Holidays

Holiday Survival Guide

Read This Before Your First Shopping Trip

Trying to find the perfect gift in one shopping trip isn’t always practical, especially if you are someone who follows the “shop till you drop” approach. Just short of dropping, you may decide you are tired of browsing around and buy the next thing you see, regardless of cost. Make a list of who you have to buy for and what you want to buy them. Start shopping early enough to leave time to comparison shop for the best prices.

Before heading to the mall, take time to examine catalogues and sales advertisements so you’ll know where you need to go to find the gifts you are looking for. If you do any holiday entertaining, buy non-perishables in bulk at discount warehouses. Most of the time you can end up saving as much as 20%.

It’s a fact that people tend to spend more money when paying with plastic instead of cash. The reason is because there is no emotional attachment to plastic like there is to cold hard cash. If you don’t want to run up your credit card bills, don’t take them with you. Instead, decide on the amount you want to spend and use your Interac card. Since it directly debits your chequing account, you will be more conscientious of what you are spending. Make a holiday budget and stick to it.

Save receipts. Items often go on sale after the holiday rush. You can sometimes be refunded the difference between the price you bought a gift at and the sale price. Phone for store policies before you make the trip. Also, keep in mind that most stores will not take returns or exchanges on Boxing Day.

Know the sales tactics. Retailers want you to buy, buy, buy. You have been through it a hundred times, “would you like some fries with that,” the sales person asks. If you let your self get enticed by this maneuver, shopping can get really expensive. You go in to buy a shirt or blouse, and then they want to sell you all the accessories that “match perfectly” or are buy one get one 50% off.

Follow these tips to make this your best shopping season yet. For next year, try to purchase one present a month starting in January and see how relaxing the holidays can be.

• Think about what you are charging it might be better to pay cash for those smaller purchases. Stocking stuffers can add up quickly, impacting your next statement’s “New Balance” column.
  
  
• Credit card issuers give you a line of credit based on information available to them about your financial situation, but you are the best judge of what you can comfortably manage. Just because you have a certain amount of credit available, doesn’t mean you should use all of it during the holiday season. REMEMBER: Never borrow more than you can reasonably pay off. Giving gifts should be a gesture, not a sacrifice.