You either really love it or really hate it!
I'm abit in between I love the shopping part but hate the hustle and bustle. Over the years I've learnt a couple of things that have helped to reduce the stress of Christmas shopping so thought I'd share a few with you...
I always start by having a pre-christmas clear out/tidy up. You will no doubt find things you have forgotten about and get rid of broken, old, unused items.
I always take any unwanted things to charity or see if any of my friends or family could find them useful.
I always start by having a pre-christmas clear out/tidy up. You will no doubt find things you have forgotten about and get rid of broken, old, unused items.
I always take any unwanted things to charity or see if any of my friends or family could find them useful.
Go grab all those free gift guides, especially if you have little ones like me
For years and years I didn't get any of these as I barely looked at them and you always ended up just throwing them away in the end anyway. But this year I've found the children's ones really helpful as Alex will sit and look and them and talk about what he likes, giving me ideas :)
The Tesco kiddies one has been a favourite of ours this year, I really love how they have stickers for you to add to favourite gift ideas! Plus a little game to find all the silhouettes and add the stickers, makes gift searching much less stressful and more fun.
Gift guides also really help with gift choosing before the shopping part, for me it has saved alot of aimlessly wandering around in the hustle and bustle with a child struggling with what to buy.
Don't be afraid to ask people what they would like to receive,
If you don't like crowds shop online when you can,
Try not to leave all your Christmas shopping till Christmas Eve,
Leave as early as you can, shops tend to be less busy between 9am and 11am,
Take a list of what you need, then you won't forget and won't need to be making an extra trip,
Set yourself a goal of what you would like to achieve that day. For example, 'I would like to get all the cards and gift for so and so before 12pm'
Take a friend, can always be a help if you need advice etc
Make time for lunch, coffee break, whatever... have some time to recharge your batteries to start again
My fave Costa drink - Black Forest Hot Chocolate, whats yours?
Leave any of your tip and tricks below, its always a good help each other out with what could be a stressful time
See you,
Tomorrow!
For years and years I didn't get any of these as I barely looked at them and you always ended up just throwing them away in the end anyway. But this year I've found the children's ones really helpful as Alex will sit and look and them and talk about what he likes, giving me ideas :)
The Tesco kiddies one has been a favourite of ours this year, I really love how they have stickers for you to add to favourite gift ideas! Plus a little game to find all the silhouettes and add the stickers, makes gift searching much less stressful and more fun.
Gift guides also really help with gift choosing before the shopping part, for me it has saved alot of aimlessly wandering around in the hustle and bustle with a child struggling with what to buy.
Don't be afraid to ask people what they would like to receive,
If you don't like crowds shop online when you can,
Try not to leave all your Christmas shopping till Christmas Eve,
Leave as early as you can, shops tend to be less busy between 9am and 11am,
Take a list of what you need, then you won't forget and won't need to be making an extra trip,
Set yourself a goal of what you would like to achieve that day. For example, 'I would like to get all the cards and gift for so and so before 12pm'
Take a friend, can always be a help if you need advice etc
Make time for lunch, coffee break, whatever... have some time to recharge your batteries to start again
Leave any of your tip and tricks below, its always a good help each other out with what could be a stressful time
See you,
Tomorrow!
I love checking out the catalogues too. That hot chocolate looks absolutely delicious. I've never been to Costa.
ReplyDeleteI don't really had a favourite Costa drink this year. For the first time ever I'm a Starbucks fan!
ReplyDeletewww.alysgeorge.co.uk