We are only just a few days away from Christmas Day. Christmas Day is the where we celebrate the birth of the Christ. The savior of the world. As part of Christmas we are taught from a very young age that, “it is more blessed to give than receive”.

Through out the year we shop for ourselves, food, clothing, shelter, except for birthday, and anniversaries. During the Christmas season we get caught up in buying gift sets, iPhones, diamond necklaces, or various items for a loved ones.

All to often we feel there is this obligation to buy and give. For some people it is more than duty, it is an enslavement. Fighting crowds, buying, hoping the person we are buying for will not get the same thing from some one else.

The writer Mark Twain loved Christmas, but he hated the shopping. He would describe Christmas shopping as bringing, ” harassment and dread to many excellent people”. Mr Twain saw the result of all that Christmas shopping as, “weeks of hard and anxious work, and when Christmas morning comes they are so dissatisfied with the result, and so disappointed that they want to sit down and cry.”

When I am trying to decide to buy online, or at a local big box store, I am influenced by two factors. First is how quickly can I get it delivered. Two is what the total cost will be after shipping and taxes. Most of all I look for free shipping because the cost the shipping usually makes the difference.

This is especially true during the weeks before Christmas. A lot of online retailers offer deep discounts along with free shipping. The deceptive part is when looking at the products webpage. The free shipping could mean it will take 5 to 7 days to get to your door. Any faster shipping requires payment of mor money.

Five to seven day delivery is okay if I am getting something for dear aunt June, for Christmas. If I am ordering something that I need now or within a couple of days, then we have a problem. Fortunately, we have available some solutions for getting an online purchased within a couple of days, and still not have to pay something like $12.95 or more for it.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday is over. All the reports show a 14% to 26% plus increase in sales over last year. This is great news for retailers. They are optimistic about having a profitable Christmas season, this year.

All the retailers are running their inventories low so they will not get caught with a large surplus in after Christmas. This will keep us from seeing to big of sales between now and Christmas day. It will also mean some of the more popular items will not be available during that last week before Christmas.

Another thing to keep in mind is we are going into an election year. So the currently officials that are wanting to get re-elected want the economy to look as good as possible. Those opposing them will want the economy to look as bad as possible.

Grouponicus and Gobblepalooza are some of the fancy names we are seeing to describe the after Thanksgiving Black Friday Day sales. For about a week now I have been getting emails from Amazon.com and others announcing Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. Some stores have jumped the gun and have already started their sales.

At one time Black Friday was the starter pistol firing, to signal the start of the Christmas shopping season. Last year we saw some stores, like Sears, who normally don’t open extra as early on Black Friday, open earlier. This year we are seeing a lot of stores having pre-Black Friday sales. Only a small number of store are not waiting for November 25th to launch their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

I have read that Kmart and Wal Mart will be open of Thanksgiving Day. This is almost enough to make me stop shopping with them. Thanksgiving has always been set aside for family gathering and watching TV. In our fast pace disjointed world, Thanksgiving has become one of the few times families can come together and reconnect. Now those who have to work on Thanksgiving Day will have a harder time to connect with family members.

It is December 21st. Christmas is on December 25th. If you are one of those people who wait to the absolute last minute to buy Christmas gifts or do anything. This is your time.

If you do not have set items you are going to buy. If you do not have a specific place where you are going to buy it at, you more than likely was your money and disappoint the recipient of  your gift to be.

If you have been reading The Shopping Nazi for any time you know that loath last minute shopping. Just going to from place to place to see what is available at the last minute leaves so much to chance.

It is only September. But it is time to start planning for the purchase of those big Christmas gifts that is for the whole family. I am talking about TVs, Cars, furniture, trips and gaming consoles.

Questions should be answered like: what does the family really want? What will  the family kept using in 6 months?

The gaming console of the 21st century is  a device that allows you to play video games from your television, and much more. They all do have their similarities. Some of the capabilities of a modern day gaming console may surprise you.  The three major players, X Box 360, PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii all can:

We are  just one week away from the biggest shopping day of the year. Well, that is what all the marketing people tell us. Crowds storm shopping malls all across the United States for that great deal. or that must have Christmas present.

The day after Thanksgiving when all the retail stores say that they have their biggest savings deals for the Christmas season. Crowds of people line up outside malls all across the United States and Canada to rush in for those big savings, when the doors open.

The truth be known, those same deals, if not better deals can be found at different times through out the years. Then there is purchase Christmas gifts online can also save you a few dollars more.

This is where a recon can save you hundreds of dollar. All it takes is a few simple steps.

Yesterday, I was talking to a client about it being the time to start thinking about Christmas. Then I heard a voice from behind me say, “It is not Thanksgiving”. “You should not be talking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving.”

I turned to him with a smile and said, “You need to start to think about Christmas, the day after Christmas the previous year.” This got me a rather harsh stern look.

For years we have ran up credit card debt buying stuff for Christmas that would be verily remembered by New Years Day. In the last year or two we have had to learn to curb our spending and only buy those things we can afford.

The internet, is full of Christmas buying guides to help you spend your money. Before you start looking at those buying guides you need to first look at how much money you have to spend, not how much credit you can generate on Christmas gifts.

Halloween is over and it is time for me to start thinking about what I am going to get my wife and daughter for Christmas. Or should we get one big family gift and little gifts for each one? Maybe we should do a mini Christmas gift?

Holiday Outlook NRB survey reports, and Website Magazine reports say that retailers are expecting shoppers to buy early. The project numbers say that Christmas buying will be slightly less than last year. What does that mean to me?

Watching the newspaper ads and comparing is the place to start to find those real bargains, this Christmas. I guarantee you that store will be luring you to spend money with them.

If I don’t have all the money I need? I don’t want to waste my money on high credit card interest. There is an old solution that is coming back. It is call the Lay-a-way.