A BUSY mum has told how she tried to do all her Christmas shopping in one day to save stress and money – but it was an epic fail.
Amanda Su Brown, 36, thought leaving her quest for gifts until December 18 was a perfect plan.
But everything fell apart when she didn’t get started until 2pm and some of the stores she needed to visit were closed.
Amanda confessed that stops at Starbucks and Five Guys also didn’t help and she came home without getting vital presents.
The Ayrshire entrepreneur said: “I probably could have planned it a lot better.
“People were having panic attacks on my behalf when I told them what I was doing.
“But it was a way to cut out loads of hassle. I don’t want to draw out my shopping across weeks and weeks. I just wanted to get in and get it all done in one go.”
Amanda thought getting everything way in advance was a bad idea because her little boy, aged six, changes his Santa list constantly.
She insisted: “This is the best time to do it. It would cost me way more if I started earlier.
"He is always adding presents that he wants so you end up picking up little bits all the time and spending loads more.”
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Amanda set out on Sunday and headed to Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow.
She hit problems when she realised some of the shops she thought she would find weren’t there.
So then she headed to Braehead and was stunned to discover toy store the Entertainer was shuttered on the Sunday before Christmas.
Amanda said: “I went in for a Five Guys and when I came out just about everything was closed.
“The only place that was left open was Marks and Spencer and they didn’t really have what I wanted."
Amanda headed home and was forced to buy the rest of her shopping online – but she then hit yet another stumbling block.
She said: “Some stuff wasn’t going to get delivered until after Christmas so that was no use.”
The mum ended up making orders online until about midnight. She added: “It was a long shift, about ten hours.
“But in the end I got everything I needed and I wound up getting some big bargains. I saved a lot of money doing it this way.
“Next year I think I’ll leave it until even later in the week to take advantage of the sales.”
Despite her shopping trip not going entirely to plan Amanda had some tips for others to avoid the strain of Christmas.
She said: “Don’t get stressed out about it.
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“Everyone gets themselves really worked up for months on end worrying that they’re going to get everything they need.
“Why not just do it one day like I did? Then it’s taken care of at once and not some long drawn out process.”
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