Christmas Archives - The Free Financial Advisor

Is It Too Late To Start Christmas Shopping?

November 28, 2022 by Tamila McDonald Leave a Comment

Many people start their Christmas shopping at some point in November, allowing them to take advantage of sales that are ramping up and events like Black Friday. However, if you aren’t able to dedicate cash to Christmas shopping before Black Friday passes, you may start wondering, “Is it too late to start Christmas shopping?” If you’re trying to answer that question, here’s what you need to know.

Is It Too Late?

Technically, it’s never too late to start Christmas shopping. While events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are usually when people think they’ll find the best bargains, holiday sales continue all through December. As a result, you can still get amazing prices on fantastic gifts all the way through Christmas Eve, so you have plenty of time to score some deals.

In fact, some sale prices may even beat Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts. Retailers know that many people tackle a lot of Christmas shopping during those events, so they might not worry about getting customers’ attention. However, competition for any remaining shopping dollars gets fiercer as the holiday gets closer, so you may find even better prices on items like toys, electronics, and more.

What’s Late For Your Christmas Shopping?

Generally, you can Christmas shop as late as Christmas Eve at many stores if you’re shopping in person. While the product selection could be limited in some cases, last-minute shopping isn’t unusual, so you’ll likely find some excellent gifts up until the stores close.

The situation is a bit different if you are planning to shop online. With this, the selection isn’t the primary concern. Instead, it’s the time required for shipping.

Every major shipper – including USPS, FedEx, and UPS – as well as direct shipping services through Amazon, won’t guarantee Christmas delivery after a particular date. For example, the cutoff date for Priority Mail at USPS is December 19, 2022. For FedEx Ground, it’s December 14, 2022.

Amazon cutoffs for guaranteed Christmas delivery can vary depending on your location. For items with same-day service, you could potentially shop on December 24, 2022, and get your purchase on time. If one-day shipping is available, then December 23, 2022, is usually the last day, while two-day shipping means wrapping up by December 22, 2022. Thankfully, Amazon shows delivery date estimates before you check out, allowing you to adjust what you buy if an item would miss the deadline.

Sooner Rather Than Later

Depending on the shipping service involved, you may need to wrap up your Christmas shopping sooner rather than later. Check out the websites for the retailers you’re considering using as a starting point. In some cases, the retailer will list purchase deadlines for online orders, allowing them to factor in processing time to ensure delivery before the holiday. If not, see what shipper they use and review the order processing times to see when you need to make a purchase to ensure it gets to you before Christmas.

When do you usually start your Christmas shopping? Do you wish you could start earlier, or do you think your timing works? Do you have any tips for those who are just starting their Christmas shopping now? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Tamila McDonald

Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.

How To Sell Your House During The Holidays – 2 Guys and Your Money 58

December 11, 2013 by Average Joe Leave a Comment

You’ve read the article on our site….now let’s discuss it on our podcast!

Everyone says the holiday season is a horrible time to try and sell a home….but we think you can use the festive atmosphere to your advantage. How do you sell a house during the holidays? We share some tips and tricks to help you hurdle holiday challenges and turn them into assets.

Show Notes

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<> How to Sell Your House During the Holidays

Post-Holiday Distress: Did You Spend Too Much?

December 27, 2012 by Average Joe 27 Comments

Stop. Take a deep breath. That feeling of dread? It’s just the holiday spirit leaving your body with each passing breath. It’s your own fault… everyone knows not to look at the receipts on the day after!

If you were smart, you planned ahead. You created a holiday account at the beginning of the year so by the time November rolled around, you had cash on hand for cherry-picking the best deals.

If you were smart, you stuck to your budget and didn’t let stress, competition, irresistible deals, or last-minute price hikes to knock you off your plan. You made a list of people and charities you wanted to recognize, set a price per gift, stuck to your list, and got your shopping done early.

That’s if you were smart.

But if your candy cane and cookie euphoria is dissipating with every thought of your credit card statement, you’re not alone. It’s engrained in our culture: Thanksgiving is to overeating as Christmas is to overspending – lavish spending you’d never consider otherwise.

The pressure to GIVE is powerful; our senses may leave us entirely. When we shop, we anticipate the warm embrace and feeling of joy WE create when a gift is received. It’s awfully noble. But if you’re like me, today is the day you watch your kids and realize just how little use your gift will get (I will never buy a robotic pet again!).

So what’s next?

Budgets are fluid. They require constant reevaluation. If you overspent, it’s time to reconsider your budget for the coming months. You won’t be able to see any viable options without a clear picture. If you didn’t before, go back and write down what you spent.

Chances are, it’ll make you feel better. You’ll realize that, while you had a bad month for your budget, you aren’t completely out in the cold. Because, you see, most of the year… You were smart.

If you’re not feeling better, take solace knowing that it’s possible to mount a comeback.

A few years back, holiday spending tipped my credit card balances over the edge. I wasn’t smart. I thought I was – it makes sense to open up store credit cards to save 10%, right? Wrong. It wasn’t until too late that I realized I wouldn’t be able to make the minimum payments on so many cards.

I knew enough to see that with accumulating interest, everything I could afford to pay towards my various credit card bills would be going straight into the creditors’ pockets while my debt level remaind constant. Classic debt spiral.

What did I do? Consolidate. Debt consolidation sounds ominous, but it’s far worse for your credit to fall behind on payments. You can take advantage of low interest rates on balance transfers and merge your debt to one account, or seek a consolidation loan to pay off your principal balances. If you have good credit history, you may be able to achieve a lower interest payment or a longer payment period. Managable. You can handle that.

The moral of the story? I’ll say it again:

Stop. Take a breath. Enjoy what’s left of the holidays. You’ve got options.

Photo: TopGold

Thanks to Jennifer Willard for taking over the blog responsibilities today while Joe & OG search for more egg nog. Jennifer has a new blog, Crayons & Coins. She also writes for Credit Guard, a non-profit debt counseling company.