Ho Ho Ho! Why I’m Holiday Shopping 11 Months Early

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Early Holiday Shopping

I enjoy the Holidays, and I stretch them out where I can.  Much to PDX Deals Guy’s chagrin, I annually begin blaring the SiriusXM holiday channels in early November.  While my neighbors are taking down their Christmas lights the morning of 26 Dec, I generally leave mine up until the weekend after New Year’s Day.  This year, I’m stretching a different way – I’ve started early holiday shopping, 11 months in advance.  But the reasons I’m doing so aren’t related to my love of the season.  Here are just a few.

Dell

Thanks to the Amex Business Platinum’s $200 biannual Dell credits, my family and I have all the tech gear we could possibly need or want – perhaps too much.  Thanks to holding plenty of Business Platinum accounts over the years, there’s nothing else left to buy.  Instead, I’ve gotten a headstart this year on gifts.  And I’ve had New Year’s luck – three online orders and no cancellations!

Portals

It seems like there’s an online shopping portal arms race currently – which one will have the highest rate, who can bump up theirs more often, etc.  I’ve already begun taking better advantage of higher rates here and there and plan to focus more throughout the year.  I’ve hit a variety, but most often, it’s been Rakuten for Membership Rewards, AAdvantage for redeemable miles and Loyalty Points, and TopCashBack for normal cash back and bonus offers.  I also must admit that my current AA status chase plays into my timing and preferences, too.

Target

If I had to pick my favorite big box store, Target’s the one.  Just a few of my favorite aspects: our relatively serene location nearby, the smooth-rolling carts, helpful staff, and polite fellow customers.  But I enjoy stacking Target savings more than any of those things.  One angle, among others, I love is the Target Circle Bonus, where I obtain additional Target Circle earnings based on number of purchases of a minimum amount.  Our normal needs don’t often meet those requirements, so adding gifts to satisfy the requirements is a convenient option.

Card-Linked Offers

I don’t know about you, but I’m on card-linked offer overload.  Amex Offers have historically been enough to keep me busy, but Chase, Citi, and even Bank of America are keeping my attention these days.  I’m triggering these in moderation, often in combination with some of the other methods above.

Early Holiday Shopping Deals

Have you ever heard the joke, when are mattresses not on sale?  It seems retailers have leaned into always holding some sort of deal throughout the year.  And Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday deals, it’s all happening more.  That puts the responsibility on us as consumers to ascertain if these opportunities truly enable legitimate savings, but I’m up for the challenge – to an extent.  Big picture, I realized that some of the best deals on holiday gifts – at least for those close to me – aren’t always in the Oct-Dec timeframe.

Early Holiday Shopping – Conclusion

These are just a few options, but again, consider stacking multiple of the above methods to save even more.  Understandably, some of you have enough organic spend to maximize much of this without considering gift purchases.  But we don’t, also knowing that we’re guarding against the worst outcome – allowing all of the above options to create unnecessary spending.  That’s where organization comes into play, as we similarly don’t want to overdo gifting.  Generosity is one thing, but there are limits to most everything.  How do you feel about early holiday shopping, and where do you focus?

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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