Although I can take or leave Christmas, I'll own up to having already bought three presents. 😳 I prefer buying things during the year, and putting them away, rather than having an almighty rush when the shops are heaving with last minute shoppers.
I buy a few things in the Autumn season and put them in our apartment hall storage unit. It does help to spread out the cost. I go to the Mall of America for a few specialty items but arrive early as I do not like crowds. (I love the convenience of living in the city and the diversity of summer festivals, etc but I do not like crowds.) Most of our Christmas shopping is done on line now.
Although I can take or leave Christmas, I'll own up to having already bought three presents. 😳 I prefer buying things during the year, and putting them away, rather than having an almighty rush when the shops are heaving with last minute shoppers.
If you put something away, or even just put it on the table in front of you, it's guaranteed to disappear within ten minutes, and in some cases is never seen again.
Looking for something is the worst thing you could possibly do here, because if you do that, you'll never find it, ever. You have to spend a week or two consciously not looking for it, and that sometimes lures it into appearing, always in the most ludicrous place you could ever imagine, where you would never dream of looking, even in your worst nightmare...
I live alone as well, and it's also guaranteed things are definitely where I put them. finding that place is the issue. Made even more infuriating by my forgetfulness to always update my "Where is it" spreadsheet, I set up to eliminate this very problem!