Christmas is such a fun time of year! I love the baking, decorating, singing, gathering, and shopping! But with all the hustle and bustle, it can quickly get out of hand and the season hurries past way too fast. I absolutely love gift giving. It’s one of my Love Languages. But because the Christmas season can be so busy, gift giving gets rushed and stressful. So here are some tips on how to simplify your Christmas shopping so you can still get thoughtful gifts and have time to spend enjoying the holidays with your loved ones.
Make a List of People
First, make a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for. It can get confusing and overwhelming thinking of all the presents you need to buy for all the people! But by simply making a list and writing it all down, you can clearly organize your thoughts.
Make a List of Places
Once you’ve made your list of who you need to buy for, then you need to make a list of all the places you need to buy the presents. When you batch shop, then you save major time! If you can consolidate your shopping trips, you will have more time do other fun Christmasy things!
Shop Online
Driving all over town, getting in and out of the car, and waiting in lines can be a huge time sucker. Try to opt for shopping online. By simply searching for some gifts on your favorite websites and clicking ‘add to cart’, you have just shaved off some precious time in your busy schedule.
Give Experiences
I’m in the stage in my life where I don’t want to collect more things. I would rather make memories and have fun experiences. So gifting experiences is a great way to cut back on the shopping and wrapping process. Think of tickets or annual passes or experiences you can give instead of things. Here are some good ideas:
Restaurant gift cardsMovie ticketsZoo passesSewing lessonsBoat tourMuseum ticketsArt lessonsTrain rideSurfing lessonsAmusement park ticketsGetaway at a hotelCooking lessonsSkydiving/bungee jumping/paragliding
Be creative! Gifting experiences is more memorable plus it doesn’t take much time to print a ticket or voucher.
I’m all about simplicity and doing things the easy way. Getting back to basics is so refreshing. There’s no sense in making life harder than it should be! You can still give great gifts with just a little preparation. By following these steps, you are bound to simplify your Christmas shopping process and enjoy being with your loved ones instead of running around at the last minute!
