Consumer stress levels tend to rise when the holiday shopping season hits. So any advantage a shopper can get before embarking on a shopping foray, from payment options and budgeting considerations to shopping time-management, can help take the edge off the experience.
Several websites offer a variety of useful holiday shopping and purchasing advice. A few that are worthwhile:
Consumers Union: Useful insights on catalog and online buying and payment options.
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Everything Christmas: Offers 10 tips to avoid holiday shopping line-ups.
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National Foundation for Credit Counseling: Guidelines to help keep holiday shopping stress-free.
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Federal Trade Commission: Quick tips on wise budget shopping during the holiday season.
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Kiplinger.com: Features 10 topics that focus on holiday spending, budgeting and planning ahead, with additional links to related shopping insights.
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Chuck Myers, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
