or your jammies, or your birthday suit…whatever suits your fancy…

Sound good?  Let me share how!

I’m probably behind the times in admitting this, but I just discovered the answer to how to have a stress-free Christmas shopping season.  http://www.whatever!

That’s right…Christmas online…

You know, it’s not as though I haven’t done a little purchasing through online catalogs in the past.  It’s just that I’ve never been on the ball enough to get most of my shopping done this way, and early and at good prices!

Here are a few tricks I learned this year.

#1. Create a gift list on Jan 1st of the year.  (or anytime before the end of November of that year will work just fine!)  Keep it on your phone, in your diary, on a post-it near your bed.  Have everyone you purchase X-mas gifts for on it and as the year progresses, write down things that pop into your head as you’re thinking of them, if you’re in their company & they mention something they like or need, etc.

#2. Get a Christmas Club account with your bank.  This is brilliant.  Brilliant, I tell ya.  Every bank probably has one.  Every bank should have one.  It’s a FREE savings account, usually called the ‘Christmas Club’ or the ‘Santa Fund’, or something cute like that.  You determine an amount of money that you’re comfortable having pulled, from your checking account every week, and directly deposited into this Club.  And they send you a big fat check, of your own money (boo, hiss!), at the end of October for your Christmas shopping.

#3.  Start an online cart.  I started an online cart with a few items on Amazon in October.  Then, after briefly looking around at prices in stores (not physically going to the store, mind you.  Still shopping in undies here, so checking out their websites for prices), I started adding to my cart.  Since it takes $35 worth of “prime” merchandise to receive free shipping from Amazon, I waited until I had this amount before hitting ‘Order’.  You can do this with any major online company.  Create a cart, add to it as your gift list grows and wait to purchase till they offer a great sale online (hint, hint, Cyber Monday!)

#4.  Keep an eye out for sales or coming sales in flyers & catalogs.  Your mailbox is inundated with them this time of year.  The sales flyers and catalogs from every store in the world.  Don’t throw them out!  Check for special codes for savings, sale dates, free gift card offers, guarantees on delivery, free shipping, etc.  Plan your online shopping around these promotions.  Save money, instead of spending too much.

This is the first year that about 80% of my shopping was done in front of my computer, in the comfort of my home, in whatever I felt like wearing those days…

try this next year…you’ll love the freedom from traffic, long lines, irritable patrons and stress…just make sure to draw your shades if you plan to do some online shopping in the buff…

Merry, merry!