Merry Christmas Eve everyone.  It’s December 24 and hopefully you are not out browsing through shopping malls and wandering up and down the streets as you finish up your last minute shopping.  I personally love to start my shopping in October or November but I know a lot of people who intentionally wait until three days before Christmas to start their last minute shopping. There are several advantages and disadvantages of waiting until the last minute to start your holiday shopping, so let me ask you a question Green Panda friends… are you a last minute shopper?

The advantages of last minute shopping

– Great deals and discounts.  The closer we get to Christmas the more stores start to advertise sales to get shoppers in the holiday spirit. I personally love Christmas decorations and I love how the store windows and shopping malls are decorated for the holidays, it makes me want to sprinkle glitter on everything and wrap all of my presents in a bow.

– Get something for yourself.  Very often stores start having sales the week before Christmas.  This means that you could buy 3 items and get another 3 items for free, but if you don’t need to buy 6 Christmas gifts you can keep some of the items for yourself. Starting your holiday shopping early also allows you to spread out the costs over several weeks instead of having to spend a lump sum of money at the last minute.

– New and seasonal products are available. This time of the year all of the seasonal products are available.  If you want to buy a Christmas tree ornament, a snow globe or a fresh winter scented candle now is the time to do so.  I personally love snow globes but it is very difficult to get them any other time of the year other than during the holidays.

The disadvantages of last minute shopping

– Over crowed shopping malls and stores.  The major disadvantage of last minute shopping is that many other people are also running around trying to pick up last minute gift items; therefore shopping malls are overcrowded with last minute shoppers.

– There could be a postal mail delay.  If you are shopping at the last minute and you have to mail some gifts to family members and friends they may not arrive on time if there are delays with the postal service.  This year I mailed my gifts home to my family the week before Christmas and I paid for overnight shipping however both of the packages arrived three days later instead of the next day.

– Your item could be sold out.  Sometimes people wait until the last minute to do their holiday shopping but this can be a very dangerous habit.  If you wait until the last minute the perfect gift for your family and friends could be sold out; then you are running around trying to find another gift at the last minute and this can be very stressful. Planning ahead of time eliminates the last minute rush.

Photo by pugetsoundphotowalks

Tahnya Kristina

Tahnya Kristina

Tahnya is 30 years old and lives in Montreal Quebec. She graduated in 2005 from Concordia University, and she currently works for a major International Financial Institution. She recently launched http://www.mediamadam.ca/. You can follow her on Twitter @TahnyaP.