Christmas Hampers..

hattoncracker

I know I'm way ahead of myself, but I'm wondering if anyone gets their shopping through catalogues, and pay all year to have the stuff delivered close to Christmas? And if so, where do they use it? I remember my mum using Celtic Hampers when I was a child. Plus I work retail so trying to fit in xmas shopping around 6 day weeks and 12 hour shifts is a nightmare!

Does anyone have any advice about spreading the cost of Christmas?

Zoria

hattoncracker wrote: »

I know I'm way ahead of myself, but I'm wondering if anyone gets their shopping through catalogues, and pay all year to have the stuff delivered close to Christmas? And if so, where do they use it? I remember my mum using Celtic Hampers when I was a child. Plus I work retail so trying to fit in xmas shopping around 6 day weeks and 12 hour shifts is a nightmare!

Does anyone have any advice about spreading the cost of Christmas?

It seems like a wise idea to spread the cost over the year, but what put me off is the amount of money that they make off you. The catalogues I've seen are nothing short of extortionate. I keep all of my tesco points until Christmas time and then go on a big spree when they issue the coupons. This way I get to choose my own meats and exactly what I need, not whatever someone has decided to put in a hamper for me.

ncmc

+1, the prices on these catalogues are crazy, especially nowadays as there are such great bargains in the shops. I do see the value of putting a little by every week or month though. In work, we have a Christmas savings scheme where we save a bit every week, I actually use mine for holidays, but the fact that there’s a group of us in it, means I put in every week, whereas if I was relying on myself I’d probably be making excuses about being too broke. Or maybe you could set up a monthly/weekly direct debit to a separate bank account or Credit Union account and cut up the ATM card so it’s harder to access the money.

I can totally empathise with the time aspect, I used to work in retail, so I know how manic the weeks leading up to Christmas are. The internet is your friend here, Tesco and most Super Valu’s both offer online shopping and home delivery, so you can do your grocery shopping late at night in your jammies (that describes a lot of the people who physically go into Tesco too) Websites like amazon.com, play.com, Debenhams.com all offer free delivery and sell everything you could imagine. Argos are great as you can shop online and just pick up the next day. I’d say I did 95% of my Christmas shopping online last year. Not only does it save a lot of time, but I find it cuts down on impulse shopping too!

I think the best advice is just to start early. I am keeping an eye out for presents now to avoid that last minute panic. Subscribe to grabone, livingsocial etc, they have some great gifts sometimes, got a lovely Guess watch last week for less than ½ the rrp! That’s one pressie bought!