It sneaks up on us so fast…one minute the kids are going back to school. Suddenly, it’s time for Halloween. Soon, you’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving. Then it’s just a short month until Christmas.
Before it’s time to trim the tree and deck the halls, we suggest these tips to make your holiday life a little less frantic :)
1. Plan for sales
Black Friday? Cyber Monday? While these sales are rooted in American holiday tradition, they’ve expanded to involve the entire digital world. American Thanksgiving takes place on November 22 this year, so expect large sites like Amazon to offer deep discovers from November 21st through 26th. Make sure everyone has their Elfster wishlist updated before then
2. Time, or Money?
Everyone loves gathering with friends for the holidays, but planning around everyone’s hectic schedules can be daunting. If you’ve got time but no money, try pairing up with a friend in the opposite situation: one can purchase all the foodstuffs or rent a location, while the other can use their extra time to prepare, cook, purchase, and clean. You can use Elfster to set up a small gift exchange during these gatherings, or even figure out who would like to attend!
3. Having Holidays Outside the Holiday
If you know your December is going to be non-stop scheduled events, don’t pile more on! Have your Elfster exchange in October, November, or January. It will give you time to select gifts, exchange in a timely manner, and it’s just as fun as December. You can even theme around these months: Halloween exchanges in October, Thanksgiving exchanges in November, or “Looking forward to the new year!” in January.
4. Be flexible
Here at Elfster we understand that sometimes plans need to change. Over the last year our elves have been hard at work with a number of changes. That’s why we’ve allowed Exchange Administrators to change the start and end date of exchanges, or to add people after the start of an exchange. If you miss the sign up deadline, you can now still let your organizer know you would like to participate. Then, the organizer can assign a name to you without changing the draw assignments for your whole group. We also have added fun new badges to allow you to show off what you have been doing on Elfster. Are you a party planner, wisher, or cool gift discoverer? Elves love to encourage good behavior, and these twelve badges tell everyone just how good you have been.
We want to make sure you have access to the best deals on the web, so we will be featuring coupon codes and discounts from now until the end of December via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/elfster) and Twitter (@Elfster). Be sure to check for these valuable codes. We would love to hear how you handle the frantic pace of the holidays and what scheduling tricks you use to keep your sanity!
photo credits: litherland, Kununurra Historical Society Archive & Museum, foxumon
