10 Ways to Save Money During the Christmas Season

Christmas tends to be a time of year where many people overspend with good intentions, but this can have a financial impact on your family for at least several months into the new year. This also takes away from the real meaning of Christmas. You can save money during Christmas and still accomplish everything you want to do. Here are some helpful tips to consider.

1. Shop Online
   Since online companies have less overhead than traditional retail stores, they often are able to give better deals. There are two things you need to consider when shopping online. One is shipping costs. Some shipping costs are not bad when you consider what you would spend in time and money getting the item from a retail store, but it still should be reasonable. The other is making sure you will get the gift before Christmas. Most websites will give you an estimate on how long it will take the gift to arrive. If you’re shopping early, it’s not as much of an issue. By December however, you may want to upgrade shipping just to be sure. Start by checking out the 123 Christian Store.
2. Set a Budget, Use Cash, and Put Away Your Credit Cards
   This is sometimes hard to do at first, but it is well worth the effort. Taking the time to create a budget will help prevent you from overspending, and using cash will prevent you from still paying interest on the previous year’s Christmas gifts in July. Dave Ramsey has a lot of great example of the negotiation power you have when you have cash. You can save a lot of money on big-ticket items. This varies by product. For example, electronics have a very low mark-up—you still may be able to negotiate the price down a little, even in large retail stores. Furniture however has a high retail mark-up, meaning at full retail a person is paying 2-3 times the wholesale cost.

   You just need to talk with a manager or owner if it’s a small store, whose bottom line or bonus are impacted by how much the store sells. Knowing this, you have a lot of room to lower the price and walk away if it’s not the amount you want to pay.

   In general, using cash for your gifts also brings out your creativity, and you can often surprise yourself with what you’re able to do with a set amount of money.

3. Bargain Shop When It Comes to Your Gift Wrapping Paper, Gift Bags, Ribbons, Etc.
   Again, there’s a wide range of these items. Similar patterns of gift wrap may be $3.99 at one store and $1 at another. Since the wrapping paper is going to be gone in seconds anyway, this is an area where you can lower your spending without a lot of notice. As long as they’re kept in good condition, Christmas gift bags can be saved and reused year to year as well. Some people like to get crafty and make their own gift wrap, using things like comics, magazines, and old catalogs.
4. Make a Trip to Some Local Thrift Stores
   This is not to get everyone in your family used gifts. The main thing you want to look for is baskets. For some people, you may be getting a set of small items, and nice baskets make a great way to package them. If you can get a good deal on a roll of shrink wrap plastic at a craft store (which can be shrunk tight using the heat from a hair dryer), that often adds a nice look to it. It’s rare, but occasionally you will run into something at a thrift shop that seems totally out of place and would make a great gift. An example would be something new that is still in the box, a large stuffed bear that would sell $50-60 that looks brand new on sale for $5, and similar situations.
5. Look for Special Discount Codes and Coupons
   This can be online or through your local paper. Even if you normally don’t read the newspaper, the holidays are a great time to at least buy the Sunday editions for all of the coupons and sales papers so you can comparison shop. Check out coupons for online retailers at 123 Christian Coupons.
6. Get a Part-Time Seasonal Job at a Store Where You Want the Employee Discount
   This is not an option for everyone, but you can often get things you want for 25-75% off of retail and make some extra money.
7. Plan Your Shopping Out Where You Can Get Everything (or Almost Everything) Bought in One Day
   This will save you both time and gas money. There may be one or two gifts you may have to find later, but it’s usually better to get it all done at once. You can do this by taking the sales papers you know that have the items you need and determining the best path you can go to visit all the stores. If you have more than one person shopping, you can split up and get done in half the time. Keep in touch with each other with cell phones in case either of you run across something you think is important.
8. If You Have a Large Family, Consider Exchanging Names/Playing Secret Santa.
   You can get each other nicer gifts compared to everyone trying to get everyone else something, and you can put a lot of focus on making the gift special. Set a price range for the gifts (both a minimum and maximum if necessary). In other large groups outside of family, you can do things like exchanging Christmas ornaments.
9. Books Tend to Make Nice Gifts, and Many Are Not Expensive
   If you can find out someone’s interest and hobbies, there is likely a book about it. Most people will appreciate you took the time to find something that they like, and with children the right book will outlast the time spent playing with a plastic toy.
10. Make Use of Your Old Christmas Cards
    They make great gift tags and decorations. Many people just put them away in a drawer or box, never to be seen again. Get creative, and you may find some interesting uses for them.

Bonus Tip: Prepare for Next Year’s Christmas Early

Beginning right after Christmas, decorations, ornaments, artificial trees, and other items go on sale—as much as 90% off—take advantage of that opportunity and the following Christmas will look like you spent a small fortune. When you’re first starting out, you don’t have to get everything at once—just build a little each year.

May You and Your Family Have a Merry Christmas!