{"id":3650,"date":"2022-11-22T22:52:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T22:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/?p=3650"},"modified":"2022-11-22T23:02:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T23:02:19","slug":"win-the-holidays-dont-shop-til-you-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/22\/win-the-holidays-dont-shop-til-you-drop\/","title":{"rendered":"Win the Holidays – Don’t Shop ‘Til You Drop"},"content":{"rendered":"

www.realsimple.com<\/a>, Dec\/22<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that the holidays are about more than presents, but we also know that the annual shopping scramble is a thing. Some expert-level gift givers have figured out how to pick up ridiculously memorable presents- on time and under budget. Our gift to you: their very best tips.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Keep your list going year-round \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cI have a running list of ideas on my computer. Whenever I\u2019m with a family member who mentions anything they\u2019re pining for, I note it there. I also save images on Instagram of items that would be great for people I need to shop for.\u201d Jessica Davidoff, CEO of Cove, A Closet-Supply Company<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a Mindful Approach \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cSomething that\u2019s made the process more peaceful: I set the intention to be a cheerful giver. I put people I really love and appreciate on my list, so picking something\u00a0 <\/span>out for them makes me happy.\u00a0<\/span>I probably give more this way\u2014it\u2019s fun to leave little treats for the mail carriers and trash folks\u2014but it\u2019s also less stressful because I\u2019m\u00a0<\/span>fine giving a gift card if that\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>what feels good.\u201d Kathryn Werner, Prattville, Alabama<\/span><\/p>\n

Shop Locally\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cI\u2019ve found that some of the most meaningful gifts tend to be items that are handmade locally. I like to shop at holiday makers events, but to get a jump on my gifts even earlier, I turn to Etsy. Did you know you can search Etsy by location? You can! Just type in a search item (\u2018cutting boards,\u2019 for example) and click on \u2018All Filters.\u2019 You can drill down by state or even city, so you can find vendors from your hometown.\u201d Lisa Freedman, Executive Editor at Real Simple<\/span><\/p>\n

Buy in Bulk \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cLast year, my sister came across a company called Ecualama that sells alpaca shawls. She bought a wholesale pack of 10, which brought the price down to $25 each, and gave the shawls to her family and friends. I love mine and wear it as a pashmina at weddings or a wrap in the fall and spring. It rocks!\u201d Eleni Gage<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Wait for Winter (or Even Fall) \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cShopping year-round eliminates last-minute stress on you and your wallet, because you\u2019re not taking the financial hit all at once. It also gives you more opportunities to find bargains: I find the best ones at the end-of-summer and Labor Day sales. And those sales tend to be way less crowded.\u201d Jeanne Albanese, Glen Rock, NJ<\/span><\/p>\n

Give from the Heart, the Home or the Hands \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cHere is what I mean, From the heart: a favorite book from my own library, with pages turned at the corner and an inscription inside. From the Home: As a professional Gardner, I love to share homegrown herbs, veggies and flowers. From the hands: My young daughters and I learned how to sew last year and gave everyone handmade fabric photo ornaments. The stitches ranged from wonky to pretty darn good, but the overall gift selected the time and care that each of us put in.\u201d Jen McDonald, CoFounder of Garden Girls, A Garden Design Firm in Houston<\/span><\/p>\n

Buy Items Secondhand \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>“<\/span>I focus on giving experiences and secondhand items. Throughout the year,\u00a0 <\/span>I browse Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, and thrift stores, and when I find a great piece, I get it and save it for the holidays.\u00a0 <\/span>For instance, I knew my best friend had been searching for a discontinued West Elm vase forever, and I found it on Facebook Marketplace and bought it for her Christmas gift. I hope she\u2019s not reading this!\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Ashlee Piper, Author of Give a Sh*t: Do Good, Live Better, Save the Planet <\/span><\/p>\n

Browse the Virtual Clearance Aisles \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u201cFor a thrifty thrill, there\u2019s nothing like exploring the bargains on the clearance shelves, and now you can do it from your living room. A lot of popular retailers- Amazon, Walmart, Macy\u2019s, Best Buy and more- have online clearance sections.\u201d Lori Felix, Founder of the Blog \u2018More with Less Today’<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

www.realsimple.com, Dec\/22 We know that the holidays are about more than presents, but we also know that the annual shopping scramble is a thing. Some expert-level gift givers have figured out how to pick up ridiculously memorable presents- on time and under budget. Our gift to you: their very best tips.\u00a0 Keep your list going<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/goldenkeyteam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CB65B18A-6C8D-441D-9ABC-EA3E16FB9C70_4_5005_c.jpeg?fit=310%2C162&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3650"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3655,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3650\/revisions\/3655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldenkeyteam.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}