Merry Christmas?
July 21, 2010
Merry Christmas…in July!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Christmas in July trend has been hitting some of the big chain retail stores. You’ll find holiday decorations up and pictures of Santa in a swimsuit. The idea is to get the consumer to start thinking about and buying for the upcoming holiday season, which is 5 ½ months away. Stores are holding special online sales of decorations and toys stores are sending out circulars with what could be the hot toys for the upcoming holiday season.
Some experts think this increased marketing of Christmas in July will actually back fire on the retailers by hurting back to school sales and leaving stores emptier in December.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for early preparations, but instead of doing your holiday shopping now, you might want to consider starting your holiday saving now. There are 18 weeks until the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. If you start saving $10 a week, you’ll have $180 set aside when the big shopping day comes around. If you can double that, you’ll have $360.
If you’re a procrastinator and don’t start shopping until the week of Christmas, saving $10 a week starting now will net you $220 by the time you hit the sales. You’ll have $440 if you can set aside $20 a week.
The store ads are tempting. It sounds like a great idea to get ahead of the holiday shopping game, but don’t get ahead at the expense of your budget. It might be too early to start shopping, but it’s never too early to start saving.
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