THE COSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST & PRESENT 2

There are strategies for coping with The Costs of Christmas Past & Present so that you are not haunted by your deficits during the months after the holiday season.

I have a friend who does his Christmas gift buying in January. (His recipients attribute the belated gifts to the confusion and mad rush of the season.) My Ebenezer friend has correctly figured that stores which have stocked up for the holiday season will have plenty of left-over merchandise which they will want to unload. After the holidays, these stores offer their left-over goods at huge discounts just to get rid of them and stock up for the next commercially exploitable event, i.e., Valentine’s.

A good time to buy Christmas gifts would be in the 3^rd quarter. Many stores hold clearing-out sales during this quarter to free their shelves for their Christmas merchandise.

My wife does her gift-buying all year round. She keeps a list of birthdays, anniversaries, and other gift-giving occasions (including Christmas) always at the back of her mind. When she stumbles upon a potentially suitable gift being offered at an attractive discount, she buys 3 or 4 of the items and stores them. When the gift-giving occasion arises, she just goes through her inventory and wraps the appropriate gift.

Do you think these gift-buying strategies actually cure the deficit?