Christmas Shopping

I'm organised.

i buy things when I see them throughout the year and put them away in a cupboard so we're mostly prepared for Christmas and birthdays too. It saves money (if I find things in sales), spreads the cost and I avoid the crowds.

I'm the same as Kinky bride. I've got about 80% of the christmas gifts bought. I'm hoping to have all my cards written in the next few weeks - although that's not guaranteed. I prefer gift wrapping to card writing.

I'm a buy throughout the year as I see things also. If I can buy in the sales fine but I don't try to match the bargain to someone just because it's a bargain as my mum does I only buy things I think people will love. Partners turn into children and then children into plus partners and then plus GRANDKIDS so I need to start early. I also need to deliver from Essex to Yorkshire and also Wales and try to deliver before the weather turns nasty. Add to that I'm getting married beginning of January and at the moment things are fairly fraught lol. I'm being buried alive in a pile of ever growing lists.

I currently have a huge pile of presents in front of me waiting to be wrapped but I'm taking a well earned two weeks in Spain this Friday so wrapping can wait until I'm back. I'm stuffing it all in the loft tomorrow!

I've already done all the Christmas shopping. I like to do it early so I can really enjoy Christmas! :-)

I wish I were more organized! I've just started to think about Christmas shopping the past couple of days. In all fairness, we don't buy that many presents anymore, we tend to focus more on the kids and do something like secret santa for the adults, so everyone gets a pressie on the day. I do buy gifts for my closest friends however, I've started work on those already.

Wow, I thought I was semi-organised starting in June.. but I've only got a handful of presents and a load of costs coming up so should have planned better

I also have to think about what to get my brother for his 21st at the very beginning of January. Always struggle with him being so close to Christmas (he's hard to buy for anyway) but would really like to get him something special.

Good luck with everything, yorkshirekiwi. Must be quite hard having to post so much stuff over here...

I've started to buy bits, got some stuff on the argos 3 for 2 a while ago, but with having birthdays on the 23rd and 31st of October then the 19th,24th and 29th of December we have a lot to sort we have all the money together to get it, we aim to be finished by the first week of December and have it all wrapped the week before christmas, with our jobs christmas is a very busy time and I like it to be stress free this year to relieve some of the pressure we are going to a pub on Christmas Day for lunch so don't need to worry about the Christmas food shop this year ?

Do you do much of your shopping online YK? I think i'd order most of it from UK sellers and get it sent directly. I normally don't start thinking about christmas until after my dad's bday in mid Nov, but decided this year partly from happening to have a day off work and partly for cost spreading to start early. I've bought all the cards, and I've quite a few pressies. I'm quite impressed! Only problem is when you live in a 1 bed flat there aren't many places to put things for that long

Christmas is a swear word until December according to my parents, and as that seems to have rubbed off on me I won't be shopping until the 1st at the earliest!

I've also got birthdays around then too, so my dad's is on the 29th - he almost gets forgotten every year! I vary rarely buy his before christmas and try to get it from the boxing day sales. And my best friend is the 2nd of Jan, and again hers is always a last minute scramble!

I agree Jayne E - something is only a bargain if it is appropriate and wanted. I've received some very random presents over the years!

Amazon has saved my bacon a number of times! I shop in December!

Yes my mum buys things because they are reduced then every year pulls out the box and says to me who can I give this to. Infuriates me.

My grandson is sleeping tonight so I've just moved the big pile of all three Grandkids Xmas presents to the loft. I found 2 gifts for my grandson I completely forgot I had bought and 2 for the granddaughters too! DAMN CHEMOTHERAPY BRAIN!

also found a gift I bought my daughter last year and completely forgot to give her, a 'lost' birthday card ready written for my dad. I know it's a birthday card as it says happy birthday dad on the envelope. A card for my mum written, sealed, addressed to her OLD address and with a stamp on. I messaged her to let her know I would be sending those cards assuming I don't forget them again next time however I can't guarantee she won't get a Mother's Day card on her birthday as I can't check what it is lol.

You have to laugh don't you otherwise it's slash your wrist. Be glad when my brain works again.

its made me a bit worried about all the organising I've done for my wedding tho!

I usually start fairly early but still end up in a stress the week before Christmas so this year I'm aiming to get everything bought and wrapped before December (minus H's brothers presents as they won't tell me what they want until a couple of weeks before!) Also need to spread the cost this year as H has started an apprentership on low pay so we wouldn't be able to afford to buy everything on one months wage. I started the end of September and I'm about half done so getting there slowly.

I should! I do it for birthdays, but I just get all sentimental about Christmas and want the giftwrapped parcels under the tree thing. It does cost me a fortune so last year I tried to compromise by sending things to my mum to coordinate and wrap for the rest of my family and sent mums gift to my dad, but between them they ballsed it up really badly. Mum lost half the gift for my brothers girlfriend so she only got the jokey tat not the actual nice gift, she intercepted the one addressed to my dad because she thought I'd made a mistake with the name on the parcel so she ended up thinking I'd got nothing for her and my Dad was stressing that I hadn't sent mum anything, and then the prezzies that arrived mum wrapped but forgot to label and had to guess what was for who. I was just sat on Skype on Christmas morning watching them get more and more disappointed as they opened their (wrong) gifts so I won't be doing that again!

Yk send them to me I'll coordinate and pop to yorkie to drop them off... Santa claus ;-)

Oh hell you've brought on the Christmas panic!! My sprog's birthday is in about a week and I'm dealing with Christmas after that. I start off every year promising myself to either get stuff during the year or put money away. Needless to say I haven't bothered to do either this year haha! I have an idea of what I'm getting people but it will be last minute as per. Christmas is one of the many reasons I love internet shopping!

Still though - haven't got any presents but I've made a start on buying the christmas chocolate in the shops!!

I purchased another two presents today. Feeling very pleased with myself ?

Two pressies left to get plus hubby .. Yay dong good!!

We have more time to shop for Christmas.. Last year itself i did the same...

Already planned what are the things should be needed for this year and hope this year Christmas would be a wonderful...

Last week itself bought wired christmas ribbon and other decorative things alone...

Hahaha, YK your mum is amazing!

I'm very organised. Lists, budgets, the lot. Working in Birmingham, I'm faced with the chaos of the Christmas Market every year, so I avoid the city center like the plague as much as I can. People dawdling around or just stopping dead in front of me with no clue where they're going, parents ramming pushchairs into the back of my legs, guys getting drunk at noon, families out shopping deciding that their bags need a seat on the evening bus commute more than I do after a 10hour day at work - no thanks! I do as much of my Christmas shopping as I can online or before the middle of November.

I am so organised this year. Mainly because I have bought a lot of things in the sales online so I saved a good amount of money. It's all wrapped too so it's feet up for me in December x

I've done most of the shopping, just got to wrap it all now!

Just stuck on one present - what do you get a 72yr old, non smoking, non drinking diabetic with no hobbies? Any ideas much appreciated

Ohhhh is that my dad you're buying for lol. He is a nightmare. All you are left with is slippers! We have done subscriptions to magazines before or even just a couple of magazines. Books as he did use to read but he doesn't now. We always get him a box of his favourite marzipan fruits (so I can share them yum yum). He has had shirts or t shirts as long as they have a collar on. He once asked me for a new watering can! This year we have gone through the I don't want anything just to see you is enough routine. He is pretty much stuck in his chair for most of the day now and I'm thinking he definately needs a new leather belt and slippers but I might also get a shrub (which I will have to plant) with nice flowers to plant where he can see it from his chair. He quite likes books about where he grew up as a kid. But we have done Old Roterham, Rotherham Workhouse etc etc. we have also done books about how bad winters used to be. Lots of old pics and memory jogs etc. he enjoyed looking at those but I think we have exhausted them. I've also done a photo album of memories from when I was a kid which was nice to chat and say do you remember when we did and have a laugh. Depends I suppose on what relation this man is to you. Good luck!

Fsil birthday is Christmas Eve, so have hers already ? have bought as I've seen.

I normally plan, with budgets and go out with what I will spend in each person with the money in individual envelopes with their names on. This year I'm slog it differently and will be buying everything online on my November payday!