a) The Boy Scouts have a motto, “Always be prepared”. This not only works for those cold nights on the camping trail, it is a good motto to have while you are compiling a Christmas List as well. Why? From this moment on, when you are around the person you plan to give a gift to, keep your eyes and ears open. This simple fact will often give you all you need to be able to ascertain that perfect gift for them. This is especially true if you happen to be in a store with them, and they are surrounded with “stuff” to buy. They will often pick something up and make a comment, such as:

“Sweet…I’ll remember this for the future”.

“If money grew on trees…”

“I could use this if it was in yellow”.

Remember to write these comments down when you get a free minute. Comments such as these are gold mines for great gift giving…

b) Does that “special someone” have a favorite hobby or pastime? Do they enjoy following a particular sports team, or partake of a particular hobby? If so, there is often something that you can get them to help them enjoy their pastime all that more. The key is, what is it? Even if you are not an expert on their pastime, there is someone out there who is. You could call up your local hobby store, or perhaps post a question on an internet forum. Ask them “what is the perfect gift for someone who enjoys “…fill in the blank…”? People love to talk about their hobbies, and I’m sure they would love to help you out.

c) Friends can be a literal goldmine of information on that “special someone”. Ask their closest friends for gift giving suggestions…but before you do, have some gift giving suggestions of your own. If you ask them directly they will often draw a blank, but by having a few suggestions of your own you can “jog their memory” a bit. It might be a good idea to bring along some photos or pictures of what you were thinking of getting. Why not cut out some pictures from an old catalog? The key is to “jog their memory”…they might have that perfect gift idea lurking in the back of their mind somewhere….

These three ideas should help to get you started on this year’s Christmas List. If you would like more details, or to learn about the “Hot Items” for Christmas this year, check out the blog: www.ExcellentChristmasList.com

If you want to find out more about Xmas, then visit Emily Latimer’s site on how to choose the best Xmas for your needs.

Look for some of the Black Friday sales to be earlier this year. This year more store are going to be starting their sales earlier. It can be from this Monday right to midnight Thursday. So pay attention to your local news and when you are out on the town so that you won’t miss out on these great sales. You don’t want to come the day of Black Friday and find out many of the sales you were looking forward to have come and gone.

You should also try to pay attention to the small print on some of the sales adverts. They will tell whether some of the offers may be too good to be true. Here are some big things to look for. First the phrase limit per customer. This means that inventory will be low so you should be prepared to get in quickly to get the sale items on your shopping list. Also you should look for fine print that says only an x amount of items per store. This means these items will be sold very fast. Unless you are a veteran shopper you should avoid the ensuing rush for these products.

Also expect more online sales for Black Friday. Online sales are becoming a big part of sales for retailers this year so you can expect to find some discounts online. This does come with a caveat. Just like store sales there will also be limits on the products and there is also the likelihood that they can run out. So make sure to take precautions similar to going to a regular Black Friday sale. Make sure that you are online early and ready to make your purchases. Know ahead of time what key sales to look for. Also since you are shopping online try avoid scams by confirming the website is the store’s official one and all online transactions are secured.

Also try to avoid being cheated by derivatives when purchasing electronics. Sometimes a TV or washer will be advertised at an amazing price only to be replaced by an inferior model that looks similar but doesn’t have the same features. These are called derivatives and you should make sure to know the model number for the advertised item so you can tell the difference. That way you will be sure to avoid this particular Black Friday scam.

Something special you can do for your kids this holiday season is to have them get a special phone call from Santa. This will make Christmas a magical experience as they get to speak to Santa in person on Christmas day. You can order the call online and customize it with information from your children’s Christmas letters. Do something that will be unforgettable for your kids this holiday.

Create magic in your child’s eyes with our letters from Santa. EZSantaLetters.com offers fully personalized Santa letters and 15 pre-written Santa Letters. All letters are postmarked from the North Pole and will definitely put a smile on your child’s face.