Procrastinators Get The Best Deals On Gifts!
BOSTON (CBS) - There are, counting today, eleven shopping days left before Christmas. Such a deal you can get if you wait! That's what my mother-in-law would say about Christmas shopping. And she was right!
The deals out there are great right now. And if you shop online and think it's too late, fear not! If you order next Monday, December 17th, you can still get the item for Christmas. Almost 2,000 participating merchants will offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve. And there are many of the big merchants listed.
The stores are having big sales as well to get you to shop. They don't want merchandise left for the January sales. So by procrastinating you may have done yourself a favor as far as saving money, but I'm not sure about the stress level that occurs when you wait!
The stores will be open the next two weekends with long hours and the chain drug stores will even be open Christmas morning so if you really wait until the last minute you can still get something for everyone on your list. And if you run out of wrapping paper, ribbon, or tape they will have it.
I know many of you have done your shopping and have everything wrapped and are feeling very smug. As you should. But there are still individuals out there that wait to shop. Or in some cases, many of you may have followed my advice earlier this week and now have some money to go shopping.
Close to 25% of the holiday sales take place the last week before Christmas. The interesting fact I found is that the sales are almost evenly spread out over the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
There are folks who traditionally shop last minute. They claim the deals are good. Now traffic and parking are another story. Everyone has a story about mall parking lots!
If you are going out this weekend, and many of you are, create a plan. Map out your trip. You want to be as efficient as you can. There will be many other shoppers out there competing for the same parking spaces.
Beware of the Santa Syndrome, which is a shoppers' disease that happens most often around Christmas. We don't know if what we bought is enough. So we buy more!
Try not to get caught up in the Santa Syndrome by sticking to your budget and list. I know it's not easy to do. But impulse shopping gets us all in trouble.
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You can hear Dee Lee's expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.
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