How to Avoid Last Minute Christmas Shopping

Many of us are guilty of it--we wait until the last minute to do our Christmas shopping and end up in long lines and crowded parking lots with everyone else. However, getting your Christmas shopping done early will not only allow you the time to find great deals, but will also let you enjoy the holiday season with a lot less stress.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Determine how much money you want to spend on Christmas presents and how much income you can spare each month to put toward that goal.

2. Make your Christmas list. Start out by writing down the names of everyone that you have to buy for and what gifts you would like to get each person or how much money you have budgeted for each.

3. Start early. Although beginning your Christmas shopping in January may be going a little overboard, you want to have enough time to finish up before the November rush. The less money you have to dedicate to Christmas presents each month, the earlier you will have to start saving.

4. Save your allotted amount of money out of each paycheck and set it aside every month. At the end of each month, take your list and buy the gifts that you have planned to purchase.

5. Purchase the most expensive or most popular presents first, since they will be harder to get closer to the Christmas season.

6. Take advantage of purchasing most of your gifts online, no later than the end of October, if all else fails.

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