How to save for the holidays starting today
Don’t hate me, but we’re 20 weeks away from Christmas.
My coworker lovingly likes to remind me every few weeks so I thought I’d share 😉
Most people end up spending more during the holidays than they would like and many go into debt because of it.
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Instead of going over budget or into more debt this year, here are several super easy tips to ensure a debt-free (stress-free) Christmas.
#1 CREATE A CHRISTMAS SAVINGS GOAL
Who do you want to buy gifts for and how much do you want to spend on each person?
Write it down.
Are you going to spend a lot more money on food, parties, decorations? Add that into your budget too.
Once you figure out how much money you’re going to spend on the holidays, take that amount and divide by the number of weeks left until Christmas.
That’s how much you need to start saving each week.
The sooner you start saving the less you have to save each week.
If you want to save $1,000 for Christmas starting this week, you’ll need to save $50 a week.
If you are more of a visual person, try one of these money saving challenges to reach your goal.
#2 AUTOMATE
If you have a saving account, automatically put money aside each week into a holiday savings fund.
Automation is what is helping us max out both our Roth IRA’s this year, which is huge.
When we first started contributing we had to backdate our contribution because we barely had enough extra cash. I Will Teach You to Be Rich is one of my favorite all time personal finance books if you want a step by step tutorial on how to automate your finances.
By the time Christmas comes around you should have enough or close to enough saved so you don’t have to pay for your gifts using credit cards.
#3 BUY GIFTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Stores will find any excuse to get you to spend your money.
This means they have promotions for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, semi-annual sales.
Don’t get sucked in! Yes, you can score great deals at some of these, but keep your eyes on the prize.
Only buy gifts that you specifically have someone to give it to, if not just put it back.
If you have any big ticket items to buy now is the time to compare prices.
If you wait until the last minute it could cost you extra cash and not just the shipping price.
#4 TAKE SURVEYS
One year I paid for most of our holiday shopping with Amazon gift cards and points I earned from taking surveys.
Popular survey sites include Survey Junkie, Pinecone Research (earn $3 cash per survey), and Swagbucks.
If you really want to go all out this holiday season you should increase your income.
Here are several ways to make extra money.
For the past 4 months blogging has consistently brought me in over $500 a month (not including my minimal expenses). See my latest blog income report.
Start your own blog for less than $3 a month!
#5 USE CASHBACK REWARDS
Get a good cashback rewards credit card and save up your points.
Our Capital One Venture card has helped us earn over 62,628 points this year. We can use our points for cash, gift cards, to cover travel expenses, or towards our credit card balance.
We also use our American Express card to earn cashback from our food, gas and transportation purchases which equates to several hundred dollars a year.
American Express is currently offering $200 back after you spend $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months of card membership.
Related posts:
Best things to buy after the holidays
Avoid going into debt this holiday season
Surefire ways to save this Christmas
Budget Friendly Christmas Gift Guide
#6 USE EBATES
EBATES
Ebates (Rakuten) is my #1 must-use site/app to save mucho dinero.
They give you cashback on the majority of your in-store and online purchase from approximately 2,500 different retail stores. Read my Ebates tutorial/review for detailed steps on getting set up and how you can earn money.
Sign up using my link to get a $10 welcome bonus.
#7 CLEAN YOUR HOUSE
Go through your house and see if there’s anything you don’t need or haven’t used. Here are some tips to clean your house super fast.
You can sell the things you don’t need to earn extra cash for holiday spending or you can take the new stuff and re-gift it (just as long as you don’t give it back to the person who originally gave it to you!)
Related posts:
How to turn your clutter into cash
Best yard sale tips to make the most money
#8 JOIN MAILING LISTS
Follow your favorite brands on social media to get emails and “exclusive” promo code notifications.
Check out Ebates and RetailMeNot for free shipping and promo codes.
There’s no reason to go into debt or over budget this holiday season.
Make a plan and stick to it.
Automatically saving a little money each week is easier on the wallet and the sooner you start the easier it’ll be.
How do you prepare for the holidays so you don’t stress or spend too much money?
Share in the comments below and don’t forget to pin for later!
