A Thanksgiving Outfit + The Survival Guide to Christmas Shopping🎁🎄

Gozon Velvet Dress | Vince Camuto OTK Boots

Michael Kors Purse | Haley's LaTassel Earrings

It's that time of year, y'all! Per the usual everyone has forgotten about Thanksgiving and it's time to get ready for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas and everything but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it gets overlooked every year. Possibly because Black Friday is the day after and Christmas shopping can be extremely stressful, so people want to start ASAP. Since I shared my first gift guide earlier this week, I've also compiled a survival guide to get you through holiday gift shopping in hopes of saving you time and money.

Make a list. This is the first and foremost rule there is. Christmas shopping can be extremely stressful so it's easy to forget about someone during the chaos of shopping. Write everyone down -think friends, family, coworkers, babysitters, party hosts, EVERYONE! This leads to my second tip.
Plan ahead. Along with the list you made with everyone you intend to get a gift for you should also write down a specific budget for each person. Once you have a budget you should also write down a few gift ideas that fall into those budgets. Remember - if you're shopping online to include shipping costs into the budgets because that can really add up!
Black Friday & Cyber Monday. If you're planning on going Black Friday shopping be sure you know exactly what you want and where you're going to get it. Blackfriday.org is such a helpful tool so be sure to use it. A lot of stores have already put their ads out but it can get time consuming going to all of the websites. Blackfriday.org compiles all of the ads in one place so definitely take advantage of it! Remember if you don't like shopping in store and want to avoid crowds that Black Friday sales are typically online and then there's also Cyber Monday. You can check out cybermonday.com to view those deals.
Price Check & Match. Think you're ready to make a purchase? Compare the price to make sure you're getting the best deal out there. The Amazon app allows you to take a photo of the item or barcode and search it to compare pricing. Shop Savvy is a similar app that's also great and easy to use. After you've made the purchase keep track of the price because if the price drops then retailers will often credit your money back.
Stumped on what to get someone for Christmas? Check out my gift guide here! I'll also have a new gift guide up on Wednesday that may also be helpful to you. I haven't decided on the topic yet so let me know if y'all have any requests!

Here's a few more minor tips:

Buy one or two extra gifts just in case there's that someone you forgot to add to your list or for that last minute party you got invited to.
Use cash so you don't overspend! Or if you're like me and like to use your credit card for everything to get points, still use your credit card but take that money out of your bank account so it's basically as if you don't have it. I'm the worst when it comes to budgeting so this is something I actually have to do, if it looks like I have money I will spend it🤷🏼‍♀️

Now that I've shared all of my tips, I want to point out what a perfect dress this would be for Thanksgiving/ Friendsgiving! It's the perfect color and it's also velvet which is all the rage right now! It also comes in teal and is currently only $28 until the 20th!! Normal price is $39 which honestly isn't bad at all since the quality is so great, but might as well snag it at $28 while you can!!