Last Minute Christmas Shopping Pros & Cons

December 17, 2009

By system

There was a time in my life when I always left my Christmas shopping until the very last minute. These days I am far better prepared and I do most of my Christmas shopping online well in advance.

But when I was a much younger man I would do my gift shopping last thing on Christmas eve when most shops were already closed for Christmas. Often the only place that was still open was our local all night gara.

This led to some memorable gift exchanges on Christmas morning. I remember one year in which my brother generously gave me a half eaten kebab and I gave him a sack of barbecue charcoal. That same year my mother received a pair of wiper blades for a Ford Mondeo (although she drove a Volkswagen) and a whole box load of car air fresheners. This was due to leaving my Christmas shopping until the very last minute after spending the day drinking cider rather than braving the shopping centre on what is often the busiest shopping day of the year.

One of the potential advantages of last minute Christmas shopping is the chance of finding some great bargains. With many people tightening their belts due to the effects of the recession some shops are not selling their Christmas stock so you are likely to find a few money saving bargains.

Or you could be unlucky and find that the shops have had a last minute rush, sold out of their Christmas stock and you are left with the local all night garage.

One way to do away with the Christmas shopping headache is to simply not do any. Take all the cash that you would have spent on gifts and donate it to your favourite charity. Or why not let people choose the charities for your donations. Christmas is all about giving and not receiving so why not give to a worthy cause and not to people who already have enough socks and after shave.

BTW – for some great Christmas gift ideas pay a visit to raymears.com. You’ll find some of the best quality outdoor clothing available online along with all those neat gizmos and gadgets used buy Ray in his TV series. And the Ray Mears DVDs and Books which would make ideal Christmas gifts for any lover of the outdoors.

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