October is almost over and then we're headed straight into the holiday season.

It's not a bad idea to work ahead when it comes to Christmas gifts. The online orders can get backlogged the longer you procrastinate getting something and the mail gets delayed.

You may think it's too early to talk about Christmas gifts but look how fast October has gone by. It's not too soon and it's not a bad idea to go ahead and budget as you can for all of it either.

Shipping Deadlines: USPS

USPS
USPS
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For the lower 48 states, if you want a gift to arrive by December 25th via USPS, here are the last days you can mail it by:

  • Dec. 18 (USPS Ground Advantage, First Class Mail)
  • Dec. 19 (Priority Mail)
  • Dec. 21 (Priority Mail Express)

If you want to send something international, you will have to send it way earlier, maybe as early as December 2nd.

Those are the latest ground dates out of the 3 main carriers. If you procrastinate too much, you'll probably have to USPS it.

Shipping Deadlines: UPS

UPS has the following dates for 2024:

  • Dec. 15 (Ground)
  • Dec. 19 (3-Day Select)
  • Dec. 20 (2nd-Day Air)
  • Dec. 23 (Next Day Air)

Remember: if you procrastinate buying a gift, you'll probably pay just as much if not more in shipping it to your loved one.

Shipping Deadlines: FedEx

FedEx has the earliest ground deadline of the three:

  • Dec. 13 (Ground)
  • Dec. 19 (Express Saver & 3Day Freight)
  • Dec. 21 (2Day A.M. and 2Day Freight)
  • Dec. 22 (1Day Freight, Extra Hours, Standard Overnight, Priority Overnight and First Overnight)
  • Dec. 23 (SameDay, SameDay City Priority and SameDay City Direct)

These are all just the ship-by dates. To help your own sanity in the holiday season, it's best to send them out before these dates to ensure they will get in your loved one's hands in time for the holidays.

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