We Should Wait to Decorate, but Shop Early

Carly and I have talked about Christmas, decorating, and the right time to do it all a few times on the Morning Show.  Though I like to wait for most of that, shopping should start now. 

That's the lesson I've tried to learn over the last few years - some with more success than others - shop early, get better deals, and avoid the intense stress trying to track down those last few items you "must-have" but didn't get early.

I have an 11-year-old son who is obsessed (and that might not truly represent the passion quite strongly enough) with NASCAR, so most everything he has expressed interest in centers around that world.  It's also one I don't know well, so I'm already working hard to learn where to get the best deals on all things car racing.

I did take a look at about 5 lists of the most popular gifts over the past couple of year and there are some trends that have developed.  If you're chasing down any of these gifts, it would be smart to get them sooner than later.

• Nickelodeon Ultimate Unicorn Slime Kits have been popular for the last two years
• Feed Me Cookie Monster was a big draw last Christmas
• Google Home Mini and Amazon Alexa Dots have been hugely popular
• Harry Potter Lego Sets come with a high cost and early sales
• Dyson V6B Cordless Vacuum has sold out at many stores the last few years

So as much as I would like (and advocate) for waiting until after Thanksgiving to decorate and launch full-speed into Christmas, I do recognize the need to get rolling on the shopping now...to avoid even higher stress levels and spread the spend across a couple of months.