Winning the battle with Christmas shopping ...

Copyright 2011 CJ Beckett Creative Commons

In recent years my battle with Christmas shopping has been crammed into one day - or at worst last year, 3 hours - snatched from work the week before.  This year I haven't actually got that much to buy as we're making most of our presents and apart from a few things ordered on-line have been able to get most of littl'uns in forays to our fab local toy shop and children's book shop.

There are a few things I haven't been able to get locally and despite the usual horrors involved, it wouldn't somehow feel like Christmas if I didn't have one trip to the West End if nothing else to see the lights and Fortnum's magical Christmas windows which I just love.  It's my birthday on the 19th so I am going to treat myself to a day out picking up the last few presents and some time to pick out some clothes for myself that - three years post-pregnancy - actually fit!

To be honest I find clothes shopping far more stressful than Christmas shopping.  Whoever it is that most high street clothes are designed for, it isn't an ageing 5'2 mum with short-arse Welsh legs, no shoulders and out-sized boobs.  Ploughing through the "Petites" is not my idea of fun.  But as I so rarely get time to myself to shop for myself I am determined I am going to enjoy it and come back with something I actually wear.

To help me on my way I've come up with a list of tips for enjoying Christmas - or in my case this year clothes - shopping.   They're based on recent American research that supposedly shows that if you feel good about yourself you actually make less impulse buys and spend less money - let's see - and what I suspect is more reliable advice from Napoleon that an army marches on it's stomach and from my Gran that you should always count your bags!

1. Research on-line & print off ideas & pictures
2. Come up with ideas of what you're looking for in each shop with some back up options
3. Have a plan of which order to hit which shops so you're not doubling back on yourself
4. Have a good breakfast - protein plus porridge 
5. Take bottles of water - my brain function declines with even slight dehydration
6. Take some high energy snacks - e.g. flapjack
7. Wear comfy but smart shoes
8. Wear "confident" clothes (I am not quite sure we Brits do these but apparently the Americans do)
9. Wear easy layers for removing in overheated shops
10. Make sure phone's charged to last the day
11. Take time for lunch - even if only a sarnie will stop blood sugar falling & ensuing panic
12. Do go to the loo when you need to! You can't make sensible shopping decisions on a full bladder :-)
13. Count your bags, count your bags! (One of my Gran's best tips.)
14. Have a big light fold up bag that you can put lots of small bags in & zip up
15. Babysit swap with friends if you're short on childcare so can go child free
16. Do ask for gift receipts
17. Aim to get there just after rush hour in the morning & leave by 4.30 so you don't hit it on the way home
18. Have a strict budget and stick to it!