Christmas gifts get out of hand with spending sometimes. It is a good idea to set a budget for each person on the shopping list. This helps to prevent over spending and helps families to enjoy the holiday season better. Start shopping early. If you know the kids are going to need clothes, purchase them at back to school time and hold onto them until Christmas. A few tips below will help you save for the expensive holiday.
Reduce Eating Out
Many
families eat out once or twice per week. It is cheaper to make meals at home.
Consider saving the money you would spend on eating out and putting it aside
for Christmas shopping. Most kids have a big-ticket item on their lists, and
this is one of the ideal ways to have enough funds available to get them.
Create a Christmas Savings Fund
Several
financial institutions offer their customers a Christmas savings fund option.
With this type of account in place, consumers can set a specific amount of
money aside each week to save for the holiday shopping season. Most families
opt to put about $20 per week into the fund.
The 52-week
savings challenge is fun to take on. You start on January 1 each year and save
$1.00. Each week you add to it according to the week number of the year it is.
For instance, the first week is $1, and then it goes to $2 for week 2 and
continues upward from there. This leads to a savings of just over $1,300, which
is quite helpful for the shopping season.
Joining survey and rewards programs has been my go-to source for holiday shopping for years! I would complete surveys and different tasks and then cash out once the holiday season comes around.
Christmas gifts are something that millions of families struggle to purchase each year. There is no shame in making gifts using recycled or repurposed materials either. Gifts that are made by hand mean far more than any purchased gift. By setting a budget per person, as mentioned above, it will help you to have a clear spending limit and prevents you from overspending when the plan is followed and not just used as a guide.
I like to start early or shop on a budget! I find the cutest, most memorable gifts on clearance too. Thank you for the great tips. The holidays, especially, are a great time to save money.
ReplyDeleteI love shopping the clearance racks, you can find the best gifts there.
DeleteYou always give such helpful tips! Reducing eating out really helps save a lot of money! It's amazing. I don't typically have to save a lot because I have a smaller family and no children yet. I do tend to look for promo codes and sales for things I think my husband would like early on.
ReplyDeleteThanks girl! I have cut back on my eating out too and cooking more at home. Retailmenot is my best friend when I'm looking for coupons.
DeleteGreat tips!!! Not eating out is such an easy way to save money. Plus it's a lot healthier for your family. I'm looking forward to the holiday season and finding some great sales.
ReplyDeleteSonya you are a queen at finding great sales! I'll be following you a lot this holiday.
Deleteyes to all of these tips! I did the 52 week savings challenge last year and it was great!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about doing this challenge next year.
DeleteThese are all great tips! I've never heard of the 52 week challenge, that sounds great!
ReplyDeleteYou should try out the challenge next year Stephanie.
DeleteI love the idea of a Christmas savings account, I think we will try that this year! We have our little one's birthday on the 14th, right before Christmas, too!
ReplyDeleteI know it can get expensive for you since you have a little one with a birthday before Christmas. Yeah, try out the savings account. That should help out a lot.
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