Ten Tips for Smarter Holiday Shopping and Gifting #ODSmartGifts

Every year I do all of our Christmas shopping, and I have a lot of people to buy for!  One place I never really considered shopping is Office Depot, but they do carry a wide variety of products that would be great for toddlers up to grandparents.  Office Depot also carries gift wrapping essentials and you can ship your gifts directly from the store to everyone on your list!  I love the idea of shopping at one store and shipping gifts right from the store, instead of coming home and then going back out to ship them.

After reading about Office Depot one-stop shopping, I wanted to share my ten tips for smarter holiday shopping and gifting!

1.     I make any gifts I can.  For example, I bake cookies or fudge for some people, for kids I may make fleece blankets, and for our parents I make photo gifts.  I like to have the personal touch through a small gift and then I usually buy the person an additional gift.

2.     Shop online whenever possible!  I receive lots of store newsletters and I shop through sites where I earn cash back so I not only save time from going store to store but I also great a great deal (with cash back!)

3.     Shop at stores (like Office Depot) where I can buy gifts for multiple people.  Department stores are great because I can get clothes, accessories, toys, and a few personal items for myself!  I also try to use store coupons if I can!

4.     Buy gifts throughout the year.  I buy items when they go on sale or if they are something seasonal that I know would make a great gift for someone.  For example, my son’s birthday is right after Christmas so I buy summer items for him before stores stop carrying them!

5.     Use up gift cards you already have.  I go through my gift cards and see what stores I can buy gifts from for people.  I don’t really like to re-gift a gift card so I just try to find items that I can use as gifts or I purchase smaller denomination gift cards with it as stocking stuffers!

6.     Cash out points and cashback.  I cash out my points through my survey companies and such and redeem them for gift cards and gifts.  I also cash out my Discover card cashback for gift cards and by doing so I usually can get a $25 gift card for only $20 of my cashback bonus.

7.     Give away services.   I have given away a night of babysitting, taking my mom out for a pedicure, cleaning a car, and such instead of buying actual gifts.  It is a great way to save your budget but still give a great gift.

8.     When giving a gift I also add something personal.  I may add a handmade card, handmade ornament or some other trinket that I made as a finishing touch to the gift!

9.     Buy something you know the person will like.  Don’t re-gift something that you hated and the person you are giving it to will hate to, try to find something and when in doubt get a Visa gift card or a store gift card you know for sure the person shops at.  There is nothing worse then being the person that gave the crappy gift!

10.   Shop the sales.  You may dread Black Friday and all the crazy holiday sales, but they can be really good and this year I even heard they will be featuring some good online promotions as well.  I do though only buy online at stores I can return the items to an actual brick-and-mortar store so I don’t have to go through the hassle of mailing an item to return it, unless I know for sure it is a great gift and the person doesn’t already have it!

Overall, holiday shopping can be fun and painless if you just make a list of who you need to shop for and jot down some gift ideas.  I start with a list and then cross off people as I go, when I am done I wrap everything at the same time and bag it up with my personal touch.  It may be overwhelming to do it all at once so do it as you shop or all at once, just do whatever feels right and don’t forget to breathe!

Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Office Depot blogging program, making me eligible to get a $40 Office Depot gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.