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Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also the most expensive.
And if you’re struggling to pay your bills or pay down some debt, seasonal spending can be tricky.
So today we’ve got some great tips on how to save money on Christmas. From decorations to food to gifts, we’ve got you covered!
General Holiday Spending Rules
Here are 7 general holiday spending rules to help you spend wisely this Christmas.
Rule #1: BUDGET!!!
“Budget” is a scary word for a lot of people, but budgets are easier to make than you’d think, and they can actually make your life happier! Seriously.
Your Christmas budget is just a list of all the expenses you expect over the holidays and what you are reasonably willing and able to spend on each (check online for prices if you have no idea how much some things cost).
Example:
Here’s why budgets make me happy: they give me permission to spend money. When I write out a quick budget, I can see exactly how much money I get to spend. So then I don’t have to worry about whether or not I can cover the costs, and I never feel guilty about my spending.
Give it a try. You might love it.
Oh, and if you want to try budgeting your whole life instead of just your holidays, we can show you how! Check out our Budget Calculator for Budget-Haters.
Rule #2: Only Buy What You Need (or Really, Really Want)
No need to waste money on stuff you don’t need. Or at least really, really want.
We’re all about balance in money matters. You shouldn’t spend like a baller, but you also don’t have to live like a monk.
Again, that’s why I love budgets so much. They show you how much money you have and how you’re spending it, so you can make adjustments to find ways to pay for the things you really, really want by reducing spending on things you don’t absolutely need or love.
Rule #3: DIY Wherever It Makes Sense
It only makes sense to do it yourself if you have the time to do it, you have the desire to do it, and the crafting supplies don’t cost more than the actual product’s retail price!
Assuming it makes sense, you can DIY all over Christmas! Decorations, food, and gifts. Hobby Lobby is the single greatest source of affordable crafting supplies. Their selection is huge, they always have big sales, and you can download coupons from their site. The current coupon is 40% off any one item of your choice. Score!
Rule #4: Shop With a List
Ok, you know how when you grocery shop without a list, you buy bits and pieces of everything, some you end up using, and some you don’t. What a needless waste of money!
When you shop with a list, you buy everything you need and ignore everything you don’t. So there’s much less waste and you have more money available for other things.
Always Christmas shop with a list!
Rule #5: Get Free Shipping
Are you sending gifts around the country? Me too. That’s one of the big reasons I have an Amazon Prime Membership. Members get free two-day shipping! So if there’s a gift you can’t get around to until late in the season, you’re ok! You can still get your gift delivered on time for free.
Of course, there are tons of other benefits of joining Amazon Prime. You could actually save up to $80 each month by being an Amazon Prime Member.
PS: If you’re not using Amazon for shipped presents, make sure you ship early to avoid stupid-high expedited shipping fees.
Rule #6: Don’t Pay Full Price for Anything
There’s just no reason to pay full price for anything with so many great buying options. Buy second-hand from thrift stores. Check discount stores like TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls, and Ross (seriously, you can find almost anything there, and items are often 50% or more off!). Check RetailMeNot for discount codes. If you must go the mall route, shop the sales.
Rule #7: DON’T Go Into Debt to Fund Christmas
Seriously, it’s not worth going into debt (or adding to your existing debt!) for Christmas.
But we get that it’s not always possible to pay out-of-pocket for the holidays. If you absolutely must finance some of your Christmas, consider using a 0% APR card. When you use the card properly, you won’t have to pay any interest. Read more about this option in our Credit Card Hacks post.
Then make sure you plan ahead for next year with our Christmas Savings Plan at the end of this post.
Save Money on Christmas Specifics
With those general spending rules out of the way, let’s look at some specific ways to save money on Christmas decorations, food, and gifts.
Save Money on Christmas Decorations
Imagine this…
It’s a chill Sunday afternoon in late November/early December. You and your closest friends are gathered around your dining room table (or living room floor!) with some festive music, a pitcher of our Christmas Sangria, and a bunch of Hobby Lobby crafting supplies.
You’ve each picked a simple Pinterest DIY decor project for the group to make. You can catch up with your friends, who we all know will be crazy busy over the next few weeks, and make some money-saving Christmas decorations. And these decorations will mean more to you than your Target bulbs because they are souvenirs from your day with your girls; you all made them together!
How fun is that?!
Pinterest is full of clever DIY decor hacks like:
- stringing bulbs around a wire hanger to make a custom wreath
- spray-painting popsicle sticks and hot glue-gunning them into giant snowflake wall decorations
- tying strips of buffalo check and burlap to twine for a cute garland
- everything mason jar…so many mason jars
For a super-classy, dirt-cheap Christmas decor, think Victorian England Christmas decorations. You know, like straight out of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. String some popcorn and cranberry garland, make some paper ornaments from old book pages, tie burlap bows, and gather twigs from your backyard to arrange in vases. Even bowls of winter fruits and cinnamon sticks can look super festive!
Save Money on Christmas Food
There are a few strategies to save money on Christmas food.
One strategy is to think small. Have you been to a fancy party where the food is literally just tiny appetizer-y bites throughout the evening? But you somehow feel full because you’ve been eating slowly and giving your tummy time to signal your brain that it got the food? Do that! Go for adorable little tiny portions throughout the event to keep your guests full on less.
Second strategy: if you’re serving a family-style sit-down meal, go for pasta! It’s inexpensive, and super filling so you can feed lots of people til they’re full. Rachael Ray has a Christmas Pasta recipe that will warm your soul!
Oh, and then there are cookies! Here’s what I hate about baking: Every year I buy all these sugars and spices and extracts and whatever, use them for one recipe, then leave them in my cabinet until they go bad. If you’re only doing sugar cookies, it’s no big deal, but if you want a bunch of cookies, you end up with tons of left-over ingredients you’ll never use.
The solution: Cookie Party! You and your friends can all bake one type of cookie at home, then have a cookie exchange party so everyone gets a cookie assortment without buying a million separate ingredients.
Or you can have a baking party where everyone just buys the ingredients for one type of cookie, and you all get together to bake multiple batches of different cookies. So everyone buys minimal ingredients and still goes home with an assortment of cookies.
Save Money on Christmas Gifts
If you have a big family or big circle of friends, suggest a group gift exchange instead of doing individual gifts. You can all draw names out of a hat and just buy a gift for that one person (like Secret Santa Exchanges). Or everyone can buy one generic gift for a White Elephant Exchange.
You can always DIY gifts for a super personal touch. I mean, if you have time…You might need to start in July to make that work. If you want to tackle DIY gifts for your whole list, head to (where else?) Pinterest for some pretty genius ideas.
If you want personalized gifts for your friends and family but don’t have time to DIY, head straight to Etsy. They have some of the most unique gifts offered anywhere. And many of them can be personalized. For some inspiration, check out our Etsy Gift Guide.
Speaking of gift guides, we found that some of Oprah’s Favorite Things are actually totally affordable on Amazon! And we made a handy list of those 17 items for you.
Etsy and Amazon are the first places I look for gifts because my family is so spread out and almost everything needs to be shipped. But for my local friends and coworkers, I always check TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls, or Ross. They have well-known brands at super low prices. Like an $80 Guess bag for $45. Quality gifts at low prices? Yes, please!
Plan Ahead to Save Money on Christmas Next Year
Don’t want to find yourself in the position of stressing about Christmas spending next year? Plan now. A little foresight can save you a small fortune and give you a happier holiday season.
Get Amazing After-Christmas Deals
December 26th-30th is the perfect time to get wrapping paper, decorations, and cards at crazy-low prices. Hobby Lobby is my go-to for the best after-Christmas deals because they have a huge selection (Target is always completely picked over by 12/26), and because they slash prices by 50% in many cases. 50%! You just got next Christmas for half price!
(Notice I said you got next Christmas for half price; I didn’t say you can get twice as much now 😉 )
Added bonus: By next Christmas, you’ll totally forget what you bought. So then when you pull those bags out of storage next year, you get a fun Christmas surprise!
Of course to make this happen, you need to actually have some cash still available after Christmas. #lifegoals
Set Up a Christmas Savings Plan for Next Year!
Now is the perfect time to start saving for next year. $1,000 is a good chunk of money when you need it all at once. But $20 week is much more doable!
If you join us weekly for happy hour (which is just a way more fun way to think of our weekly blog posts), you’ve heard us talk a lot about how and where to save money, and how to fool-proof savings plans. We’ve really got it down to a follow-able template 🙂
If we apply our template to your Christmas savings plan for next year, you’ll have a simple 4-Step Process to follow just once so you’ll be saving all year long:
#1: You decide how much you want to save for next Christmas (remember that it might not be as expensive as this year if you’re able to take advantage of those after-Christmas blowout sales!).
#2: How much is that from every paycheck? If you’re paid every 2 weeks, divide your total desired savings by 26 to find out. Or if you’re paid twice per month (like the 15th and 30th), divide the total by 24 to get your answer.
#3: If you don’t already have a savings account, open one. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You just want a basic savings account earning as high an interest rate as possible. Reviews.com has a list of the best savings accounts rates, updated daily. You can open a savings account online in just minutes.
#4: Set up automatic transfers. This is super important. This is the step that fool-proofs your savings plan. Automatic transfers move a chosen amount of money to your savings account as often as you want. So you can choose $40 to be moved from your checking account to your new savings account just after every payday. You’ll never have to remember to move the money to your savings again! And because the money can be moved right after payday, you won’t be tempted to spend that money on something else. It’s brilliant!
Feel Like Sharing?
Have any other tips to save money on Christmas? We’re all ears! Let us know in the comments.
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