8 Tips for Navigating Holiday Shopping

Sweater (30% off) / Boots / Bag / Fly Joy Bars / Jeans (30% off and my fav) / Chambray / Sunglasses (similar)

Yesterday on Instagram I mentioned that I always have a goal of getting my holiday shopping done early, but rarely complete this task much to my dismay. The reason is that I truly love this time of year and one of my favorite things is just sitting in our living room, admiring the tree with a  glass of wine or cup of hot coffee. Since we go home at Christmas, that means one less week of admiration and often coming home to a very dead tree instead :). So this year, I’m planning on having my holiday shopping done by next week (ambitious I know), but I wanted to share my 8 Tips for Navigating Holiday Shopping with you today to let you know how I’m trying to accomplish this task!

1. Make a list, check it twice…essentially just play Santa. I know it’s hard to know everything you need, but I always try to make a list of what I need before I go out to shop/sit down to shop. I write a list of everyone I need to buy for (or may need to buy for) and I start brainstorming early, like before Thanksgiving early. I also want to say that I find nothing wrong with asking people what they’d like for the holidays, this definitely helps.
2. Have a plan. I can’t stress this enough. Once I have a rough list of brainstorms, I literally think of where I’m going and what the best course of action is. If you’re zig zagging around the mall/town, sure you’re burning calories :), but you’re also wasting time. I always start at one end and then end at another that way I’ve covered everything and don’t have to back track a ton. Always have your list with you to double check your best course of action.
3. Take a day, get it done. I know this isn’t possible for everyone, but taking a random Tuesday or weekday off instead of trying to think/shop on a Saturday morning makes a HUGE difference in terms of productivity – less people, less chaos and less distraction. I haven’t taken a day this year, but I have utilized lunch breaks, EARLY Saturday mornings, etc. Imagine if you could take one vacation day to get everyone done, that would be amazing!
4. Pack a Snack. I for one get extremely hangry, so if I’m hungry and not in the mood to shop, I won’t finish my to-do list. Sure it’s okay to get side tracked and grab a glass of wine and lunch with a gal pal, but when I’m alone, I always have a snack in my bag like a Fly Joy bar for an easy snack. These bars are seriously amazing and you should try them if you haven’t, but most importantly, it’s that little jolt of energy I need to march on (even if I don’t want to).
5. Dress comfortably and make sure you’re not carrying extra items in your purse. This sounds so dumb I know, but I always wear something super cozy and layered like this outfit, carry a cross-body for access to my hands and make sure I’m not carrying extra weight like makeup, etc. in my bag, think light.
6. When all else fails, grab a gift card. I’m serious. I know some people think it’s tacky, but it’s 2016- people love buying themselves things with other people’s money. One thing I ALWAYS do is wrap the gift card so it’s still like they are getting a “gift” instead of just opening an envelope.
7. Take advantage of online shopping. It’s easy, can be done in your PJs and voila it arrives at your door. I usually plan 1-2 actual shopping days and then the rest is done via my computer and I’m 100% okay with it.
8. Don’t prolong wrapping/shipping. Sure you finished early, but that daunting task of shipping/wrapping is still looming. So pour a glass of wine, put on a Christmas movie and get to wrapping. I personally enjoy wrapping gifts, but I know some people hate it. I just make small goals, like “oh, I’ll get all my in-laws gifts wrapped tonight and tomorrow my family”. It may seem silly, but these mental small victories really help!

I’d love to know how you plan your course of action for holiday shopping. Are you solely an online shopper? Gift card giver? Or do you brave all of the ways like me? Regardless, let me know!

Happy Tuesday friends, it’s sure to be a long week since last week was a short one, but I’m looking forward to getting some more holiday shopping done today (hopefully)!

XX