Save Money By Shopping for Christmas Now
Christmas is without doubt the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also the most expensive. You need to buy Christmas gifts for all your friends and family, enough food to feed a small army, alcohol to keep everyone merry, and the list goes on…
The most frustrating thing is that everything you need to celebrate Christmas seems to get more expensive in November and December. I mean we wouldn’t pay $15 for a jar of Cranberry Sauce in March, but when the holiday season comes we’ve got no choice.
But starting your Christmas shopping early this year could save you hundreds of dollars. Here we take a look at the best ways to make some great savings.
Time To Shop Around
The key to making great savings is leaving yourself enough time to shop around for the best deals. You might be thinking that March is a bit too early, but it really isn’t if you want to check prices thoroughly.
Let’s take the Turkey, the centrepiece of any great Christmas dinner, as an example. Farmers will already be preparing for the Christmas season and will often offer you an early bird (pardon the pun) discount if you contact them directly.
Once they’ve given you an offer it’s time to contact a few more places and see if they can beat that deal. You’ll be surprised at how low some places will go to book in some guaranteed Christmas business months ahead of December.
Avoid Seasonal Inflation
When it comes to buying products that predominantly only appear at Christmas November and December need to be a no go zone. In fact as soon as Halloween is over stores will start putting up the prices of seasonal products because demand is so high and people have no choice but to buy.
That’s why shopping for things like Christmas cards and classic holiday films now is a great way to make some killer savings. Obviously January is good time to shop for Christmas cards as stores will be slashing prices to get rid of old stock but the spring months are often even cheaper. It’s the time of year when demand is at its lowest, which means the prices hit rock bottom too.
Make Your Own
Another great way to save money is to make your own gifts, decorations and even alcohol. You’ll need to time get all this done, which means you’re going to have to start now.
Making your own wine is a fairly lengthy process so that should be one of your first priorities. Other seasonal beverages like eggnog and homemade beer can’t be made so far in advance but it’s still a good idea to start looking into the process now.
Obviously homemade decorations and gifts don’t have a shelf life (unless they’re edible) so that’s something else you can start doing now.
And if you’re looking to go all out on the long term holiday saving why not plant some Christmas trees in your back garden? It will be a few years before they’re ready but it really is a great way to save some money.
Avoid Last Minute Shipping Fees
Even if you’re not convinced by the benefits of starting your Christmas shopping now make sure you don’t leave it until the very last minute. Everything seems to cost more in December and even if you find last minute savings online you’re going to have to pay over the odds for delivery.
Just remember that the earlier you start the cheaper everything will be. And the longer you spend planning for Christmas the more excited you’ll be when it finally comes around. I’m counting down the days already!
Mike McManus loves everything about the festive season. He works as a Copywriter for Find Me A Gift, the online Christmas gifts specialists from the United Kingdom.
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5 Comments
Fast print says:
I have a lot! I’ve read half the book so far, but there are quite a few messages I’ve encountered. If you wish, you can message me and I can relay what I’ve found to you. I will admit though, if you are Mormon, I don’t think you will value my analysis.
24 Mar 12 @ 12am
sandy7 says:
I love Christmas more than anything and the thought of been able to do something festive so far away from Christmas is really nice, however, I think if I bought anyone a present now I would find it too difficult to hold onto it and would probably want to give them it way before Christmas. How do you hide or hold a gift for a year? You must be bpretty calculating to do such a thing!
06 Apr 12 @ 6pm
Cathy Dullea says:
Dont you think its too early for Christmas! I know you are saying and sharing the tips to save money for the Christmas, but all I want to say is that it is too early for a spendthrift like me to start saving.. I am sure there must be thousands of ladies like me out there!
17 Apr 12 @ 2am
Darin Spears says:
That is correct, It is indeed too early to shop for christas, but dont you think If you will start shopping today, you get more and better variety?
07 May 12 @ 11am
Steve says:
I also think you have the time to wait for a really good deal. Watch prices and ads until you see a price that you really like.
07 May 12 @ 11am