Guide to the Holidays

It’s easy to get overwhelmed during the holiday season, especially when your daily life is already so busy. Who can stay organized with so much to do? Thankfully, there are several ways that technology can help solve your shopping problems and lower your stress level. From comparison shopping to skipping the lines at the post office, check out these ideas to make your life easier.

1. Keep track... of thank-yous, gifts you’ve given (so you don’t buy Aunt Sylvia a scarf for the third year in a row) and ones you’ve received by going to GiftElephant.com.
It will even generate stamps and mail thank-you cards for you. And, once the holidays are over, use LeverageCard.com to track the balances on the gift cards you received as presents—or swap them for ones you really want.


2. Avoid lines...by using the United States Post Office Click-N-Ship service, which allows you to create shipping labels from your computer and store addresses you ship to the most. You can also create a note for the package, alert someone that the gift is coming and even schedule a pickup at your front door!

3. Go shopping…at Surprise.com, a site that provides gift ideas categorized by gender, hobby or personality. Find the perfect gift for that “Krispy Kreme Maniac” or the person who “Loves to Throw Parties.” For example, under “Chocoholic,” we found a one-pound bag of dark chocolate–covered potato chips for $21.99. (Unique and creative, just what we like!)

4. Make a list...online. Check out TadaList.com, which allows you to create an electronic to-do list accessible from any computer. You can organize the list by topics (gifts, entertaining, travel, etc.), and still get the satisfaction of checking off completed items as well as seeing what you’ve already done.

5. Comparison shop…with Google, which offers a service that allows you to compare in-store prices to online retailers’ prices by texting the name of the product, the ISBN or UPC code to Google at 466453. Within minutes, you’ll receive a text showing you websites where the item is sold. You can decide whether you’re getting the best deal at the store, or whether an online option is better.