The holidays are supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, right? Eggnog is being served, trees are being decorated, good cheer is being shared among family and friends and the spirit of giving abounds. But, this is also the most stressful time of the year, bar none. From crowded shopping malls and parking lots that resemble a World War Two battleground to the competition to bring in the best-baked goods at work or find the hottest toy of the season for your kiddos, Christmas can often become a chore to enjoy. Not intentionally, of course. It just sort of happens. And that part sucks.
To help you combat the craziness of the holidays, I have come up with few ideas on ways to help reduce your holiday stress, even by just a little bit. For this first installment, I thought we would visit the biggest stressor of all, shopping. Let’s face it, a good 80% to 90% of the population will be shopping during the holidays, so it is bound to cause the biggest headache. If these tips work for you, let me know and feel free to share them with your family and friends. 🙂
Tips for Reducing Holiday Stress: Shopping
- Go with a gift card. I have heard some say they think gift cards are impersonal, but I can’t think of anyone who would be unhappy they received one and it will save you from figuring out what to get those who are especially hard to shop for. Lots of people love to receive cash, but you can also opt for a neutral gift card, like a Visa or MasterCard. These guys can be used at tons of different retailers and restaurants.
- Shop online. This year I have done about 80% of my shopping online and I do not miss the crowds and craziness of the mall at all! I can even ask a question from the online chat helpers, if I need to and I can shop at 2 o’clock in the morning!
- Set a budget for each person and try to stick to it within a certain amount (say 15to 25%). That may mean you have to shop the sales, but if you do so from the comfort of home (see above) it is as easy as pie.
- If you order online, remember shipping deadlines and check those return policies. It’s great if you save stress by ordering online, but it will be a real letdown if the item arrives after the 25th. Many stores have extended their return dates as well, so you can exchange up until mid January, BUT double check, just in case.
- I have made this mistake before and it can be expensive. When you are ordering online, make sure you know where the shipment is coming from. If you are comfortable with a package coming from outside the country, just know you may incur extra charges with duty fees, etc.
- If you plan to join the throngs of shoppers and visit the local mall, make sure you eat before you go, wear a lightweight sweater, not a jacket, so you don’t overheat and don’t have to carry it around and wear comfy shoes. Oh, and bring some bottled water with you. One year I went so far as to bring my child’s stroller with me, without the kiddo! I used the stroller to hold my purchases, coat and bottled water and this left my hands free. It made the shopping outing much easier.
Next up we will have tips for reducing the holiday stress of entertaining!
What is your best suggestion for saving your sanity when shopping during the holiday season?
FT&PD
Suz
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I need to utilize all these tips and more when Holiday shopping.. I hate it.
Gift Cards are definitely my go to when I’m clueless on gift ideas.
Since i have gotten older i don’t care much for going out shopping,i do gift cards or shop at Amazon,it’s so relaxing.
I really don’t like buying gifts these days, it seems to get tougher year by year to come up with a good idea for each and every one. Some very good pointers here, Another point I’d make is to be careful you don’t overspend on credit cards – that gets very expensive if you have to pay their high interest rates because you can’t pay it all off at the end of the month.
We don’t exchange gift anymore, it was getting too hard to buy for each other. We only buy for our granddaughters and I buy the children a box of chocolate. No more Stress.
I shop early before the huge crowds. And I do buy gift cards as the younger adult ‘kids’ seem to enjoy having these to use in the new year.
great tips! i LOVE shopping online, although I also like to shop in store to, depending on what it is i am shopping for but of course more convenient online especially if there is no shipping fees. Lucky for me, i dont really stress during the holidays ! I am one of those that is always jolly around the holidays lol
Really my best tip is also to shop online. Saves so much time and hasel.
I start shopping early and am done by December 1/16; I also shop online a lot. Saves me from dealing with the crazies at the stores and malls.
I like your tip ” make sure you eat before you go, wear a lightweight sweater” – I’m often starving and then I go all shaky and low blood sugar and cranky and hot!!!! VERY GOOD ADVICE!
Love this post, it’s important to keep the stress down.
These are good tips. I actually did A LOT of my shopping online too especially during the Black Friday weekend! I love going to the mall during the holidays because its so festive but now I can actually enjoy it all instead of being in a serious shopping mood.
Some great tips. For some reason I feel like gift cards are impersonal but am so excited when I receive one.
I love giftcards too. People can get what they want, when they want. No returns. Shopping online is great. Great tips for sure.
We draw names so that has eliminated a lot of stress.
Good read and great tips! Holiday shopping is always a stressful time for me.
I have a budget, which I went over on my granddaughter this year. We wear light definitely and don’t buy your candles rapt the beginning shopping. Made that mistake before.
So I did go shopping yesterday.. i last 20 mins and announced I was “done w/this sh*t” lol…. came home and ordered her big gifts online lol
I am all done now but next year will probably order online to eliminate the parking lot, traffic and shopping stress of Christmas.
Great post, it’s important to keep stress levels down as much as possible whilst not breaking the bank. 🙂
Great tips. I love shopping online, it really is less stressful, especially if you know what you’re doing. And I used to think gift cards were impersonal too but then I realized how much I like receiving them! They are appreciated since the recipient can get what they want.
You’ve got great tips here and my favorite one is online shopping and I’ve done a lot of that this year
I’m memorizing these tips… I have an appt tomorrow in the city with the infectious diseases dr.. after that we are headed to try to finish up shopping… ugh
Shopping can be stressful, thanks for the tips!
I will surely use some of the tips posted here. I enjoy shopping online as well. Very convenient and cheap.
I think the one thing we’ve forgotten to talk about is the AFTER holiday shopping, when you have to stand in line ups for eons to exchange a pair of pj’s one size too big…. lucky for us we had 2 exchanges, both defective products…. we were in and out in less then 10 mins.
This year I did most of my shopping online. It is definitely less stressful without the big crowds.
Holiday shopping is over for me and I always think I will be more organized next year. I hope to use some of these tips next year especially the online shopping.
Well the holidays are over but I did a lot of my shopping online and I only needed to do a few things in stores so I had very little stress
It’s really getting tough to find things to comment on 🙁
Great tips ! Usually I am pretty good , but this year it was a mess ! I just could not get organized and the stress was around a lot , not like me , but just incase i will remember these for next year !
Time to relax now and do some reading!
Stores are starting to get busy these are great tips