ditch effort to not pay full price is to postpone gift exchanges. Right after Christmas is the next time sales will be really good, so pushing holiday celebrations to the very beginning of January will give you some extra time to buy that perfect purse for half the price. Decide to celebrate and exchange gifts at the beginning of spring semester. It will be fun to keep the celebration going, and you’ll be able to shop the sales. Plus, those gifts will brighten up your return to school.