讓你在聖誕節“聰明購物”的13個小貼士
Whether it involves camping in a store parking lot for Black Friday deals or racing other parents for that last hot-ticket toy, just about everybody has their own nightmare holiday shopping story.
Let’s be honest: holiday shopping has the potential to be awful. You have to brave crowded malls, overpriced items, and the same Christmas carols playing on repeat. But your shopping experience doesn’t have to be that way.
Try these tips to shop smarter and have a much happier holiday experience.
1. Plan ahead.
It would be nice if we were able to shower our friends and family with unlimited expensive gifts, but the truth is that the majority of us have a limited amount of money. Before you even start your holiday shopping, make a gift list and set yourself a budget. That way you won’t fall prey to last minute splurge purchases.
2. Save gas (and time) by shopping online.
Avoid crowded shopping centers altogether by doing the bulk of your shopping online. Just make sure that you keep mailing costs in mind and order your gifts far enough ahead of time so that you don’t have to pay for expensive overnight shipping.
3. Focus on Cyber Monday–not Black Friday.
Sure, you may find some pretty crazy deals on Black Friday, but when you factor in the gas you use to drive to the store, the time you spend waiting in the cold out front before they open, and the time spent fighting the crowds and waiting in line to make your purchase, is it really worth it? This year, try shopping on the Monday immediately after Thanksgiving. This is the day when online retailers promote big sales, so you can save while shopping from the comfort of your own home.
4. Track price changes for expensive items.
If you’re shopping with a big online retailer like Amazon, you can set up a tracker through websites like CamelCamelCamelor The Tracktor. You can check out past prices of the items you’re shopping for in order to determine whether now is a good time to buy or if you should wait for the price to drop.
5. Use online coupons.
Avoid the hassle of clipping coupons and shoving them in your wallet until you can get to the right store by using online coupons. Many sites give you an easy way to quickly search for and redeem deals for your gift items.
6. Avoid credit card debt.
This should go without saying, but one of the best ways to shop smart this season is to avoid charging more than you’ll be able to pay off. Don’t get talked into starting a credit card with a particular department store, either. It’s usually not worth it. Keep close track of the money you spend and know where your limits are.
7. Don’t be afraid to buy the same gift twice.
If you find a gift that you know several people on your list would enjoy, don’t be afraid to buy it in multiples. This cuts down on your shopping time, and if the store is offering any kind of “Buy 1, get the second 1 at a discount” deal, that’s even better!
8. Considering buying experiences–not just stuff.
Instead of buying material goods that your family members aren’t that excited about, consider buying a day or weekend trip that you can share together. It can make more sense to invest money in creating a family memory that will last forever than buying an item that will have a short life span.
9. Group your shopping trips.
If you have to go to brick and mortar stores to do some of your holiday shopping, figure out where all the stores you need to visit are and plan the route that will involve the least driving. Try to get all your shopping done in one fell swoop so that you don’t have to keep driving back out to the stores.
10. Save money by using your smartphone.
The Amazon Price Checker app, which is available for bothiPhones and Androids, lets you scan the barcodes of items in a store and compare to prices of the same item online. Shopkickis another great app that rewards you just for visiting stores by offering you special discounts. Make purchases at the store and you’ll get even more points to put towards a future reward.
11. Never shop on weekends.
Weekends are inevitably the busiest shopping days during the holiday season, so if you want to avoid the crowds, try shopping on weekday evenings.
12. Shop alone.
While shopping alone doesn’t sound as fun as bringing along a friend, it will save you time and potentially prevent you from being influenced to make big spur-of-the-moment purchases.
13. Know when to eschew the express line.
Each person has to do an individual transaction, so a medium regular checkout line is often better than a long express lane line.
The holidays should be a time to relax and hang out with friends and family–don’t let yourself get stressed out by last-minute shopping expeditions. Just take a deep breath, do some planning in advance, and shop smart this season.不論你是在露營在黑色星期五打折期的商店停車場，還是催促父母爲你買下最後一款Hot-ticket的玩具，似乎每個人都擁有一段噩夢般的假日購物故事。
老實說吧，聖誕假期購物有潛在的讓你心情糟糕的傾向。你需要勇敢面對人潮擁擠的商場，標價過高的商品以及不厭其煩重複播放的聖誕聖歌。但是你的購物經歷可以不用變得如此糟糕。
嘗試一下這些小貼士吧，他們能讓你變成一個更聰明的消費者，同時擁有一個更愉悅的購物經歷。
1. 提前規劃
如果我們能送給家人朋友無限的貴重禮品就更好不過了，但是現實是大部分人都只擁有有限的資金。在你開始你的假日購物之前，做好一份禮物列表並建立一份預算支出。這樣的話，你就不會陷入最後一秒鐘超額支出的陷阱啦。
2. 省油省時——網購
你可以通過網購的途徑來避開擁擠的購物中心。你只需要確認郵費的問題以及儘早預定好要贈送的禮物，這樣就可以避免昂貴的連夜運輸啦。
3. 關注網購星期一，而非黑色星期五
理所應當的，你可以在黑色星期五的時候發現一些不錯的瘋狂降價商品，但是當你給需要驅車去商店的汽車加油時，你所花費的在寒風中等待商店開門營業的時間，在擁擠的人潮中穿梭的時間以及排隊等待收銀的時間的時候，你有沒有想想這樣做值得麼？今年，嘗試一下在感恩節過後就在星期一迅速購物吧。這正是網上零售商推行大降價的時候，這樣你只需舒舒服服呆在家裏便可節約不少錢了。
4. 跟蹤昂貴商品的價格變化
如果你在類似於亞馬遜這樣的大網上零售商上購物時，你可以在 CamelCamelCamelor The Tracktor這樣的網站上設置一個價格追蹤器。通過這種方式，你可以瞭解到你意向購買的商品的過去的價格，從而能夠幫你決定現在是否是一個購買的好時機還是你應該等着它的價格的跌落。
5. 使用網購代金券
避免剪息票引發的糾紛，將它們塞進你的錢包知道你能找到一個能使用網購優惠券的正確的商店。很多網站都會給你提供一個便捷的渠道從而讓你能夠迅速檢索和贖回購買你的禮品。
6. 避免信用卡欠債
這其實是不用提醒的，但是在聖誕季能夠聰明購物的最好方法是避免超出你支付能力的購買。同樣也不要在普通的百貨商店使用信用卡支付。這樣做是不值得的。緊密計算好你需要花費的錢並且知道你的支付極限到底是多少。
7. 不要畏懼重複購買同樣的禮品
如果你發掘到了一份你的贈送名單上幾個人都會喜歡的禮物，不要害怕多次購買。這樣不僅能夠幫助你縮短購物時間，同時如果商家提供“買一件第二件享受折扣”的打折手段時，這樣就再好不過了！
8. 不僅僅是購買物品，同時也可以考慮收穫一份購買經驗
你可以考慮收穫一份和家人共同分享的週末旅行而不僅僅是你的家人不一定十分喜歡的物質禮品。在創造家庭回憶方面投資一些資金或許會更有意義，這樣會持續的更長久，而贈送一份禮物只能帶來一段短暫的記憶使用期。
9. 將你的購物旅程分組規劃
如果你需要去實體店進行假日購物時，思考一下你需要去的所有的商店都在哪裏並計劃一條能夠包含所有商店的最少的購物路線。嘗試能在一次性的做完所有的購物功課這樣你就不用反反覆覆駕車去逛商店了。
10. 用智能手機來省錢
亞馬遜價格審查程序，在Iphone 和安卓均可使用，能夠幫你掃描商店物品的條形碼並能通過網絡對比同樣商品的價格。Shopkickis作爲另一款功能強大的軟件能夠贈送你特殊的折扣而只因爲你逛了那家店。進店購物的話甚至你會得到更多積分從而能夠提供給你未來更多的獎勵。
11. 千萬不要在週末購物
聖誕假日季裏週末無可厚非的成爲了最繁忙的購物日，所以如果你想避開擁擠的人羣，嘗試一下在平日的晚上吧。
12. 單獨購物
單獨去購物聽起來沒有帶着朋友一起去購物那麼有意思，但是這會幫你節約時間並在無形中阻止你受朋友影響而做出超出預想的購買。
13. 知道何時避開快速通道
每個人都會進行收銀業務辦理，因此一箇中型規模的收銀通道會比一個長的快速支付通道更好。
假期本應該是一個輕鬆自我，和家人朋友一起出去玩耍的好時光，不要讓自己在最後一分鐘的購物支出中折磨得死去活來。做一個深呼吸吧，提前做一些購物計劃，在這個購物季讓自己能夠聰明理性的消費。
