Your Two Cents: Do You Go Shopping For Gifts Last Minute?

November 14, 2008

Shopping for gifts with time to spare is one way of ensuring you won't spend too much in a crunch. That doesn't mean you should have to shop year-round, but it certainly can pay to keep an eye out for that special something at the right price. Do you tend to wait until the last minute to buy gifts?

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29 Comments

daisymay81 4 years 26 weeks

As of Nov. 20th I have 3 people left to buy for out of 24!

robinlh912 4 years 26 weeks

I go to school in a small town, so I shop when I'm home for Thanksgiving break. I try to get it all done that weekend or before.

laughing808 4 years 26 weeks

I try to get the majority of my Christmas shopping done by the second week of Decemeber. And I always wind up finding a few additional items the thrid week. But I refuse to do any shopping the week of Christmas, the lines are too much for me to handle.

crazy07 4 years 26 weeks

I don't go shopping at the last minute because I'm always at the mall so I get a lot of shopping done. the rest of my sisters are last minute shoppers but not me.

socktree 4 years 26 weeks

I'm trying not to buy gifts this year, to save money for a vacation & bills. So, most people around me are getting gifts of sweets and baked goods. Everything else will be on Amazon. The mall after Thanksgiving is more or less off-limits to me.

Shadowdamage 4 years 27 weeks

I start thinking about what to get about 2 months early, just out of habit....but I do not like waiting at the "last minute" - that is just such a pain and the shops are so crowded. Usually I like to have everything bought around the first of the month, then closer to the date I bake/make things for the holiday..stuff I loved as a kid, that I can then share with the postman, neighbors, etc...bourbon balls, divinity, fudge, and spritz cookies using one of those old-school presses. Bourbon/rum balls are so delicious and keep for weeks in the freezer (if anything, they get better as they mellow out a bit).

Z E R O 4 years 27 weeks

I wait until it's almost too late.

Linny 4 years 27 weeks

and i won't have to go to the mall on the weekend in December! That's the best part.

Linny 4 years 27 weeks

i started in october this year, which is about two months earlier than i normally start. I need to spread the pain around this year and i'm almost done now. I just have two more presents to get and it's not even thanksgiving. I've even wrapped some and it feels so nice to not procrastinate for once.

bluepuppybites 4 years 27 weeks

I try to shop for my family's gifts in October and November. I absolutely hate going to stores in December. It's such a zoo! If I'm getting people gift cards I wait until a couple of weeks before Christmas to get them because they are so much easier to lose. We already have half of our daughter's gifts purchased.

Lilavati 4 years 27 weeks

Brothers and Boyfriends have birthdays and namedays in November and December, so I start shopping for gifts quite early, but the Christmas ones end-up often last-minute. And with all the cool cosmetic gift boxes, I buy a lot for myself as well!

PiNkY PiNk 4 years 27 weeks

kinda. last year i bought early and last minute. i spread them out during november and december... it went well. this year, i'm buying the first present next week! i'm excited!

psterling 4 years 27 weeks

This year we did our shopping early! We finished most shopping last weekend.

Spectra 4 years 27 weeks

I always buy the hard-to-find stuff early, but I always buy some gift cards as well and I always pick those up at the last possible minute. My husband is definitely a last-minute shopper. I'm betting he'll be getting his present to me on Christmas Eve or so. He always buys my birthday present after work on the day of my birthday, lol.

Dhorwich 4 years 27 weeks

I have to travel from LA to Chicago for Christmas so sometimes I wait until I get to Chicago to get some final gifts to avoid the cost of shipping or figuring out how to pack everything into my checked baggage (especially now with weight limits and extra bag fees). I don't like waiting until 2 days before Christmas to shop, but there is also some fun to being a part of the holiday flurry of action, seeing the decked out holiday windows at the department stores and braving the elements of freezing Chicago. THAT feels like Christmas to me so last minute shopping, while perhaps not always financially smart, can be really fun.

RockAndRepublic 4 years 27 weeks

I'm a loser and currently have no job so no more late shopping for me. And for me it wasn't so much late shopping as it was late shipping.

supercoolnat 4 years 27 weeks

I don't do last minute shopping, but my husband sure does. Last year he had several gifts for his relatives that were "assigned" to him. Poor thing, he got totally overwhelmed, and I ended up going with him to the mall the weekend before Christmas. Not the most enjoyable time to go shopping, but he's not much of a shopper and he didn't know any better.

skigurl 4 years 27 weeks

i think about lists early, i start early and get a few things, so i feel like i'm well on the way...and then i manage to always leave a few other things to the last minute! so i'm somewhere in between. but i'm not like 4pm Christmas Eve or anything, unless i know exactly what i'm getting and i'm only running in to actually pick it up

margokhal 4 years 27 weeks

If it's for a person that places a lot of importance on having gifts before the big day [could be a birthday or a holiday], then i'll try not to wait. If it's just within my immediate family, we wait until AFTER the holidays or the big day to get a lot of the big-ticket items. Smaller items usually won't change in price much during the year, but after Christmas...YAY for clearance and year-end sales!!!

ilanac13 4 years 27 weeks

sometimes i do - and sometimes i don't. it partially depends on when and if i have money - since i don't always have money far out to buy things, and sometimes it's just hard to figure out what to get someone. i think that for some of my family and for my man - it's easier to figure out what to get them since i'm around them all the time so i can shop a bit farther out.

Laurenh987 4 years 27 weeks

I try and shop early, so I have it checked off the list and so I can spread out the cost. But usually, I end of seeing other things that I love, and adding to their presents! It's a no win situation for me!

chatondeneige 4 years 27 weeks

I bought my first Christmas gift yesterday! I'm going to try to be good this year, but I... just don't know.

heidi girl 4 years 27 weeks

I am such a procrastiner, it's horrible. Every year I make a vow to start my holiday shopping earlier, but never quite works out that way :( i need a new plan.