Surprising Benefits of Early Christmas Shopping

Starting an early Christmas shopping habit is really the best way to save on your kids and family.

I, like most people am a procrastinator when it comes to Christmas shopping. 🎄 Christmas brings on a feeling of overwhelm for me so I usually just wait until the very last minute and regret it. 🤦‍♀️

Who wants to fight through Black Friday crowds and scramble to get everyone’s presents last minute? Not me! 🤷‍♀️

How can I make Christmas shopping less stressful?

Well, you can definitely start making Christmas shopping less stressful by starting to shop for gifts early.

Early as possible preferably! Christmas in July-October anyone?

There are many reasons to start shopping early for gifts.

Beat the Christmas crowds
Avoid unnecessary credit card debt
Have more time to look for great deals and think of personable gifts
Get ahead of Christmas price increases
Have more money to spend during the holidays for traveling, hosting guests, parties, and family fun
Buy items that are likely to sell out during the holidays ahead of time
Ease the stress of scrambling for last minute holiday gifts
Get your kids involved and turn early Christmas shopping into a family goal or fun family tradition

Will early Christmas shopping actually save me money?

Yes, shopping early give you more time to save and plan your Christmas shopping budget early.

There is an analysis from NerdWallet that shows Americans are up to 434 billion dollars in credit card debt in 2019.

Don’t let Christmas add to your debt, instead plan ahead and get whatever shopping you can done early!

If you’re on a budget this is THE YEAR to start shopping early. A recent news story from the Today Show recently reported that new trading tariffs this year will increase the price of many of the goods sold in stores by this Christmas.

How do I start Christmas shopping early?

Shopping for Christmas early can be challenging.

The first challenge is figuring out what people want for Christmas. You can easily fix this problem by listening and taking suggestions.

Keep a shopping journal– Listen to your kids, husband, and mother-in-law in day to day conversations.

When they mention something they would like to have or enjoy write it in your shopping journal for gift ideas.
Get age appropriate gift recommendations from past year holiday gift guides or family member suggestions.

This is a great way to find good gifts your kids and family members will love. Sometimes I look at old gift guides even when doing last minute shopping. Especially if the toys my kids wanted are sold out.
Shop holiday sales for Labor Day, Presidents Day, and 4th of July. These deals can be just as good as Christmas deals!
Look for deals on local yard sale groups or Ebay. Sometimes you can get new items for half the price!
Keep a secret bin in your garage to store gifts in for Christmas. Label it with something boring like Thanksgiving decor, so your kids won’t get suspicious or sneak through it.

Where can I find Early Christmas Deals?

Often times you can still find great savings at places you would normally shop during the holidays if you are shopping early.

Amazon Prime has great deals and lightning deals all year round. Sign up for it and track the daily deals. Take advantage of that free shipping!
Check Target Top Deals for lots of savings and use your RedCard when you checkout to save 5% more on your purchase.
Walmart also has a daily deals section HERE where you can get free shipping or pick-up as a Walmart plus member.

Easy Christmas Gift Deals:

1. Find amazing deals on Amazon in their Amazon Lightening Deals, Amazon Outlet Deals, and Am azon Warehouse Deals.

2. Look out for deals on Amazon Kindle, Fire TV, Fire Stick, Nebula, and
Echo

3. Use cash back services like Rakuten before you shop for even more
cash to spend during the Holidays!

4. Subscribe to services as a gift. I really love Audible, Amazon Prime,
Netflix, Hulu, Disney Premier Pack, Harry’s Men’s Shaving Kits, KidPik, I Can Read book subscription, Epic! E-Books for Kids.

5. Shop deals for homemade gifts on Etsy. They have so many cute things for kids and adults that make really unique gifts!

6. Zulily, QVC, and HSN all have daily deals posted which are amazing for top brands we love like SharkNinja, Birkenstocks, Lancome and more. Each of these sites also has easy pay available for most items year round.

7. Join our Saving with Sammy Facebook group for daily deals and promos.

Need Christmas gift ideas? Here are some gift guides to get you started-

Ready to save some cash and get your Christmas shopping done early? Great! Let me know how it goes in the comments below!

…and don’t worry if your kids want something that doesn’t come out until that crazy busy holiday shopping time.

Just work it into your shopping plan and be thankful that you already got the rest of your shopping taken care of.

Sammy