--- title: 5 Scientifically Proven Tips for Easy Holiday Shopping description: Avoid using credit cards for this year's holiday shopping canonical: https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-24T05:01:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:06:04.392Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 5 Scientifically Proven Tips for Easy Holiday Shopping og:description: Avoid using credit cards for this year's holiday shopping og:url: https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9938817a0f2362e8/69876ffe2dce0146f59dc941/christmas-shopping-bags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5125 og:image:height: 2883 og:image:alt: christmas-shopping-bags og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Scientifically Proven Tips for Easy Holiday Shopping twitter:description: Avoid using credit cards for this year's holiday shopping twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9938817a0f2362e8/69876ffe2dce0146f59dc941/christmas-shopping-bags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Easy, Scientifically Proven Tips to Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 24, 2014 5:01 AM UTC  USA, New Jersey, Jersey City, Couple with Christmas shopping USA, New Jersey, Jersey City, Couple with Christmas shopping Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 24, 2014 5:01 AM UTC 1) Want to pick a creative gift that the receiver will be surprised by? [Don’t do it](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-best-way-to-pick-a-gift-for-someone). Studies show people are much more satisfied by presents they said they wanted. 2) Accept that context can warp your thinking. The [music](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-the-music-playing-at-a-flower-shop-affect) in a store, a “[SALE](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-seeing-the-word-sale-make-you-less-likel)” sign, and [how many items are on a shelf](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-stores-trick-you-into-buying-more-by-stock) can all affect what and how much you buy. 3) To control your spending, hide the credit card and make sure your wallet contains only [big denomination bills](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-there-any-tricks-to-help-you-spend-less-m). People are less tempted to break big bills than to spend small ones. 4) How can you resist a seductive sales pitch? [Think about money](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-trick-can-you-use-to-resist-a-convincing). 5) Want to increase the chance people will like the gifts you bought? [Wrap them](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/special-holiday-post-how-can-you-increase-the). If you’re curious about why we buy then I suggest you read the aptly titled: [Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416595244?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1416595244). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/11/5-easy-scientifically-proven-tips-to-make-you/)**_. Join over 145,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email_** [**_here_**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**_._** Related posts: * [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) * [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/) * [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/"},"headline":"5 Easy, Scientifically Proven Tips to Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier","datePublished":"2014-12-24T05:01:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:06:04.392Z","description":"Avoid using credit cards for this year's holiday shopping","url":"https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/","keywords":["Psychology","Holidays","holiday shopping"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9938817a0f2362e8/69876ffe2dce0146f59dc941/christmas-shopping-bags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9938817a0f2362e8/69876ffe2dce0146f59dc941/christmas-shopping-bags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"christmas-shopping-bags","caption":"christmas-shopping-bags","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3641071/easy-holiday-shopping-tips/","name":"5 Easy, Scientifically Proven Tips to Make Your Holiday Shopping Easier"}}]}] ```