Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

I haven't started just yet. I really haven't been out of the house much lately. In my family, we just buy for the kids.

I usually start shopping for my nieces and nephews first. I don't see them as often, and I can go ahead and buy their presents. I don't start shopping for my son until very close to Christmas.

This is not due to putting it off or whatever. I'd love to buy a great present when I see them, but there is a problem with that. When I buy gifts ahead of time, I give them ahead of time.

There have been some years that I gave everything so far in advance, that when Christmas came, I had nothing left to give. The anticipation of giving a gift gets the better of me. I bought a friend a birthday gift last month and just had to give it to her immediately.

Her birthday is in two days. I can never wait, so it's just best for me to wait as along as possible before buying gifts.

I have not started my own Christmas shopping, but I have started helping my siblings and friends with their Christmas plans. As the Christmas season draws nearer, most of my close friends and siblings leave their holiday travel plans and reservations in my care (that’s one of my paid part time jobs). I have a friend that gets good travel deals for me, so it is always worth it.

Before I start making hotel reservations for them, we always sit down and discuss on what they want and where they want to spend the Christmas. I plan to start buying some gifts by next month. From experience I have come to understand that it is cheaper to buy gifts before the seasonal rush and it also saves me a lot of time.

You are absolutely right. It is the perfect time to shop. It is a "buyers" market, for sure.

On Ebay, as a seller, I have noticed I have to lower my prices SO LOW just to make a sale. I have told many people NOW is the time to buy. The problem is I am struggling financially, so there is no way I could start Christmas shopping.

I hate to think this, but there may be many people in the same boat as I am. Just struggling to keep the lights on is a struggle lately. It makes complete sense to shop for Christmas now and SAVE money.In the end, we will probably end up paying double for gifts, if we wait until right before Christmas, but I guess I have to just wait.

If anyone out there has money, it is time to get some awesome deals, for sure! flickr.com/photos/52657704@N00/331152398.

No, I haven't started any Christmas shopping yet but I am very excited about it. I am still doing some rundown on my list. I want to list everything before I go shopping so that I can save time.

I also plan to do some of my shopping. I am planning to shop next month yet in case there are some things that I have not included in my list. I am also looking for deals and coupons for them so I can save.

I usually buy stuffs a little at a time (so that I can always come back) I love doing shopping when I have plenty of time. When I buy in a hurry, sometimes I am not satisfied with the things I bought. Although, I can always return it but as much as possible I want to avoid doing this.

Thanks for bringing up Christmas shopping @cherise! My daughters are very excited too, they are actually doing their countdown until Christmas. They are also very helpful with my lists.

I bet they just wanted to make sure I did not forget to list some of their wishes and wants for Christmas.

I used to start in like January as I did all my shopping on ebay. I loved being the cool sister/aunt/daughter that got crazzzy stuff from across the globe for everyone.. course I have 7 siblings and 16 nieces and nephews, plus my parents and my husbands.. so.. now we generally just do baked gift baskets. We just can't afford even cheap gifts for everyone at this point.

You figure even 10 bucks a person we'd spend $230 then we have our kids (2). Considering you can't get anything cool for 10 bucks I gave up and got baking. I usually include a bottle of some sort of booze in each basket for the adults as well.

I do shop for birthdays and stuff usually 2-3 months ahead of time though.

I have not yet began my Christmas shopping, although I have spotted the occasional sales in the stores already. Typically I do try to take advantage of irresistible sales items that I had previously considered purchasing even at regular price. I like that most stores mark down their seasonal items, many of which can be used at any time of the year, at the end of each season and you are able to purchase them at anywhere from half price to close to 75 percent off.

Usually toys, games and clothing get dramatically reduced in price after a season or holiday ends to make room for the new items coming into the store. This is the perfect time to strike and save money in the process. Changes are your gift recipients still get what they wanted and you will be able to save valuable time, money, and nerves by getting the gift shopping out of the way early.

I actually do shop in the Summer - for Christmas in July. I love Christmas SO much that several years ago, I began to celebrate Christmas in July with my immediate family. They look forward to receiving gifts (wrapped of course in Christmas paper), a Christmas card (designed on the computer), candy canes (fresh from the freezer), and a batch of cut-out Christmas cookies (fresh from my oven).

It's fun for everyone! And the best part - I get to do it all over in 5 months! After a little break from Christmas in July, I do enjoy early bargain shopping for the "real thing".

It's fun to save and shop at Back to School Specials, Summer clearance, and even pick up new Christmas decorations at yard sales.

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