Wishing You A Happy, Stress-Free, Worry-Free, Debt-Free, Hassle-Free Christmas! (Tips For Hassle-Free Christmas Shopping)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Tips For Hassle-Free Christmas Shopping
Date:	13/12/01 (479 review reads)
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Advantages: fun, easy, quick

Disadvantages: look out for extra postage costs and delivery times

TIPS FOR HASSLE-FREE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

Christmas shopping is a very individual thing. Each person has their own requirements. Some may buy loads of presents, some very few. Some people prefer going out to all the shops; others like to buy everything online from the comfort of their computer chair. Some are organised months in advance; others leave it to the last minute.

So the way I have shopped this year won’t help everyone, but hopefully will give some of you ideas you might use. I have been at my most organised this year and it is a good feeling to know you’ve got the shopping out of the way and can relax and enjoy Christmas now.

LISTS

I have always loved making lists. It gets my thoughts down on paper, they remind me to do things, I can add to them and cross things out as I go along. So, first of all, I list all the people we are buying for, the kind of money we plan to spend on them and if there’s a particular date we have to buy them by.

My Dad, step-mum and baby sister have been with us this week. They live 180 miles away, as do most of my relatives, so we bought all the family’s presents and cards by the time they came down. This saves on postage and takes away the worry of whether or not Auntie’s glass vase will make the journey!

After the lists are started, we ‘brainstorm’ and write down ideas for gifts. With some people (like my Mum), it’s best to ask them what they want. With others (like my Dad) who have many interests and collections, it’s easier to find a good present without asking for suggestions. With the kids, we let them loose with an Argos catalogue and a pen and see what happens!

BOOK CLUBS

I have recently joined a couple of book clubs. We ordered the kids a set of books each from The Softback Preview book club (www.etsp.co.uk) and some from The Book People (TEL 0870 6077740 or www.thebookpeople.co.uk). I also joined
the Fantasy and SF Book Club to benefit from the introductory offer (TEL 0870 1650165).

There are benefits to ordering this way – the introductory offers save pounds and you don’t usually have to pay until ten days after the goods arrive. The drawbacks are that joining these clubs mean you usually have a commitment to buy so many books from them in a certain time, you have extra postage costs and you have to wait for them to be delivered – which often takes several weeks!

The Book People is the best one we have used. You don’t join, so don’t have a commitment to fill. But you do have to pay up-front – this does mean you won’t get into debt with them though. The books arrive promptly too and after using them many times, I can recommend them completely. They suggest you get your order in by December 17th (standard service) or December 21st (next day delivery service) to receive the items by Christmas.

I found the other two very slow to deliver though. I’m not sure I would trust them to deliver in time for Christmas. Check your catalogue or order forms for details.

OFFLINE SHOPPING

The two places I have got most of my presents from offline are Asda and Toys R Us. Asda is great for anything and everything – chocolates, biscuits, toys, photo frames, photo albums, stationery, clothes, etc. Toys R Us – well, yes, that’s great for kids, although there isn’t much there for the pre-teens.

The tip is to buy early if you can, to avoid the rush, the crowds and the inevitable disappointment of things being sold out. But it is fun being able to shop the ‘traditional’ way, to buy on spec, to feel and shake and spend hours deciding.

ONLINE SHOPPING

Online shopping is probably the easiest way to shop, the most hassle-free and stress-free. As long as you order from reputable websites and check the small print for postage costs, V
AT costs and times of delivery, they can be a wonderful way to get everything sorted quickly.

In November, we saw the Harry Potter film and I knew the kids would like some of the merchandise in their stockings. I wanted to order them early, because it was likely they would be popular and sell out. I looked at several websites (BOL, amazon, toys-r-us, in2toys, index, etc.) and found the best one for Harry Potter toys was Argos- www.argos.co.uk.

The postage and packing are free if you order £100 or more too, so we did that and the bags arrived two days later. Although there was a great deal of unnecessary packaging (each item coming wrapped in its own Argos bag, when we tried and they would all have fitted into one bag!), everything else was great and we have since used the online delivery service for other things too.

The other website I have used most for Christmas shopping is www.amazon.co.uk – ordering CDs, videos, Gameboy and Playstation games, books and yes, more Harry Potter stuff! Besides the obvious, Amazon also sells toys (although it’s a fairly poor selection), calendars, diaries and other gift ideas. (Incidentally, they are currently sold out of the Harry Potter Gameboy game, but I got one from Virgin.)

When I ordered from them a few weeks ago, the goods arrived the next day, but as it’s getting closer to Christmas, it is taking longer (understandably!). I ordered some things on Monday and although they all said ‘usually dispatched in 24 hours’ they were only sent this morning, so the delivery time will have been four days by then.

Look out for extra charges with Amazon too, as they really can be more than you are expecting! For instance, on one order, the items totalled £39.61, but the postage costs were £3.91 and the VAT £6.94 on top! But it’s reliable and I haven’t had any bad experiences with them yet.

EMAILING LISTS

I am a member of an email list
called BritBeanz, which is mainly for fans and collectors of TY beanie babies. But it also has people on there who collect and trade Chubbley bears, autographs, Disney toys, McDonald’s toys, Pokemon, Harry Potter and so on.

Everyone who registers does so with a UK address, so it’s all trading and selling within this country. Besides the beanies themselves, I have bought many other things from the people on this list, including Disney videos and an American Santa Eeyore for a friend. You can often find things cheaper here and make a few friends on the way (and no, I don’t run or own the list!). If you’re interested, you can apply for a subscription by emailing BritBeanz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

PERSONALISED ITEMS

My four children all have first names that are spelt in an unusual way or are East European. This means it is hard to find things like badges or room plates with their names on. So, for a present that’s a bit different and nicely personal, we have bought jigsaw puzzles made especially for them with each letter of their name in, towels and pyjamas. (Studio Cards is one catalogue that does this.)

This year, we ordered a personalised storybook for my five-year-old daughter. We got the Tigger Movie one, but there are other variations available – Christmas, Winnie the Pooh, Dinosaurs, Snow White, Toy Story, etc.

You write the child’s first name, surname, birthdate, address and some of their friends’ or siblings’ names and each one of these is incorporated into the story. It is done very well and is a good quality book. The Disney ones cost £7.95 each, but others are priced at £6.95 and £9.95 with postage being 95p for one book, £1.45 if you order two or more.

A great idea, easy to order, not too expensive and a truly unique gift. Contact My Adventure Books at PO Box 20758, London, E3 3AG or phone 020 7510 0166.

Another branch of this company ma
kes personalised poems based on your child’s name for £7.95 (£5 extra for framing) and personalised clocks for £9.95, which are also nice ideas. The address for these is Ortega Name Poems or Ortega Name Clocks at PO Box 20760, London, E3 3DE.

CONCLUSION

This Christmas has been one of the most organised ones for me. Thanks to the Internet, I have been able to sit here browsing through websites, perusing for as long as I want, while sipping hot tea and watching TV.

I have been writing down how much I have had to spend and keeping to the budget as much as possible, so the New Year won’t be one filled with the stress and worry caused by being in debt. All my shopping took about a month, but it has been done in stages, when the money has been there to pay for everything.

I have had a lovely time choosing presents for everyone and eagerly awaiting the deliveries. I hope everyone likes their presents. I certainly enjoyed my bit of the process and have found it the least stressful Christmas shopping experience ever.

I would like to wish all Dooyoo members a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and hope my tips will help yours be hassle-free too.

All the best!
KarenUK xxx

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