Remember last year when you swore you would not be shopping for 87 people on December 24? Here are some tips to help you keep that promise.
• Make a who-to-buy-for list with gift ideas and keep it with you at all times. Update it every evening so that you know what's left.
• One-stop shop as much as possible. Maybe this is the year that everybody gets books. Or CDs. Or cool tree ornaments.
• If you find a really great gift, buy several for different people on your list.
• Wrap as you buy. Keep all your wrapping stuff in one big container (even if you're just labelling brown-paper lunch bags).
• Shop when nobody else is (for example, try Wednesday at 9 a.m.).
• Shop online. You'll find virtually anything you would at the mall. Many sites offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount and usually deliver within days or even hours.
• To save yourself trips to the post office, have gifts that you ordered online or from catalogues delivered to your office, not your home, suggests reader Patricia Englund of Saskatoon.
• Are you taking your kids shopping? Smart Santas avoid mall marathons with toddlers. Don't plan to be out for more than one hour at a time, and think simple: most small children can find something for everybody in a drugstore or dollar store.
• Consider giving charitable gifts on behalf of at least the adults on your list. Most charities send festive cards to "recipients" indicating that gifts have been made in their names.
