Yeah, I know. I cannot believe the title of this post is “Christmas Shopping in September” either, and I am writing it. Sadly, this is very true and it was an eye-opener for me. This is the absolute earliest I have ever purchased a Christmas gift.

I have had an idea of what to get my wife for Christmas for a while now. I was hoping to wait until closer to November to purchase the gift but then I realized I was experiencing a “Jingle All The Way” situation.

Photo: iCollector

For those not familiar with the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character is desperately searching for Turbo Man for his son and cannot find it anywhere in any store. In the case of the movie, the shopping was done on Christmas Eve. In my case, it was done in September.

I knew what to get. I heard on the radio and read online last week that people were starting their shopping early, and there was a rush on all kinds of items. One thing we know about the pandemic is that things tend to sell out fast and in waves. We are seeing it again with a second wave as toilet paper and paper towel is going fast. Once people settle in and we get closer to the holidays baking supplies are next along with comfort foods, etc.

I decided to take a look and confirm the gift I wanted to get my wife was still available. I searched Hudson’s Bay – sold out. I searched Bed, Bath and Beyond – sold out. I started to panic. Canadian Tire had something similar but it was not the exact thing. Lo and behold Best Buy had what I was looking for. It was on sale and they had some items left. I jumped on that like it was Turbo Man and reserved an item through their reservation system. I picked it up an hour later, wrapped it up and placed it in a secure location within the house.

The moral of this story is do not get fooled by the pandemic and do your homework early. I was lucky I already knew what I wanted to get and I could keep an eye out – I’m glad I did. With this pandemic continuing for a while longer, get on those Christmas gifts now while you can.