6 ways to gift and give back this holiday season

(BPT) – The holiday season is here — it’s time to break out the decorations, turn up the festive tunes and of course, find the perfect gifts for everyone on your shopping list. From the pressure to pick the most thoughtful present to the stress of going over budget, it’s easy to lose sight of the holiday spirit. In fact, according to a 2018 study by CompareCards.com, two-thirds of Americans think that shopping is the most stressful part of the holiday season. But checking off your shopping list doesn’t have to be a hassle. From holiday gift guides to easy ways to give back, Amazon has everything you need to make holiday shopping a breeze. Consider these tips to save your time and sanity this season.

Make a plan. Let’s face it, holiday shopping is overwhelming; but you can alleviate some of that stress by planning ahead. Start your planning with Alexa by asking her to add items to your shopping list. Be sure to keep an eye on big holiday deal days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday to get the lowest prices. Check out the “Watch a Deal” function on the free Amazon App to receive notifications when deals are about to go live — that way, you’ll never miss a deal! Alexa makes it easy to find the top deals every day. Simply ask, “Alexa, what are my deals?”

Start with gift guides: Finding great gifts for everyone on your list without breaking the bank can be tricky. Luckily, Amazon’s holiday gift guides offer something for everyone. This year, Amazon released curated gift guides across Toys, Electronics, Luxury Beauty and more. Each gift guide is chock full of best-selling products and the latest trends. You can even filter by price point as you search, making it easy to stay within budget. When you figure out the perfect gift, ask Alexa for the item you need. She’ll add it to your cart and you can review and checkout on mobile when you’re free. You can even ask her to remember who the item is for.

Shop from anywhere. Make holiday preparation a breeze by shopping from your mobile device. In fact, more and more consumers are making the jump to mobile shopping. According to a February 2019 survey by digital marketing firm AdLucent, 64% of shoppers said they placed online orders on a smartphone during the previous holiday season. Spend less time waiting in line and more time enjoying the holidays!

Shop with purpose. There’s no time like the holiday season to give back to a cause that’s close to your heart. Amazon is making it easy for customers to join its commitment to deliver smiles all year. AmazonSmile is a simple way to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same Amazon experience — low prices, vast selection, fast and free delivery options and more, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price of eligible purchases to a charity of your choice. AmazonSmile’s Charity Lists offer yet another way to give back. AmazonSmile Charity Lists give charitable organizations an easy way to create wish lists of products needed, while providing customers a convenient way to donate directly to these causes with the reassurance the list is managed directly by the charity. Shop thousands of AmazonSmile Charity Lists by visiting smile.amazon.com/charitylists, with new charities joining all the time. If you’re interested in making a monetary donation, it’s as easy as saying “Alexa, I want to make a donation.”

Save the surprise. Shopping for a member of your household and don’t want to spoil the surprise? Try Amazon Day for your holiday purchases. Rather than receiving each order individually, you can have all your orders arrive together on the day of your choice, making it easy to save gifting surprises for friends, family and roommates. Amazon Day not only makes receiving orders more predictable, it groups multiple purchases together in fewer boxes whenever possible. Amazon Day is free to Prime members and available on most items that are eligible for Prime delivery and shipped by Amazon. Learn more at amazon.com/amazonday and select your personalized delivery day at checkout.

When in doubt, give a gift card. Still can’t find that perfect gift for a loved one? Don’t sweat it: with a gift card, your friends or family members can select exactly what they want. Visit amazon.com/giftcards and audible.com/giftcenter for a wide variety of delightful designs, including boxes, tins and greeting cards with free one-day shipping (where available). Need it right now? Choose from options you can print at home, send by email or even text.

How To Pick The Best Golf Clubs For A Beginner

When you are first starting out with golf, you will want to have equipment that is geared more towards your skill level than anything else. If you decide that you are crazy about golfing and you want to spend thousands of dollars on the most deluxe clubs available, you are likely to encounter nothing but frustration. The more expensive clubs are meant to be played on by experts, so your lower skill level is just going to clash with their design, and you will be left with a bunch of clubs that you utterly despise, and paid a huge amount of money for. Therefore any beginning golfer should carefully choose the clubs that they buy based on a few different things, rather than just the reviews and price tag. If you consider these things, you will be a happier golfer in the long run, and you will most likely be able to increase your skill level at a much higher rate.

The main thing you want to look for in golf clubs is flexibility. I’m not talking about the kind of flexibility that determines how much your golf club bends when you swing it. I’m talking about the kinds of golf clubs that are very forgiving to those who don’t have as much of an idea as to what they are doing. The best kind of flexible golf club is the one that is adjustable. Rather than deciding on set measurements and details, you can spend a little bit extra and get golf clubs that are able to change at the flick of the wrist. Since you are a beginner and your gameplay habits have not fully developed (or perhaps have not even begun to develop), it’s best to play it safe until you can have a better idea as to what you personally need in order to succeed.

Another piece of great advice is to not spend too much money on your clubs. It’s tempting to buy the best clubs in hopes that they will immediately rocket you to golfing success, but it is usually a waste of money. Figure out a reasonable amount that you would like to spend on your golf clubs, and then do not stray from this amount. Golf store employees will be able to point you towards golf clubs that are within your range, and hopefully have some of the features that you are looking for. If you are feeling really adventurous, then you might check somewhere more obscure for your golf clubs. Auctions and pawn shops usually tend to have at least a few options. As long as you can look at the clubs and decide for yourself if they have what you are looking for, it might just be an excellent deal.

While you are still in the market, you should certainly try out as many golf clubs as you can until you find the ones that you are most comfortable with. Whether this means simply borrowing your golfing buddy’s club for one stroke or going to the club store every day to try out a few more, you will find that the more you try the better you will be able to make your final choice. If you have hands-on experience with every material, length, and head style, you will know what combination will suit you best. Trying out a bunch of different golf clubs will rarely present a problem, since most golfers are happy to show off their nice and expensive golf clubs and stores mostly have some sort of policy regarding the testing of equipment.

If you utilize the techniques and ideas found here, you will almost certainly have a happier experience when buying golf clubs. Your goal is not to buy the most expensive or the most cheap clubs, but rather to buy the ones that will help you improve your golf game.

Choosing The Best Golf Club Brand For Beginners

There are so many different companies that claim to offer the best golf clubs or the most scientifically innovative technology. For a beginner, these numerous companies competing for your money can seem rather overwhelming. If you want to choose the best golf clubs for your current skill level, you will have to try out many different models. All of the leading brands offer some sort of beginners deal that will help you to get started. This might be an adjustable club that will work in almost any situation, or a half-set of clubs with all of the higher skill level clubs removed from the collection. No matter what brand you decide on, you should definitely never buy golf clubs that are outside of your skill level. This is the most detrimental thing that you could possibly do.

Ping is one of the best brand names in golfing, especially for new golfers. All of their professional level equipment receives top notch reviews from all of the golfing magazines. The best part is that they offer adjustable clubs and half sets for beginners. You can head out to the golf course with just a few different clubs that will adjust to different styles. This small selection will allow you to truly hone your skills and become very good at your stroke technique. After you have done this, you may decide to graduate up to a full golf club set that has all 14 varieties. At this point, you will know exactly what clubs to use in a given situation, and be able to choose the best one at any time.

Cobra is a manufacturer that is famous for their drivers. Some golfers prefer to get all of their clubs from the same company, but some are more adventurous and are willing to mix and match in order to get all of the best possible clubs in each category. Usually beginners will have the hardest time with drivers, sometimes hitting the ball so far off of the intended course that it is extremely frustrating. Cobra drivers are known for being a little bit more forgiving, and will make a perfect start for a golfer that is trying to become accustomed to the intricacies of making a long and accurate drive down the course.

Titleist is another one of the most famous names in the golfing world, and their products are used by professionals all around the world. They offer a great beginner set of golf clubs that are the next best things to getting a private tutor. In order to get the golf clubs that allow for the best learning for beginners, you may have to spend a bit of money. While you can always buy used clubs or older models, these won’t give you the high quality of training clubs offered by the larger name brands. But before you buy anything, you should definitely try out the product in question and make sure that it performs up to your expectations on the golf course.

Buying a golf club is a process that requires a lot of patience and perseverance. As you visit all of the various stores and try out quite a few different clubs, you may grow weary with the effort required to continue searching. Just remember that in the end, the enjoyment will be well worth it.