This is You Won’t Regret It, a new weekly column featuring recommendations, tips, and unsolicited advice from the Mashable culture team.

Come December, malls and stores will be packed full of people looking to find the perfect gifts just in time for the holidays.

The whole experience of shopping for gifts so close to the holidays can be overwhelming and is often fairly unpleasant and pretty costly. But it’s totally possible to avoid most of these pains if you decide to purchase your presents far in advance. 

Like, now, for example.

For the past few years I’ve done my Christmas shopping way in advance, and I can not recommend doing this more.

I picked this habit up from my aunt who’s always purchased her gifts throughout the year leading up to the holidays. For a long time I thought this was just an eccentric and somewhat silly practice, but then I realized there’s a method to her madness. 

When you purchase gifts extremely far in advance, you avoid spending an outrageous amount of money all at once, and you avoid the claustrophobic, shopper-filled stores. In turn, the holidays become much more enjoyable. 

Allow me to fully break down the benefits of buying your presents early:

No lines, baby! 

The first and most obvious benefit of buying gifts right now is that you’ll be able to avoid the outrageous lines and chaos that ensues in shops come December. I really can’t emphasize this enough. It’s amazing.

Just imagine it: a low-stress, breezy shopping experience where you don’t have to fight anyone over a sweater or a discounted knife set. 

Still need convincing? Look at these shudder-inducing photos from Black Friday.

Image: Stephen Maturen / Stringer/Getty Images

Image: Stephanie Keith / Stringer/Getty Images

Image: Stephanie Keith / Stringer/Getty Images

You can give gifts more consideration

When you don’t feel the crushing pressure to buy the perfect gift within a month or a week’s time, there’s more time to think of a thoughtful present.

You have time to a give a decent amount of consideration as to what your loved ones actually want and need. And because you’re picking these items out early, it’s less likely that you have to worry about other people purchasing them the same gift. 

Money won’t be as tight during the holiday season

One of the biggest reasons why I decided to start holiday shopping early was a need to budget my finances. As a writer, I don’t always have an ample cashflow, so purchasing gifts all at once can have a pretty dismal effect on my bank account. 

I usually draw up a list of all the people I need to shop for and what I’d ideally like to buy for them, so that I can budget for my shopping and buy gifts for people slowly over time. And then I can actually afford to do the fun, seasonal things I like. I can go ice skating, purchase stocking stuffers I may not have been able to afford otherwise, and I can drink as many hot chocolates as I damn well please.

Those holiday deals aren’t as great as you think they are

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the capitalist holidays we wait for year round to provide us with the best deals on things we think we probably, definitely need. But is it worth holding off on buying your Christmas presents to see what’s on sale? My take: no, definitely not.

Usually, the best deals you’ll find on Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not nearly as good as you think they are, and because of the massive price cuts, we end up buying things just because they’re cheap and not because they’re good. 

Director of Content Marketing for Dealnews Lindsay Sakraida told CNBC that you’re actually more likely to find good deals on Thanksgiving rather than Black Friday — and there are even great deals to be found the Monday prior to Thanksgiving. Sakraida also says that typically shoppers end up buying things they don’t need or actually want because they’re surprised to find such good deals and this can result in overspending, unsurprisingly. 

And according to last year’s WalletHub calculations, unless an item is discounted at or above 37 percent on Black Friday, it’s not really worth buying — though, this number is likely to change this holiday season. 

Come November, you can also expect numerous websites to start reporting breakdowns of the discounts being offered by retailers later that month, meaning you can decide early on whether or not it’s actually worth it to trek to the mall. Techradar is already predicting the big discounts to come on Black Friday and Cyber Monday from Amazon and Apple, so wait if you must for these potential steals.

And if you’re dying for discounts now, you can always check out sites like Retail Me Not, or Groupon to reduce the cost of many big ticket items.

The one drawback to early gift giving

Despite all of the wonderful aspects of purchasing gifts in advance, there is one glaring drawback: there’s a chance none of the gifts are returnable.

Not everyone is a gift returner, but when it comes to things like clothing, if it doesn’t fit or look right your “giftee” will probably want to return or exchange their gift. 

As a general rule of thumb, I’d say that unless you’re convinced that someone will absolutely love their gift, don’t buy it for them. 

But hopefully with all the extra time to plan, no one will want to return your lovely gifts.

Who is winning, Russia or the West? That vexing question seems to be on everyone’s mind with regard to the September 30 referendum which was supposed to change the name of the Republic of Macedonia to North Macedonia.

The coverage of the vote was overly dramatic: At stake, it was said, is the expansion of NATO and the European Union into the Balkans. There was also the usual accusations of Russian meddling.

The Macedonian capital of Skopje, not a top destination otherwise, saw a flurry of foreign A-listers on a mission to make the locals cast their ballot in support of the ground-breaking deal resolving the decades-old name dispute with Greece.

But the referendum failed to deliver the much-desired result. Just about 37 percent of eligible voters turned up at the polling station, well below the 50-percent threshold needed to make the outcome valid.

Why did the referendum fail?

As most Balkan watchers knew in advance, the referendum was a tall order, to start with, and its precedents were hardly encouraging. A plebiscite on redrawing municipal borders, a highly-charged subject in the ethnically mixed post-Yugoslav country, flopped in November 2004, as turnout reached just 26 percent. The Social Democrat government at the time called for a boycott to thwart Macedonian nationalists who had initiated the referendum to block the empowerment of the Albanian community. 

This time around the tables were turned. The Social Democrats led by Zoran Zaev pushed for a referendum on the tPrespa Agreement signed with Greece in June in which Macedonia agreed to change its name to Northern Macedonia. 

But the opposition, as well as President Gjorge Ivanov, called for a boycott. The centre-right VMRO-DPMNE’s leader Hristijan Mickoski formally called on party members and sympathisers to make their own choice. 

Yet it is no mystery that the bulk of VMRO’s nationalist grassroots chose to stay at home, heeding the call of the #Боjкотирам (“I boycott”) campaign on social media. 

The takeaway both in 2004 and today is that no referendum could ever go through if one of the two big political forces in Macedonia does not approve of it.

Added to that, was the indifference of part of the Albanian community, which is traditionally strongly pro-NATO and EU. Turnout in some locales where Albanians are the majority, like the villages of Arachinovo and Saraj near the capital Skopje, was well above the national average. But in other places numbers were relatively low. Macedonian Albanians living in Western Europe also ignored the vote.

The reasons for this ambivalence within the community which makes up about 30 percent of the Macedonian population are complex: From the criticism of the referendum by Zijadin Sela, leader of the Alliance of the Albanians, the third largest Albanian party in parliament, to the heated debates in the local Albanian media whether the Prespa Agreement’s stipulation that the nationality of the state will be “Macedonian” degrades their ethnic rights or not.

The treaty uses “nationality” in the sense of “citizenship”. Yet in the campaign, the government framed the deal with Greece as an act of recognition of Macedonian (ethnic) nationhood and language, in order to counter critics who decried the change of name as high treason.

What happens next?

Well, the Prespa Agreement is not dead, despite the insistence of the boycott camp that the failed referendum means just that. The great majority of Macedonian citizens either abstained or said “no”, they contend.

Zaev’s counterargument is that more than 91 percent voted in favour of changing the country’s name to North Macedonia and of joining EU and NATO (the two issues were bundled together in the referendum question).

Both the EU and the US government are weighing in heavily on the side of the Macedonian government. To them, Macedonians have clearly voiced their support for the country’s integration into the West, notably joining NATO which could happen as soon as next year. Coordinated messaging after the vote suggests that both Zaev and his Western allies were prepared in the event the referendum failed.

Despite the outcome, the main political battle is still to be fought. Formally, Macedonia has to amend its constitution in order to change its name. That could only be done with a parliamentary vote. The referendum, as Zaev reminded everyone, was of advisory rather than legally-binding nature. Together with the Albanian parties, the Social Democrats hold 71 out of 120 seats in the legislature. That is nine seats short of the 2/3 majority required to change the constitution.

That gives leverage to the opposition VMRO-DPMNE. Its leader Hristijan Mickoski has come under pressure from centre-right forces in the EU, notably German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who paid a visit to Skopje ahead of the vote along with a host of Western dignitaries.

But he is in a tough spot. On the one hand, the party is committed to the EU and NATO. It was under its watch that Macedonia started to move towards membership in the Alliance in 1999 and signed an EU association agreement in 2001. Yet VMRO-DPMNE’s electorate is mostly beholden to rampant nationalism, including the cult of the ancient Macedon kingdom of Alexander the Great nurtured in the decade when the party ruled the land with Nikola Gruevski as its supremo.

Mickoski will find it hard to square the circle and please everyone, including Gruevski who is still thought to be in control behind the scenes.

If Mickoski holds firm against pressure from the West and Zaev and prevents defections from the VMRO-DPMNE caucus, there will be early elections, the outcome of which would be anyone’s guess.

VMRO-DPMNE’s core electorate appears to be intact, although the party lost power in 2017 after a wave of anti-government protests. Mickoski could rally the faithful behind the flag and challenge Zaev. But unless he wins by a very high margin, it will be difficult for him to find an Albanian partner for a new coalition.  

It was the Albanian parties’ reluctance to engage with VMRO-DPMNE last year that handed power to the Social Democrats. Zaev meanwhile would hope to gain additional seats in parliament. In December 2016, his party was in opposition. Now it controls many levers of power, including the all-important public sector jobs. The Social Democrats have the EU and the US on their side as well.

In short, there is much uncertainty over what the next parliament might look like if there are fresh elections.

The referendum was just a prologue. Now the chips are down and the real action is set to begin. And despite the speculations of some pundits, this will not be about Russian mischief or the Western mission to turn (North) Macedonia into a success story.

Whether Zaev succeeds in bringing his country into NATO and the EU or not depends very much on his skills to outflank other wheelers and dealers in this small Balkan republic.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

The full scope of devastation in the city of Palu in indonesia is becoming clearer, days after an earthquake and tsunami hit the region.

Scores of people are thought to still be trapped in the rubble on the island of Sulawesi, which was hit by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami with waves reaching as high as 20 feet.

Citing government officials, local media said at least 1,200 people were killed NPR reported on Monday. Other estimates put the death toll around 844.

Officials have warned the number of casualties could rise as rescuers clear debris scattered by massive waves. Downed power lines have left parts of the city in darkness.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management, posted video showing the moment the tsunami battered the island’s coast on Friday.

Nugroho also posted video of the moment when the earthquake hit the area earlier on Friday. People can be seen fleeing as buildings around them collapse.

He said at the time that victims could still trapped in the surrounding area, adding that Palu’s Petobo neighborhood was devastated, and said there were still “hundreds of victims buried in mud.”

ABC News confirmed that some victims were found “entombed” in mud, most of the casualties were caused by the quake and the tsunami, though hundreds of others were buried alive under soil that had loosened and collapsed after the earthquake in a process known as liquefaction. Special rescue teams arrived on Monday to begin digging.

Victims buried in mass graves

Local and military officials have arranged for a mass burial site in Palu for the overwhelming number of victims. According to Sutopo, officials worry that a delay in burying the victims could create a new health crisis.

According to The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, relatives have sifted through body bags searching for their loved ones. Victims in local hospitals have been photographed to help families locate their bodies.

Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

According to ABC, local army commander Tiopan Aritonang said 545 bodies were to be brought from one hospital alone. The gravesite could be enlarged if necessary, officials added.

Across the island, around 50,000 people remained displaced as the main Palu airport was damaged and operating with only one functioning runway as of Tuesday, according to the Guardian.

Thousands of people sought refuge at the airport, which forced it to shut down temporarily.

Early detection warning systems failed

Carl Court/Getty Images

Reports indicate that the country’s early detection warning systems were not working before the tsunami hit.

Officials confirmed to the BBC that a network of more than 20 floating detection units connected to underwater sensors which transmit advance tsunami warnings to the Indonesian meteorology and geophysics agency had either been damaged or stolen.

The system had not worked since 2012, and an apparent lack of funding hasn’t helped.

“If we look at the funding, it has decreased every year,” disaster agency spokesperson Sutopo told local media Sunday.

A tsunami warning was still issued, but it appeared to significantly underestimated the scale of the impending waves. Indonesia’s geophysics agency warned of a tsunami nearly 10 feet tall, but lifted the warning shortly after it was issued.

OLA GONDRONK/AFP/Getty Images

Many people didn’t recieve alerts at all because of non-functioning power lines and a lack of storm sirens along the coast. It is unclear whether the tsunami hit before or after the warning had been lifted.

“If we had a tide gauge or proper data in Palu, of course it would have been better,” Rahmat Triyono, head of the geophysics agency, said.

“This is something we must evaluate for the future.”

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The Patrick Mahomes train lost just a bit of steam Monday night, but not enough to derail the Kansas City Chiefs’ perfect season as they outlasted the Denver Broncos, 27-23, to remain the AFC’s only unbeaten team.

No player in the league was hotter than Mahomes in the first three weeks, when he set a record with 13 TD passes over that span. He had more modest numbers against K.C.’s AFC West rival (304 passing yards, one TD apiece throwing and running) — Denver was the first team Mahomes faced twice in his career — but perhaps did something more important to his development by leading his first fourth-quarter comeback, which culminated with a 4-yard touchdown run by Kareem Hunt with 99 seconds to go.

“It was a great test,” Mahomes said on SportsCenter after the game. “This Denver defense is the real deal.”

Mahomes extended the eight-play, 60-yard game-winning march by completing a 6-yard throw left-handed to Tyreek Hill on third-and-5 from his own 45 with 3:07 to go. Yes, Mahomes transferred the ball to his off hand while rolling left to outrun pressure and successfully heaved it in Hill’s direction.

“I did it a couple times in college,” Mahomes said of the southpaw toss. “I just put it out there, and he made a great play.”

The legend continues to grow.

Here are three things we learned from Monday’s game:

Broncos backs: Denver nearly pulled off the upset by continuing to ride its stellar rookie running back combo of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. The duo teamed for 136 rushing yards and both scored a touchdown in staking the Broncos to a 23-13 fourth-quarter lead.

More: If Kareem Hunt’s run wasn’t an NFL safety penalty and violation, nothing is

Report: Le’Veon Bell plans to join Steelers during Week 7 bye

More: 32 things we learned from Week 4

Cooler barbecue: The Chiefs and their fans will only care about their 4-0 start. But this was the first time Kansas City failed to score at least 38 points this season. Playing in front of a raucous Denver crowd, the Chiefs committed 10 penalties, including two false starts by left tackle Eric Fisher. Wideout Sammy Watkins was forced from the action early by a hamstring injury. Hunt did have his best game of the season with 175 total yards.

Keenum’s struggles: Denver quarterback Case Keenum continued an up-and-down transition to his new club. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 245 yards and threw his sixth interception of the season (against three TDs). Worse, Keenum missed a wide-open Demaryius Thomas down the right sideline with 16 seconds to go for what should have been a game-winning 28-yard touchdown.

***

Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our new Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.

Dunkin’ Donuts has fired the employees involved in a viral video that shows one worker dumping a pitcher of water on a homeless man while another person laughs.

The video posted Sunday night shows the man, identified as Jeremy Dufresne by The Post-Standard , sitting at a table with his head down. One employee says something about Dufresne sleeping, then dumps the water on him.

“How many times I’ve got to tell you to stop sleeping in here,” he said, while another person laughs. “You’re here all day.”

As Dufresne gathers his wet phone and charger, he mumbles that it was an accident. The employee tells Dufresne that he’s not going to call the cops on him, but wants him to leave.

The Post-Standard reports that Dufresne suffers from schizophrenia and was inside the Dunkin’ Donuts to charge his phone to call his mother to say goodnight.

The video, which has racked up more than 1 million views on Facebook, attracted the attention of homeless advocate Al-amin Muhammad. He visited the store Monday, asking employees about the incident and threatening a boycott if the situation was not addressed.

Muhammad said he felt the staff brushed off his concerns; he organized a demonstration in front of the Dunkin’ Donuts later that day.

“My message was to them that nobody deserves to be treated like this because I was treated like this when I was homeless,” he said.

Muhammad said he suffered from chronic homelessness for about 10 years and when he got his life back on track, he dedicated himself to helping others like him. He hosts programs for the homeless in Syracuse through which he said he has known Dufresne for about a year. He said watching the video of Dufresne reminded him of an encounter he had while he was homeless.

“Somebody threw a beer at me and hit me across my face,” he said. “The look I’ve seen in Jeremy’s face was the same look I had when I got embarrassed. That’s why I went out there to advocate for Jeremy.”

More: Is being homeless illegal? Ohio court rulings raise the question

More: Spanish-speaking Taco Bell worker who turned away English-speaker has lost her job

More: Dunkin’ officially drops Donuts from its name

Muhammad said Dufresne was traumatized by the experience, but is excited about the support he’s gotten. The GoFundMe started for Dufresne has raised more than $3,500.

The employees involved in the incident have been terminated and the company plans to apologize to Dufresne, according to a statement from Kimberly Wolak, Dunkin’ franchisee and chief operating officer of The Wolak Group. The statement did not say how many employees were fired.

“We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video,” Wolak said in the statement. “It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization — which include creating a welcoming and hospitable environment and treating everyone with dignity and respect.”

Wolak added that the company plans to work with local advocates to better educate employees on interacting with the homeless.

Follow N’dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

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American business schools — including elite universities like Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton — reported a decline in applications this year, as young professionals are wary to leave their jobs for school.

Applications for business school programs in the United States experienced a roughly 7% decline compared to 2017, according to findings released by the Graduate Management Admission Council on Monday.

International applicants to American MBA programs fell 10.5% during that time period, as steeper visa requirements have made attending school in the US more difficult for foreigners.

On the contrary, business schools in Asia Pacific, Canada, and Europe all saw solid application growth over 2017.

“Demand for graduate management education is stable year over year,” said Sangeet Chowfla, GMAC president and CEO. “However, there are significant regional variations. Non-U.S. programs continue to thrive, highlighting the continued emergence of enhanced educational and professional opportunities outside the United States.”

Amid “a disruptive American political environment” and the emergence of competitive MBA programs outside of the U.S., non-American students are pursuing educational and professional opportunities overseas, Chowfla added.

More than 60% of Canadian and European programs reported an increase in international applications last year, and the majority of applications received by these programs this year are from international applicants, the report said.

A low US unemployment rate has also increased the opportunity cost for young professionals to leave their jobs in pursuit of an advanced degree, the report found. Domestic applications for US schools fell 1.8%.

The blind auditions continue tonight on The Voice, and as the four teams start to collect their subjects, the self-proclaimed “Queen” Kelly Clarkson pulls out a literal crown to signify her intent to continue her reign as The Voice‘s coaching champion again this season. However, her majesty’s night doesn’t go completely to plan as she tries to lure some country recruits away from the true Voice liege, Blake Shelton, and fails miserably on more than one occasion.

On the other hand, she does have a little luck courting some contestants who could still very well make it to the finals, so don’t count her out for the throne just yet.

Let’s take a look at who joins Team Kelly and the rest of the teams in round three.

Dave Fenley (39 – Nashville, TN)
“Help Me Hold On” by Travis Tritt

Clarkson may want a country music artist “like a fat kid wants cake” (her words), but after 14 seasons of striking out, Adam Levine has finally wisened up about even trying to go for guys like Dave Fenley here. And he’s right to save his energy because this country crooner has basically been instructed by his mother to hop on the Team Blake train if he can, and southern gents never disobey their mamas on national TV. Although Kelly enthusiastically tamps her button before the first verse of his controlled take on this classic country ballad is done, the singer and Blake speak the same language as they praise the song’s originator for his skills as a “balladeer.”

No matter the coach, though, there’s a lot to like about Dave’s performance here tonight, from his subtle crescendo to the big hook to his deep and raw rasp in the outro to his all-around good attitude. The fact that he can beatbox on the fly, just for fun, means he’s probably got even more to show for himself in the coming weeks.  

Team: Blake Shelton.

Steve Memmolo (35 – Boston, MA)
“Spooky” by Dusty Springfield

Some artists come on this show and blow the coaches away from the first lyric, while others take a second or two to calm down and get in a groove. Steve Memmolo belongs in the latter category because when he first begins to belt this seasonal favorite, it’s whispery and generic and mostly forgettable.

About halfway through, though, he starts to find his rhythm and spices things up with some brassy tones and even a few Michael Jackson-esque squeals. Those are enough to catch Adam Levine’s attention — he’s always a sucker for a high note — although the coach does want him to steer clear of being too cute and schmoozy with his stage swagger (confidence which is owed, no doubt, to all the comparisons of his looks to Ben Affleck’s). We’ll see how that works out, but for now … points for him coming out with a creative number we don’t always hear here.

Team: Adam Levine.

Audri Bartholomew (19 – St. Louis, MO)
“Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman

Apart from all the shoe-throwing stuff, it’s the ultimate sign of respect when Jennifer Hudson decides she wants to duet with a budding artist. Considering Audri Bartholomew comes in with a bustling diva voice to match a show tune, it’s no wonder JHud doesn’t even want to break stride with a different song as she takes the stage with her new recruit. This is a “big song,” as the coaches note, and Jennifer is impressed that Audri has the guts to try it.

As for the delivery, well, there are certainly some rough edges that need to be polished out. Audri has plenty of power, but the pitch isn’t always perfect. If there’s anyone who knows how to draw out the soul of a singer and leave the rest on the road, it’s Hudson, which is probably why no one else even bothered to turn for this girl.

Team: Jennifer Hudson.

Rachel Messer (19 – Fort Gay, WV)
“I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” by Patsy Montana

There’s country, and then there’s country, and Rachel Messer is about as downhome a sweetheart as they come. To hear her talk about living on hollers and raising chickens and playing the mandolin while her grandpa strums the banjo, well, it’s clear even Blake Shelton isn’t as twangy as this’un.

The good news for her is that her yodel-and-sashay style seems to really work for both Kelly and Blake, especially since she can keep pace with this uptempo old school number. The better news is that her head-to-toe denim makes her a perfect match for Blake Shelton. The best news is Kelly has already given her some solid free advice anyway about out what her next move should be, suggesting the gal take on a Patsy Cline number for the battle rounds, and YEP. She so should. Those sharp southern tones would be a sublime match for a slower piece from Cline’s repertoire and could help show off some sophistication we haven’t seen from her tonight.

Team: Blake Shelton.

Brent Morgan (30 – Madison, AL)
“Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man

Brent Morgan has made a career out of writing and performing jingles for commercial brands, but he still somehow manages to erase all the catchiest earworm moments of this tune during his performance. That’s not to say it’s a bad performance — he’s still got some serious groove sprinkled into his pop-rock vocal — but there’s a subdued quality to the showcase that seems to have the coaches hesitating tonight. Since he literally makes a living capturing people’s attention with memorable song moments, you think he’d know better than to offer an arrangement that takes out all the snappiest beats. Womp.

Team: N/A.

Chevel Shepherd (16 – Farmington, NM)
“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry

There’ve been a lot of teenagers to come and go on this show, but have any had quite as much sass and self-confidence as this little lady? By little, I mean little; she’s 4’10”, but every inch is built with the same steel as the car she’s named after, and it’s hard not to dig her moxie.

That same confidence comes through on the stage because she powers through some obvious nerves and delivers a range review that’s impressive. At the same time, her tones are sweet, and there’s a bit of gravel to her sound to keep it interesting. She sounds a bit like Jessica Andrews or Amanda Wilkinson of the late ’90s/early aughts country singer scene, and if she’s able to hone in on all that note control and deliver something just a bit cleaner next time, she might do big things here. Kelly Clarkson is definitely delighted to snag this country singer from Blake’s clutches, so you know she’ll get some special attention from her coach, too.

Team: Kelly Clarkson.