Lakewood Living: Holiday Shopping Tips

What! You haven’t finished Christmas shopping yet? Well, don’t panic (ok, maybe you can panic a little), there’s still a week left to get those last minute gifts. But with online shopping and countless malls in every city, there will be plenty of opportunities to find great deals on presents. Here are a few holiday shopping tips to try.

Dont’ Shop Without a list: the key to holiday shopping is to make a list. Wandering aimlessly through the mall will take up extra time and cause you to waste more money. And to top it off you might end up purchasing gifts you are not happy with, so map everything out in your head before ever stepping foot in a store.  

Use Your Smartphone: download a coupon app or the app from the actual store you’ll be shopping at to find various discounts you wouldn’t get otherwise. You can even shop from an app and then pick up the items in store.

Don’t shop all at once: In a recent study from Yale University researchers found making a purchase triggers a “shopping momentum effect” which is an impulse to buy more items If you’ve ever shopped before, you probably didn’t need a study guide to tell you that. So to save money spread your shopping over two days in order to combat that impulse.