Warning: this post has nothing to do with real estate and everything to do with surviving enjoying the Christmas Season.

This morning I discovered a wonderful way to save time during the chaos that is Christmas time - shop before work! I have to be at the office by 9am so this morning, I made sure that I was in town by 8am to take advantage of several stores that open early. I managed to go to several stores, in different locations in only 30 minutes!

Here are the advantages of shopping first thing in the morning:

• Great parking spots! Since nobody is there, you can park right at the front! You don’t waste time hunting for a spot when you know you are going to end up at the far end of the lot and walking in the rain to the store.
• Lots of help. The store is fully staffed, but there aren’t too many customers first thing in the morning. You can’t walk 20 feet without hearing “Can I help you with anything?” My thought is, take advantage of this! Don’t wander around the store trying to find something, just ask them! They know exactly where it is, and you save more time.
• No lines. When you finally do make your purchase, there is no line at the cashier which means that you can get out quick.
• Less traffic. Although there is still the usual morning rush, there is not the press of cars that are usually there in the evening making it easier to get from one store to another.

So now that I have shared my genius tip and the advantages of it, I will be generous enough to give you a list of what is open early in the morning (this is just a partial list - if you know of any other stores open early in the morning please let me know! Leave a note in the comments).

Best Buy: 8am
GI Joes: 8am
Target: 8am
Fred Meyer: 7am
Bellis Fair: 7am (from now until Christmas)
Joanns: 8am
REI: 9am (instead of the usual 10am)