So every year I try to buy gifts for people on my gift giving list through out the year. But this year I failed. I bought my first Christmas present in October..... sigh. But yesterday, I woke up feeling like a cold was trying to kill me. I felt like I sneezed 30 times in the first 2 hours I was awake. So, what does a girl do who feels like she's dying from a cold while she has the day off from work (in November)? She researches Christmas present ideas online! (And watches tv........)
And I actually got some Christmas shopping done and have ideas for the rest of the people on my list! Which is a big deal for me because I have a few people on my list who seem to have everything they could want. I love and hate shopping for those kind of people. They really make me flex my creative shopping muscles.
But my advice for anyone who's looking for Christmas/holiday gift ideas is:
1. At least take a peek at deal sites like groupon and living social. These sites are especially awesome because they frequently have unique items like a cigar of the month club or scuba diving course. Which is really helpful for those hard to buy for people.
This is where I found 1 ingenious (I can't express how happy I am I found that deal!) gift idea.....though I'm not gonna say what it is in case that person reads this. Just saying, a
2. Follow blogs like Moneysavingmom, Becentsable and Iamthatlady. These are blogs that are always posting tips and links to websites to save on groceries and all kinds of things. The Iamthatlady blog even has a gift guide and black Friday ad section. Even if you only glance at these blogs once a week, it might help save time and energy in your Christmas gift endeavors.
3. If you're planning on buying any gift cards for people this holiday season, I highly recommend perusing discounted gift card websites. Two that I have had good experiences with are giftcardrescue.com and cardpool.com. It's not usually incredibly huge savings but sometimes you can save $3-$5 on one gift card. If you are going to buy several, that adds up!
4. Start using money saving apps on your phone. If you have a smart phone there are some apps that could be really helpful! Two that I have found to be useful are Cartwheel for target and redlaser. Cartwheel is an app that gives you coupons for items at target and they can be stacked with paper and text coupons for target (as well as manufacturers coupons!) If you're not an avid couponer, cartwheel is an easy, not-much-effort-required way to save with coupons. And redlaser is an app that may come especially in handy for black Friday, if you're planning on going out to shop that day. It's an app that scans the barcode of an item and searches online looking for websites with that exact item for a better price.
5. Take a look at websites like uncommongoods.com and brookstone.com to get the creative gift ideas juices flowing. I've found that just browsing these sites can be helpful to find ideas for those hard to buy for people. Keep in mind that you can often find similar items cheaper on other websites because both those websites can be a bit pricey sometimes.
But those are just a few tips and tricks that I have found helpful. For more ideas I recommend checking out pinterest and money saving blogs.
A few links that I highly recommend
