The horrors of Christmas shopping in July
Christmas in July strikes fear in my heart – literally. I think it’s a way for the retailers to get you all in a tizzy for the holidays which are months and months away. This morning, while readying my coffee for sipping, I thought the whole early shopping thing through and decided it may not be a bad idea after all. Honestly, it’s just looking for deals early, right?
I have written on the merits of last minute shopping. I usually go mid-December, detailed list in hand, and scour stores to within an inch of their lives. It saves me the trouble of constantly being on the lookout year-round and driving myself nuts. For one, our family doesn’t exchange names until at least October or November if we’re lucky. And two, I’m a procrastinator – plain and simple. I know things will be on sale late December so why shouldn’t I take advantage of them? I have gone on Black Friday a few times, but that’s also not for me. Too many people, not enough leisurely strolling of the aisles. My head was ready to explode the few times I went, what with all the grabbing and bickering. I nearly knocked a guy upside the head for trying to take the iPod that I had already staked a claim on. It’s an ugly business, Black Friday, and a gold star to whoever actually gets the deals they never go to sleep for. As for me, I will be chilling in my bed that morning.
Why am I contemplating early purchasing this year? This past Friday and Saturday I found myself in the big town of Alliance, at yet another soccer tournament of Hunter’s and the Hiland soccer team. There were three games per day, which meant lots of downtime – and let’s face it, you can only sit in Dunkin’ Donuts so long before you go nuts and want to down all the manager’s specials you can eat. The Carnation Mall, grandiose place that it isn’t, was worth a stroll. It took me all of five minutes to peruse its length and breadth. While the boys reverted back to childhood and played in the arcade, I decided to explore Elder-Beerman. I never shop Elder-Beerman. In fact, I don’t do department stores. I can’t seem to focus while in them, and I find their prices – well, too pricey. Anyway, as I was strolling through the housewares drooling over the Rachael Ray mixing bowls (which will be mine one day $80 or not) they announced a contest. The next person to find the pink Estee Lauder ribbon in the purse section wins a prize. I groaned inwardly. I never win a thing, but somehow found myself in the purse section, which was secretly next to the housewares. I looked around a bit, feeling foolish. Lo and behold, there was the pink ribbon. I took it over to the department holding the contest and found that I had won a very expensive mascara and conditioner. Nice. Maybe Carnation Mall wasn’t the armpit of Alliance after all? I exited Elder-Beerman with my newly won mascara, and a fun shirt and flip-flops that had been on clearance. Not bad, but not enough to convince me to start shopping early for Christmas.
Saturday found me with more dead time, so I headed into Kohl’s. If you haven’t already fallen under Kohl’s spell, then listen to my voice – they have become the masters of the universe at marketing. I find their prices just as expensive as any other department store. You have to admit it. It is simply their marketing, their coupons, and their Kohl’s cash that keep people coming in there and mindlessly spending more than they would have if they didn’t have that darn coupon. Please don’t hunt me down, all you Kohl’s die-hards. I will tell you, though, that the next time you get a coupon to use there for say, $10, try to spend just the ten dollars and see what happens. Anxiety at its finest.
Anyhow, I went into Kohl’s with time to kill. I searched the racks. I searched the clearance racks. I made my way through the housewares, and ended up in the middle of the store – I.E. the bra, underwear, sock, flip-flop, perfume area. This, folks, is the area to be in Kohl’s. Anytime I shop here this is where I find the deals. Especially in July, everything seems to be marked down. I found beautiful earrings for $2 a pair, fun sandals for $5 on clearance, and bras for a song. It’s never the clothes I find cheaply, but the fun extras. I was perusing the jewelry aisle and saw on the end of a rack tons and tons of prepackaged lip gloss and nail polish. I paused and Christmas swam into my head – and lingered for a bit. All those packages of gloss and polish were marked down to $2.40. Wow, that would make for a great addition to any Christmas gift I purchased. Stocking stuffers even better! I stared at them awhile and even picked them up. After the fog cleared from my head, I realized they were something a little girl would love – and I no longer have little girls. I have big girls with big girl tastes. I sadly hung the packages back up, and with that any thought of early Christmas shopping left my head. Besides, who is in the mood for Christmas shopping when it’s 90 degrees outside? I’ll save my procrastination for Dec. 15 and shop when the Christmas songs are playing nonstop in the stores, and when I have a deadline. I work best under pressure anyway.
1) I love the magazine Budget Travel. It takes you places you always wanted to go, then tells you how to travel there cheaply! Go to http://www.freesnatcher.com/budget-travel-magazine-subscription-for-4-29-new-or-renewal/ to purchase it for $4.29 per year!
2) Need a little getaway from everything? Don’t have lots of cash? Try the method this couple used for a reviving getaway from it all. I definitely need to try this. http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/07/we-paid-cash-a-couples-getaway.html
3) For all you DIY’ers, here is a cheap way to beautify your cell phone case. Honestly, this is a great idea for all the cases we go through. http://www.thethriftymama.com/cheap-custom-skin-for-cell-case.html
I have written on the merits of last minute shopping. I usually go mid-December, detailed list in hand, and scour stores to within an inch of their lives. It saves me the trouble of constantly being on the lookout year-round and driving myself nuts. For one, our family doesn’t exchange names until at least October or November if we’re lucky. And two, I’m a procrastinator – plain and simple. I know things will be on sale late December so why shouldn’t I take advantage of them? I have gone on Black Friday a few times, but that’s also not for me. Too many people, not enough leisurely strolling of the aisles. My head was ready to explode the few times I went, what with all the grabbing and bickering. I nearly knocked a guy upside the head for trying to take the iPod that I had already staked a claim on. It’s an ugly business, Black Friday, and a gold star to whoever actually gets the deals they never go to sleep for. As for me, I will be chilling in my bed that morning.
Why am I contemplating early purchasing this year? This past Friday and Saturday I found myself in the big town of Alliance, at yet another soccer tournament of Hunter’s and the Hiland soccer team. There were three games per day, which meant lots of downtime – and let’s face it, you can only sit in Dunkin’ Donuts so long before you go nuts and want to down all the manager’s specials you can eat. The Carnation Mall, grandiose place that it isn’t, was worth a stroll. It took me all of five minutes to peruse its length and breadth. While the boys reverted back to childhood and played in the arcade, I decided to explore Elder-Beerman. I never shop Elder-Beerman. In fact, I don’t do department stores. I can’t seem to focus while in them, and I find their prices – well, too pricey. Anyway, as I was strolling through the housewares drooling over the Rachael Ray mixing bowls (which will be mine one day $80 or not) they announced a contest. The next person to find the pink Estee Lauder ribbon in the purse section wins a prize. I groaned inwardly. I never win a thing, but somehow found myself in the purse section, which was secretly next to the housewares. I looked around a bit, feeling foolish. Lo and behold, there was the pink ribbon. I took it over to the department holding the contest and found that I had won a very expensive mascara and conditioner. Nice. Maybe Carnation Mall wasn’t the armpit of Alliance after all? I exited Elder-Beerman with my newly won mascara, and a fun shirt and flip-flops that had been on clearance. Not bad, but not enough to convince me to start shopping early for Christmas.
Saturday found me with more dead time, so I headed into Kohl’s. If you haven’t already fallen under Kohl’s spell, then listen to my voice – they have become the masters of the universe at marketing. I find their prices just as expensive as any other department store. You have to admit it. It is simply their marketing, their coupons, and their Kohl’s cash that keep people coming in there and mindlessly spending more than they would have if they didn’t have that darn coupon. Please don’t hunt me down, all you Kohl’s die-hards. I will tell you, though, that the next time you get a coupon to use there for say, $10, try to spend just the ten dollars and see what happens. Anxiety at its finest.
Anyhow, I went into Kohl’s with time to kill. I searched the racks. I searched the clearance racks. I made my way through the housewares, and ended up in the middle of the store – I.E. the bra, underwear, sock, flip-flop, perfume area. This, folks, is the area to be in Kohl’s. Anytime I shop here this is where I find the deals. Especially in July, everything seems to be marked down. I found beautiful earrings for $2 a pair, fun sandals for $5 on clearance, and bras for a song. It’s never the clothes I find cheaply, but the fun extras. I was perusing the jewelry aisle and saw on the end of a rack tons and tons of prepackaged lip gloss and nail polish. I paused and Christmas swam into my head – and lingered for a bit. All those packages of gloss and polish were marked down to $2.40. Wow, that would make for a great addition to any Christmas gift I purchased. Stocking stuffers even better! I stared at them awhile and even picked them up. After the fog cleared from my head, I realized they were something a little girl would love – and I no longer have little girls. I have big girls with big girl tastes. I sadly hung the packages back up, and with that any thought of early Christmas shopping left my head. Besides, who is in the mood for Christmas shopping when it’s 90 degrees outside? I’ll save my procrastination for Dec. 15 and shop when the Christmas songs are playing nonstop in the stores, and when I have a deadline. I work best under pressure anyway.
1) I love the magazine Budget Travel. It takes you places you always wanted to go, then tells you how to travel there cheaply! Go to http://www.freesnatcher.com/budget-travel-magazine-subscription-for-4-29-new-or-renewal/ to purchase it for $4.29 per year!
2) Need a little getaway from everything? Don’t have lots of cash? Try the method this couple used for a reviving getaway from it all. I definitely need to try this. http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/07/we-paid-cash-a-couples-getaway.html
3) For all you DIY’ers, here is a cheap way to beautify your cell phone case. Honestly, this is a great idea for all the cases we go through. http://www.thethriftymama.com/cheap-custom-skin-for-cell-case.html
Published: July 24, 2012
