It’s officially November; the abrupt switch from Halloween to Christmas has occurred and the sad negligence of Thanksgiving begins. But even though people are starting to get into the Christmas spirit, shopping for gifts tends to still fall low in priorities. For some people, Christmas shopping is a year round occurrence as they pick up any item their loved ones would enjoy. But for others and quite possibly the majority, Christmas shopping doesn’t even begin until the final two weeks before the holiday. Or for the real risk takers, shopping takes place on Christmas Eve. A night full of long lines, tired and depressed shoppers, and bags full of gifts that no one actually wants. So why start now? Here are some benefits:
1. Nothing will be picked over. You can make sure to get exactly what you want and you won’t have to settle for the one with slight damage on it because it’s the only one left. Shopping early gives you the chance to get the best of the best and you won’t even have to fight anyone in the store to get it.
2. You can worry less if you shop online. Your gift of choice won’t be out of stock, and if it is, you’ll still have time to wait for it to be back in stock. The best part is that you won’t have to worry about it being delivered on time and you have no need to pay for crazy two-day shipping fees. And you definitely won’t have to worry about gifting a potentially shady online purchase because you ran out of time.
3. You’ll actually have time to enjoy the holiday season. The best part of Christmas is arguably the weeks that lead up to it and they’re significantly less fun when you find yourself beyond stressed trying to put together last minute gifts for that holiday party at work. Getting all that out of the way early gives you more time to enjoy the season and more importantly the break from school.
4. Your bank account will love you. If you start shopping early and spread it out over time, you actually might not max out your credit card on gifts and spend the next six months trying to pay it off. Your December statement will look much less terrifying.
5. You get so much more flexibility. Shopping for gifts now allows you to have more time to make final decisions later. You still might not be convinced the gift you picked out for your mom is as perfect as possible and now you have time to exchange or add to it so it’s as great as she is. You could also get a ton of general gifts and have more time to decide who gets what of the thousand candles and body lotions you’re now stocked up on.