Get an early start! (Tips For Hassle-Free Christmas Shopping)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Tips For Hassle-Free Christmas Shopping
Date:	10/12/01 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Christmas does not have to be hell

Disadvantages: you have to think in advance a bit.

The closer we get to christmas, the more crazy the world gets, and even trying to buy your normal groceries can become maddening. I have found that an early start can be a real sanity saver, and this is my main tip for shopping and not going mad.(There are some others, but you'll have to wait.....)

My mother is so depressingly well organsised that she starts her Christmas shoping in September. The result of this is, come December, is that she can spend her time feeling smug. She has been known to rub it in a bit, but I can forgive her..... If you can face starting months in advance, you have the luxury of time: You can wander about in several towns, browse many shops that aren't full of people, and have scope for thinking about what you want to buy rather than just grabbing the first thing you see. Time can transform shopping from a horror to an art.

My mother's second cunning trick is to shop widely. If you try to do all your shopping in one place (and its the place where everyone you know lives and might see you) scope is sadly limited. Range forth, try all sorts of quirky little places, poke around car boot sales (great for vynil enthusiasts) go to garden shops, try small out of the way towns with craft shops - the wider you range, the better you do. If you shop in a town centre that only has chain stores (I have this problem with Birmingham) then you actually have remarkably little choice. Individual local shops are much better for present hunting, if you want a bargin or you want soemthing unusual. The added advantage is that even in the worst of the pre-Christmas rush, small places tend to be quieter.

The sad reality is that most of us don't have the time to shop, or the energy to plan like that. If you are facing the last weekends of shopping opportunities with a heavy heart, there is one more sanity saving way of ebing early still open to you. Most shops open at 9, some at eight or half past eight. Most people start
shopping around lunchtime. At nine in the morning, there are far fewer people and you can dash effectively from shop to shop. I have relied on this option for many years, and it has served me well. I know getting out of bed early at the weekend is a nightmare, but its nothing compared to the misery of trying to shop at the same time as everyone else, queuing for hours, not being able to find anything and perpetually being trampled byother unhappy shopers.

Normaly I get to this time of year and wish I could cancel Christmas - shopping exposes you to the worst end of commercialism, and it can all get very depressing. I wouldn't mind giving more simple presents, spending less money and offering more time. I am putting up a fight againt the cultural trends, but it isn't having much effect.

If you really don't want to shop, try making things - home made wine, cakes, pickles, jams, clothes, craft items and the like can make really nice gifts, if you have any talent at all. You don't have to shop as much (just stock up on raw materials) you get the pleasure of making somthing yourself, the advantage of a unique gift, it costs a lot less and you don't have to shop in the mad pre-christmas dash. On the downside, you need both time and talent, but its a nice thought.

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