Today I thought I’d highlight a few great money saving holiday tips from my readers.
Shopping Tips
From Theresa Shafer
Get a shopping group that finds the best deals.
I shop at one store for all of the groups needs at that store and you shop for me and the rest of the group shop for the other stores. You take your cell phone and communicate with each other to get everything the group wants.
My group is my family with 3 different cars and a flexible shopping plan. If i get done with my first store I see what store I could take from another family member.
No need to run over all the place and waste time. Together we can save a lots of money and time.
From Pamela Callahan
You know those huge crowds of people that shop beginning on Black Friday and pretty much every day after …Well, I have learned that most of those great bargains are also available on the company’s website. This time of year, many of them offer free shipping. Plus, if you do a search for coupon codes and / or promotional codes, you will find that a huge number of retailers have hidden offers where you can receive additional discounts on top of these “doorbuster” savings without leaving the comfort and warmth of home. Some of these discount codes are pretty significant!
Save on Christmas Cards
From Jacob
Instead of greeting cards send postcards. They are very inexpensive and are less to send also. Plus, you can buy blank postcards and put your own design on them to personalize them. Money-saving and unique.
Frugal Gift Tips
From Carol Klabunde
My best money-saving hint for a gift is to cover a box or jar with Christmas paper & put slips of paper in it that say “I love you because…” and then have your kids fill out reasons. Also slips that say I appreciate you because you…”
Grandparents, aunts, uncles, babysitters, brothers & sisters, moms & dads, godparents – just about EVERYONE loves to get these almost free gifts. All it takes is a little paper & a little thought.
From Donna Holmberg
My sister and I both scrapbook, as do several other members of my family and my circle of friends. Each year, we do scrapbook pages for each other as Christmas gifts. In the case of my sister whose husband is in the Air Force and stationed in Germany, we don’t get to see each other alot, so she does a set of pages of her family and sends them to me and I do the same for her. My other sister and brother who also live across the country do the same. For my friends who live near me or my friends who know me but not my family (some are old school friends and such who would have no interest in photos of my family), we send a packet of photos out to each other that we’d like to have used in scrapbook pages, then we ship the completed pages and leftover photos back to arrive just before Christmas. This lets us share each others creativity, enjoy the photos then pass them back, and saves us tons of money and postage for bigger, commercial gifts. Their pages give me ideas for how to complete additional pages for myself that I might not have thought of – sort of artistic inspiration – and they do the same with my pages.
Having a Greener Christmas
From Joanna Smith
My tip for SAVING MONEY as well as making the Holidays Greener is to skip the Christmas gift wrapping entirely. Change things up and have some FUN with your children and your family and have them hunt through the house for the gifts (of course your gift will have a Christmas gift tag on it). If you hide the presents under chairs and beds, in closets, in cupboards or the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, etc. everyone will have a great time. And don’t worry about any missed gifts because if you think you might forget, make a list of where you hid them ahead of time. You will save to much MONEY on not having to purchase any Christmas wrap and ribbon this year AND just think of all the time you will save not having to wrap all those gifts and all the unnecessary paper you will save too! Happy Holidays everyone!
From Lmay
Keep plugged in decorations in mind when contemplating your electric bill. Unplug Christmas lights and decorations (and for that matter, other applicances, etc.) when not in use. So much unused and wasted energy continues to go through those plugs, even when they are in the ‘off’ position, which is a drain on the environment AND on your electricity bill. The US Dept of Energy says that not only do appliances continue to draw electricity while the products are turned off, but in the average home nearly 75% of all electricty used to power electronics is consumed by products that are switched off. Unplugging unused appliances will become a good and easy money-saving habit once you do it enough!
Thanks to everyone who submitted a tip!
I just remembered something that may help folks out. SIGN up for email alerts from JC PEnney’s — you will receive $10 off of a $10 purchase coupon, quite often. If you wish to get one of their credit cards, it’s even better. You get $15 off of a $15 purchase. I love their St. John turtleneck sweaters, as does my sister and couple of friends. This time of year, they have them on sale in the store for $14.99 and I used a coupon and only paid 4.99+ tax for a very nice sweater!
Also, I love warm corduroy pants and their Cabin Creek brand is often on sale for $14.99. USE the coupon for a GREAT value!
During the year, our KROGER store often offers 10 boxes of brownie mix for $10, and also frostings in the can $10 for 10. I always buy a bunch of each. At Christmas, I bake the brownies in cupcake tins so they end up looking like cookies. When cool, I frost them with the creamcheese frosting in the can and place a pecan on top (I shop for nuts at Aldi’s.) I package them in re-usable tins or inexpensive containers from WalMart. I give these a lot as gifts. Each gift costs about $4.00 or so. Often, I am asked for the recipe! One friend said that she served these (on a doily) for her Christmas dinner desert! Golly! You could also top it with a cherry instead of the pecan, or a sprinkling of coconut to vary the look of them.
guess who’s sending out greeting cards cut in half (post cards) after reading this entry? ME!!!!
i don’t know why i never thought of that!
of course, a few people will be getting the normal greeting card, but most will get the post card version.
thanks for the tips!