Without an army of elves, being prepared for the holiday season is a challenge and as time ticks by, it becomes more difficult to stick to a budget. It’s the old ‘supply and demand’. As shoppers and mailers get down to the wire, the prices go up!

We pay more for convenience, we pay more for unusual or ‘perfect’ gifts and we pay more for ‘rush’. The early bird gets the worm!

But sometimes there’s not much we can do about bumps in the road so here are a few tips to get your resourcefulness and creative juices flowing:

• Shop with a list
• Research on line to learn who charges how much, where they’re located and if they have stock
• If you’re shopping on-line, ship direct to the recipient
• Consider gift cards…they are easy to mail and many like to choose their own gift
• Give your time and effort to those that ‘have everything’..I imagine your mom would enjoy having a few holiday meals cooked for her and the guests
• Skip the gift exchange and meet friends for some social time instead
• Do you usually mail cards? How about writing a letter and emailing it to those who can navigate email?

Do you have any ideas to save time and money but still give a great gift?