Don’t hate me, start a social media campaign against me, black list me or boycott me because I’m talking about Christmas before the turkey’s even in the oven. In order to plan for anything you’ve got to start early. So that’s what we’re doing.
My husband already has the list of what he wants for Christmas ready to go. Me? Well it typically takes weeks of thought, reading reviews, tracking down the cheapest option, looking at it in the store, consulting four other people and then I put out a list, after which I fret over whether or not I’ve asked for everything I need.
And when it comes to buying gifts for people? It usually ends up being something we cram into one day. And each and every year I think it’s going to be some magical experience where my husband and I hold hands and skip through store isles, when really it’s more like a cranky, mad-house mess where we’re silent 90% of the time because someone pissed the other off.
Let’s avoid all of that, shall we?
Every year I make tweaks to my process to try and make it easier on myself for both making a list and buying for others. So here’s my list of tweaks…
1. Start early.
Write down the list of people you have to buy for, and just make a point to get something for someone every time you’re at a store starting this week. That will give you a good chance of getting almost everything on sale, because if you spread the buying out you won’t be forced into a corner and have to pay full price because you’re out of time.
Then make another list on your phone of things you realize you need/want but don’t want to buy yourself. That way you’ll avoid that blank emptiness that fills your brain the second you sit down to make a list.
2. Go for variety.
If you’ve got people on your list you don’t know very well, I say buy a little basket and get them a little variety of things they could use in their house, on their face. Places like Bath and Body are always running sales on multiple soaps – which are always good to have on hand for last minute gifts as well. And Sephora starts putting out great Christmas gift collections right now that you could always buy and break up into multiple gifts.
As for yourself, make it so that your list covers a range of things you need. If you only put makeup on there, chances are the guys that are buying for you aren’t going to want to step foot in a makeup store, so maybe add some house items as well.
3. There’s an App for it. Of course.
Gifster is a great app for gift-giving. It allows you to add links, share with others and even “reserve” a gift so that the other people using it know that gift is being purchased. The person who made the list can’t see something’s reserved, though so don’t be like my husband and try to figure it all out before Christmas.
And finally, always keep an eye on TheSpiff.com because I’ll be featuring great gift ideas for both men and women all throughout the coming months.
Do you have any gift giving/list making ideas that you use every year? If you do, share them below because I’m always looking for ways to tweak my process!!
