Find the best holiday light displays near you with this map

The end of the year is fast approaching, and along with it comes nonstop holiday prep. Among the more stressful tasks is gift shopping.

Do you need help finding gifts for those hard-to-shop-for people? Tap or click here for gift ideas for the person who doesn’t want or need anything.

One holiday tradition is relaxation: seeing houses decked out in decorations and lights. The hard part is finding the best displays in your area. Well, guess what? There’s an app for that.

Mapping out the holiday cheer

Nextdoor

Nextdoor is a social media platform designed for neighborhoods. You sign up and communicate with others in your area. Users can post about products and services, bulletins, local crimes, lost items, real estate and more.

According to a poll by the hyperlocal social platform, 90% of Nextdoor users plan to decorate this holiday season. And 70% put up holiday decorations in November, while 21% decorated before Thanksgiving.

Nextdoor teamed up with Home Depot to roll out an annual Cheer Map. It’s a local interactive map that helps you find the best holiday lights and decorations in your town. You can even mark your home as decorated to participate. Anyone can use these spots to map out a custom holiday sightseeing tour.

The app also shows nearby Nearby Home Depot locations where you can scoop up decorations, including live trees and inflatables. The map features a seasonal how-to guide to inspire décor and gift ideas.

Want more holiday stats? A survey of adults in the U.S. conducted on behalf of Nextdoor and Home Depot found that:

  • 83% of people decorating this year plan on keeping their decorations up throughout December, with 42% not taking down their décor immediately after the New Year.
  • 54% don’t mind if neighbors leave their outdoor holiday decorations up past January 1.
  • 17% prefer all-white holiday lights over multi-colored holiday lights.
  • 49% plan to explore their neighborhood to enjoy holiday displays.

How to get the map

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Before you start holiday shopping, do this to hide your gift purchases

The holidays will be here before you know it, and — like it or not — Amazon is an easy way to get something everyone will love.

If you have Amazon Prime, it comes with a lot of great perks beyond fast, free shipping. Tap or click for some of my favorites to get the most out of that $15 per month.

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Quick Amazon privacy fix: Remove items from your browsing history to avoid revealing your gift ideas or embarrassing purchases. Hover your cursor over Account & Lists and click on Browsing History. For each item you want to hide, tap Remove from view.

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