We’ve all been there, when we have one hour at the mall to find something before we need to leave with a thoughtful and tasteful present to someone we care about.

After walking around for about 40 minutes, we start getting desperate. Time is ticking! We have to leave with a present in 20 minutes or we will be over half an hour late to the party!

Since it’s someone whom we care enough to get a present for, we end up getting pressured into just throwing money at anything remotely appropriate. Will they use it? Who knows. Was it over-priced and more than I would typically spend? Probably.

The Solution: Buy early and store it away!

See something you like on sale? Buy it, and put it away! Unless you are buying something super personal, most gifts are semi-generic anyway. Buy those Christmas plates after Christmas, and give it the following year! Don’t get pressured into buying full-priced gift ever again.

This will save you lots of money, your return on investment on this buy low give high technique will be better than anything you’ll see in the stock market these days.

Buy it and Store it!