TEMPLE, Texas — Procrastinators are running out of shopping days before Christmas this year.
It's already December 7th, but if you take the advice of a Certified Financial Advisor, you still might get some deals on budget this year for everyone on your list.
I may have procrastinated in just bringing you this story. Some of you have been holiday shopping for months, and good for you. But for the rest of you, it's "Go-Time."
Certified Financial Advisor Neil Vannoy told 6 News,
"If you're like me and wait until the last minute to buy gifts, then you usually end up paying full price or worrying if what you order online will arrive in time. So start early and give yourself time to look for deals and take advantage of free shipping."
Neil also says It's also time to take advantage of all the technology that we have to make your shopping easier and more efficient!
Neil explained, “There are a lot of apps you can use to comparison shop. By scanning the barcode on an item you can instantly check what it's selling for online and at nearby stores. While doing your holiday shopping you might find that an item you bought has gone on sale shortly after your purchase. Be sure to keep your receipts since most stores will refund you the difference if the purchase was made within a couple of weeks."
And here’s another tip for you if you'd like to keep your spending in check! Neil says, "People tend to spend up to 30% more when paying with credit cards vs cash. To make sure you don't blow your budget, plan ahead how much you're going to spend for each person and carry cash when you shop."
Perhaps maybe you'd like to give someone a 50 dollar gift card, that doesn't mean these days that you actually have to spend that much! Neil says, "If you plan on giving someone a gift card, consider buying it from sites like cardpool.com, giftcardgranny.com, or raise.com that sell unused gift cards at a discount. And you can also save money by using discounted gift cards to buy the gifts that you'll be giving."
And we don't want to get too sentimental, but even “Cousin Eddy” knows that the gift of time is the gift that keeps on giving.... Clark... "Consider donating your time if you don't have room in your budget for gift giving. Anyone with young children might appreciate you offering to baby-sit. If you're handy, you can offer to help people with their home projects. And if you're good with computers you can offer to help people fix their old computers or set up their new gadgets."
And the U.S. Tech Industry employs roughly 12.2 million workers as of 2020. So, you or someone you know should definitely be able to help grandma set up her Alexa. Great idea there from Neil!