Holiday Shopping Tips to Make Your Gift Buying a Breeze

You might have braved the crowds on Black Friday and got some great deals. However, the holiday shopping season it not over yet and you can still find great deals on the gifts you want. So I have put together some holiday tips to gift buying so you can shop smart all the way til Christmas Day.

1.

Make a List and Check it Twice

It’s so important to do this! Making lists is the key to staying on your budget. The last thing you want to do is wonder around store after store stressing about what to get everyone you have to buy for. So write out everyone you have to buy for and set a budget for each person. Of course once you have made your list check it twice to make sure that haven’t forgot anyone and add up each person to make sure you haven’t exceeded your total budget.

2.

Sign Up for Email Alerts

Sign up for email subscriptions to the store that you like and where you are interested in buying gifts. Stores will send you codes for promotions such as discounts, free shipping, free items with purchases, and more. After Christmas you can always easily delete the emails. Usually in each email it will have where to click to unsubscribe to the email. You might also want to set up a separate folder within your email for these emails so you can browse through them at your convenience and keep them all in one place.

3.

Member Shopping Sites

Maybe this Christmas you are looking for a great holiday dress or want to get someone an extravagant gift. Member sites can help you get the best deals online and will send you an email every day, every few days, or once a week with sales, discounts, and even sample sales on designer merchandise. Just today I got an email from Shop It To Me (which finds the best deals online on your favorite designers)  for 40% off an amazing Marc Jacobs bag. Here are some of the ones I use.

• Rue La La
• Shop It To Me
• HauteLook
• LuLu’s
• SalesCheck (Chicago Magazine)
• Shefinds
• Gilt Groupe

4.

iPhone Applications

Use iPhone applications to help you with your holiday shopping. Download Best Buy’s iPhone application for weekly deals on hot must-haves. Target will find the items you want at a Target close to you and also update you with all the weekly deals. Take a picture of an item with  Barnes & Noble‘s application and it will find where to buy it and the best price.  For a full list of shopping applications click here.

Target iPhone Application

If you are looking for fashion applications to find that perfect holiday outfit? Click here for my favorites.

Want even more iPhone applications to help you find the best deals in town? Here are some great free ones I enjoy.

• The Find
• Coach Gift Finder
• DealSpot
• Gilt on the Go
• ShopStyle Mobile
• Coolist
• Gift Guru

5.

Unique Gifts

Shopping can be really hard for your significant other and you don’t want to end up getting them something last minute. If you are in a pickle on what to buy them here are some ideas to get you started.

• Cloud 9 Living is a fabulous site for finding some the most extravagant and unique gifts for your loved ones. At Cloud 9 living you can find gifts such as dinner cruises to pilot lessons to a helicopter tour. This site really has it all for unique gifts at prices starting from $100 to $10,000.

• Sign up at travel sites such as Hotwire or Expedia to get last minute deals and take your loved one on a romantic weekend getaway. Check out the iPhone applications under TRAVEL for deals as well.

• Surprise your loved one with with a fun day, something they have been wanting to do for awhile. Set up the arrangements and on Christmas give them the surprise in hidden clues or wrap tickets to an event in different boxes. Be spontaneous and creative.

6.

Cyber Monday

Yes, tomorrow is Cyber Monday get Black Friday’s deals online. See the online ad’s here so you can plan ahead and where to shop online first.

* Don’t forget that the last day for free shipping and less expensive shipping ends December 15th. This is also the last date to make sure you will get your gifts delivered by Christmas Eve.

Hope this list helps, Happy Shopping and Happy Holidays!!!

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