When to Start Holiday Shopping?

I should have started last June right after school was over.
I'm already late.
I've had years when I've had everything bought, labeled and wrapped before Thanksgiving.
It's GREAT when you can sit back and enjoy the holidays without running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

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I'm an early bird shopper, have already started on my daughter's Christmas. We spend about $25 each on nieces and nephews and $50 on the grandparents. If I need to mail something out, I make sure it ships 3 weeks in advance of the holiday.

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I also start following christmas...everything is on sale and i save so much money. i also feel if i start earlier, i'm not as rushed, i can keep track of what i bought for whom and i spend less.

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WHEN?! I started the day after christmas last year.

I have three plastic tubs in my basement with toys and other goodies saved for this year. I have 3 boys and many nieces and nephews so its never too early. I always try to get the best deals possible.

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I'm going to stick to my frantic but tried and true "after Dec 1st" rule, which means more like Dec. 10th! I'm NOT an early bird shopper!

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I guess those commercials are working! I haven't even taken my Halloween decorations out yet.
We have a huge extended family so we draw names, $50 limit adults/teens, $25 limit kids.
I get small personal gifts for girlfriends and my SILs, usually a pretty ornament or other such lovely for about $5 each.
When my kids were little I never spent more than a few hundred dollars on each of them, unless there was a special gift that year, like a bike. Now that they are teens I spend more but they get less--mostly clothing and electronics.
I do the bulk of my shopping the weeks before and after Thanksgiving, I can't stand the mid December holiday rush :(

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I don't think I have ever in my life bought a Christmas present before December for anyone, and most of my shopping usually occurs the week or 2 before Xmas. Now I am feeling like a complete slacker after reading your responses. I will aim to be done by the first week of Dec. now that I'm feeling so behind! It would be nice to sit back and enjoy the holidays....

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I begin my Christmas shopping on Dec 26th....yes, seriously! That's when I buy the goofy seasonal "themed" party gifts.

I buy thru the year. For example, my Mom loves antique brooches/pins. I buy & stash when I see them. I also search for unusual gifts thru the year. Another example would be that my son photographed some jellyfish this summer & when I was at Silver Dollar City, I found a glass paperweight with a jellyfish inside! Cool way to reconnect with those summer vacation memories!

Electronics I buy after Thanksgiving. Specialty gift items....nail art kits, craft kits, etc....I try to buy prior to the big rush. Books, too are bought before the holiday season. Right now, I have 4 gifts in my cart on Amazon....just waiting for me to finalize my choices. (& the best part of that would be it's free $$ from doing surveys....yeehah!)

Totally,totally believe in buying early....but am very careful to make sure it's not stuff which will be cheaper or out of style by Christmas!

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I usually start in December. My kids get 1 big gift that is not wrapped, and maybe 1-2 smaller gifts wrapped and under the tree from us. There is only 1 other family friend that I get gifts for their kids and I give them 1 each. For family members (my kids are the only kids in our family), we just do gift cards so it's easy. We are on a tight budget, so we can't go all out and buy a ton of gifts (although I would like to be able to someday!)

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I buy throughout the year. If something jumps out and says MIL I buy it. Then I go through the stockpile in Dec and see what else I have to do.
THe bulk of the kids' shopping is done in Dec, most of the extended family's is finished before then.

I mail my Foreign Exchange daughter's gifts before Thanksgiving, it takes a good three weeks to get to Germany.
I mail my son's to San Diego around the 5th, every thing for Chicago and Minnnesota gets sent out around the 15th.

I do try to limit and be creative, this year we are making luminaries from bean cans for the Grandmas and aunts.
THe kids get their stockings with simple gifts, necklaces, candy, yoyo's, etc. Next to their stocking they get maybe 3-4 gifts form Santa, a piecce of clothing, a book, a larger toy or electronic, a DVD.
The family gifts are done the night before, the kids all get pj's from us and maybe a Christmas puzzle or a board game.

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I personally hate the crowds in the stores around Christmas time. I have never had a good experience. People who shop during these busy buying times seem to be rude and inconsiderate. For this reason, you will never find me out shopping on Black Friday. I would rather pay a higher price than deal with the crowds. I try to get all of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. By doing this, I can enjoy the Christmas season with my family without dealing with the inevitable stress of shopping during the season.

I don't believe it is ever too early to start shopping for Christmas. Some of my in-laws start doing their Christmas shopping for the next year with the after-Christmas sales. I buy for my children, my husband, my parents, my brothers' kids, and my in-laws' kids. With so many to buy for, we start very early, usually in the summer. With the exception of my kids and my husband, I try to limit the amount I spend per person to between $25-$35 each with one present each.

P.S. I think the reason you can never find anything on your list is because you wait so long to start the shopping.

Good Luck!

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Mine Is already done save for stockings, I shop clearance.

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In my family we only buy for close family (my family, my parents and brother and my hubbys parents), We set a pricing limit of $40 each (with the exception of our boys (2 and 5)). I will start shopping this weekend for my boys, to catch the things I know they want and I can get now. I will be sewing a lot for them this year which is great for me as I own a small sewing business.

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Now. If you are a member of my family, where we only gift to the kids and maybe something for the couple if it's a special year or if they were working towards something we gift to them ut we have 13 kids in the as neices/nephews including our one son - plus in October we have 11 birthdays (immediate family) including my sons, and hunny's.

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I shop throughout the year. In fact, I only need two more gifts to get and then I am done! I loathe shopping in a mall, especially around the holidays. I don't have a set limit per gift. I usually try to get a couple of smaller gifts or one large gift per person. I think this year I'll be averaging about $20-25 per person, aside from my son, which is about $50. Our family has too much stuff as it is, so I am determined not to overbuy this year!

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I like to beat the rush for most of my shopping. Especially since when I go shopping my daughter is with me so I have to do her's when I can or online.

It's never too early.

Extended family (those that we buy for) get one present. Our parents often get a joint gift and then an individual gift. Those in our household get whatever we decide.

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It's never too soon to begin Xmas shopping. I'm big on buying gifts that the recipient would never get for themselves, so I can get it when it's on sale, or when I'm on vacation. My husband and I buy just 1 gift for each of our family members & our children (4 1/2 & 2 3/4) "buy" (meaning the money is coming from us) jointly buy 1 smaller gift ($10-$20) for each family member. We actually do limit the number of gifts we purchase for our kids as we are fortunate to have a large number of family members alive that give them gifts (they have 3 aunts, 4 grandparents, 1 great uncle, & 3 great-grandparents that all give gifts). We (mom & dad) give them 3 gifts each & connect it to the story of the 3 wisemen (no, there's no gold, frankincense, or myrrh). Santa also leaves 1 gift for each of them & 1 joint gift, unpackaged, batteries loaded (if applicable), and unwrapped in Santa's sack (a GIANT fabric bag Santa left at our house for our son's 1st Christmas & we leave out for Santa each year).
Also, I'm one of the crazies out on Black Friday - but I have my list of what stores & what I'm looking for. Plus, I take advantage of Cyber Monday.

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Jan 1.

I'm not fully kidding. My family shops all year and it's a game to see who finishes first. My sister is often done before Labor Day. Right after holidays is a great time for even BIGGER sales than now. I normally start around Halloween at the latest to buy things over time. My limit changes year to year and as the kids get bigger/older the price per item changes. It is also my ss's birthday so we get him something from DD, something from each of us for his birthday and something from each of us for Christmas. I try to mail anything by December 1. Earlier if it needs to go to Canada or elsewhere. My grandparents used to mail boxes from the East Coast to Midwest by Thanksgiving.

For the extended family, we only shop for the under 18s. The adults just enjoy dinner and hang out.

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I started my xmas shopping about 2 weeks ago. Nieces and nephews we do a limit of 15-20$. My siblings we dont buy for anymore. Our parents are 50ish and the same thing with grandparents. We had a huge family so its hard to buy for everyone. I start early so you have something different and in stock at the stores. i find that if i wait oo long, nothing is on the shelves that is on my list, and after xmas the kids ask "why didnt santa or you guys buy me this?" I ship my presents out about 3-4 weeks in advance. Good luck with everything!!

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Let me just say that my sister is done Christmas shopping already! LOL This is a bit earlier than normal but still, she does it all year. She starts with the after Christmas sales and goes through all summer. She buys on clearance and catches things here and there. She seems to do more shopping by what's on clearance rather than what she may really want but her family is always pleased with what they get and saves money by shopping early.

I've started already this month, just picking up a few small things here and there that I find on clearance. For instance, I was at Walgreen's this week picking up prescriptions and as I was waiting I went down the toy aisle and found a few of their items on sale. I got 2 giant Bakugan balls for $2.59ea, normally $10ea. I got a pack of small Bakugan balls for $6.49, normally $25. A few weeks ago I was at Marshall's looking for back to school shoes. I found DC shoes for just $25 but while I was there I checked the toy section and they had a small clearance section. I picked up small things like Pet Shop pets and Bakugan balls for $2ea that are normally $8-10ea.

The other thing is finding unique gifts that may not be sale items but will please a person because it's unique. We were at Best Buy looking for printer ink and music CDs and came across a big box of audio discs of old baseball games and songs and baseball player quotes like Lou Gerig's famous last speech, and all comes in a big box with the top that looks like a base. It's padded and all. It was $60. Worth what all it came with but was a unique gift. This may have been gone long before Christmas came.

Start now. Don't be picky. Look for deals.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets