Every year around Christmas, people brag about how much earlier they got started this year with festivities. They started decorating earlier, the Christmas music was on in October, and they even started their gift shopping for their friends in family way back in August. Thinking that this all sounded wonderful, to get a head start on the holiday season, I also started early this year. I pretty much listen to Christmas music all year, so that wasn't different. Also, my mom and I start decorating the day after Halloween (no, we don't "skip" Thanksgiving, but that's an article for another time), so that didn't change, either. I did, however, start my Christmas shopping in October.
I bought my first Christmas gift in October for my boyfriend because he had just left for a three-month internship in Vienna. I was basically just trying to skip over the next three months and dive straight into the Christmas season. We usually spoil each other for gift-giving occasions, so I knew I would probably end up with many gifts for him. To save my bank account, spreading out that spending over a three-month period instead of waiting until three weeks before seemed like the best idea. However, that really wasn't the case.
Unless you set a price or item limit for yourself, do not start your gift shopping for people early! This goes for Christmas, Valentine's Day, or Birthdays! You may think it's a good idea, but without a budget or a limit on how many gifts you plan to get them, it really isn't going to benefit you. Although, even your budgets or limits can get lost, forgotten, or ignored if you find the perfect gift later.
You see, if you go shopping and you spend about $60 in October, and you get really good gifts that they'll like, you could be done. However, you're going to go shopping more and every time you do you're going to find more gifts that that person would enjoy. And you're going to convince yourself that you should just buy them! It's Christmas! Why not? All in all, by the time Christmas gets here, you have 15 gifts for one person and you've completely lost track of how much you spent on this one person. Because you spend like $10-$20 every week or two and it never seems like much.
Don't start gift shopping early unless you set a limit for yourself and you're sure you can stick to it. It always seems like a good idea, but by the end of the season, your bank account is hurting more than normal. You'd rather spend $60 on one person two weeks before Christmas than spend a few hundred in the three months leading up to Christmas.
Starting gift shopping early just creates an illusion that we're saving money by spreading out our spending, but it really just, in the long run, causes us to spend more.
