I started buying ahead a long time ago, when my children were small. I have a friend that worked in retail in a management position, retired now, but this person would always say, why wait till the last minute to buy. Regardless spreading out your purchases ultimately will save you money. Spend 20 to 50 dollars a paycheck and you will ultimately save because you will not be using credit cards to buy all at one time and having interest build after Christmas. Of course we would spend 10 to 25 dollars back in the day and save 10 to 15 for the big gift. For clothing I would and still buy at the end of each season, have totes under the bed that go up to size 6 for our 3 year old grandchild that currently wears 2T to 3T. We do the same for shoes as well, grandchild will always have a pair to go into when their foot grows an inch overnight. Most people say, I don't have space but there are many ways to get creative even with small spaces.