Are you are looking for ways to save money for the holidays? It seems like everyone has been on a tighter budget the past few years.. There are many ways to save money for the holidays. A little here and there really adds up. You have time to adjust your regular budget to save up for Christmas, and grabbing some great early gift bargains can also help. With some effort, everyone will be very excited with what they find under your holiday tree this year.
Saving on Your Regular Budget
- Don’t be shy about buying generic
- Instead of ordering delivery pizza, make homemade pizza
- Post-pone whatever purchases you can, to be given as gifts
- Try and group your trips, to save on gas
- Go through last years winter wardrobe and do any repairs needed, immediately
- Hold off on winter clothing purchases until after Christmas if possible (prices will be lower)
Save on Holiday Gifts
- Take advantage of holiday bonuses on gift card purchases (not only will you get more $ in GC value, the recipient will have more buying power after the holiday)
- Avoid buying the trendy toys and go for classics.
- Make sure to save all your receipts and watch to see if a price goes lower before the holiday, many stores will give you the difference (or you could just re-buy & return the 1st one)
- With kids quantity is often more thrilling than quality. Get a bunch of small inexpensive toys and wrap them separately.
- While shopping the great sales, don’t overlook coupons, there are even manufacturer coupons for toys this time of year.
- Look into making some toys yourself. Consider your skills and then search the web, to see what others have made ( I saw some great dolls, trucks, and play kitchens that were homemade)
Save on Holiday Entertaining
- Stick with traditional holiday foods, they will be on sale
- Consider doing a brunch or hors d’oeuvre party
- Make your party BYOB
- Go with a kitschy retro themed Pot Luck (hint: the more you play up the theme, the less you will look cheap)
- Go with a movie themed party. Guests will automatically assume it is a casual get together, and you can serve fun & inexpensive “movie snacks”, or match your food to the movie. (example: Chinese food for “The Christmas Movie”, because that is what the film’s family ended out eating for their holiday meal)
