Christmas is one of the most expensive times of the year! And since it only comes around once a year, it can be hard to budget for and save on. So, today I wanted to give you some insight and ideas on How to Save Extra Money for Christmas Shopping!
How to Save Extra Money for Christmas
Alrighty, here it is! My TOP 12 Ways to Save Money for Christmas and Save Money while shopping for Christmas!
1: Sign up for Shopkick Now!
So, there is this really great App called Shopkick! And when you sign up for Shopkick, you get rewarded just for walking into your favorite stores! You earn “Kicks” which are like points for shopping at your favorite stores, scanning products and completing other activities. You can redeem these points for FREE Gift Cards that you can then spend on Christmas shopping!! It’s like getting paid to shop!
My readers can use the code PASSION5 and get a FREE $5! To redeem it, you will be prompted to enter a promo code when you log into the app for the first time. Once you enter PASSION5, you will see a screen letting you know that $5 in bonus kicks will be added to your account when you scan a bar code in stores within the first seven days!
2: Sell Unused Items Online
A great way to save money AND sanity is to get rid of things that you aren’t using and make some cash while you’re at it!! Take stock of old toys your kids no longer play with, technology that’s gathering dust on a shelf, and clothes you haven’t worn all year. Then have an online yard sale, list it for sale on social media or sales sites, etc. You’ll get enjoyment from seeing these things leave your house AND make some income that you can spend on gift too!
3: Dedicated Christmas Savings Account
It might be a tad late to start a dedicated Savings Account for Christmas THIS year… BUT, it’s the perfect time to start for next year!! Take stock of everything you spend money on for Christmas this year – gifts, Christmas dinner, holiday parties, Christmas outfits, etc. Then, take this total and divide it by 12 – That’s how much money you should be saving from your income EVERY month next year to be ready for Christmas 2024!!
Then, your challenge next year is to STICK TO that budget!!
4: Take out Cash from Each Check
Another way to save for Christmas throughout the year (like mentioned in #3) is to pull out cash from every paycheck and sock it away in a safe place in your home. You’ll grow your Christmas fund every month AND it won’t be sitting in your bank account, burning a hole in your pocket. You’ll know exactly how much money you have – in cash – to spend this holiday season!
Another plus to saving up throughout the year is that you’ll have money already saved up when you find that PERFECT gift for your mother-in-law or your Aunt Susie in July!
5: Make Some Changes to Your Budget for December
If you haven’t already been saving up all year, making some slight adjustments to your budget for the month of December, or even November and December, can go a long way! Decide that you’re not going to drink Coffee out all month, choose to use up all the food sitting in your pantry to lower your grocery budget, decide not to eat out for the entire month, etc. However you decide to work it out for your family is great! Just decide that you’re going to make some small sacrifices to move that extra money into a Christmas fund. That may not cover the entire cost of Christmas, but at least you’ll be putting a dent in it!
6: Use Social Media to Your Advantage
There are a lot of stores and brands that send EXCLUSIVE Deals, Sales, & Coupon Codes out to people who follow them on Social Media or receive their emails. This one can be a double-edged sword though. If you know that you’re an impulsive spender and you’ll just end up buying everything your favorite brand posts on their social media channels, then the payout on this tip isn’t going to be great for you. But, if you know that you can ONLY use your following of these brands and stores to score great deals, then sign up now!
7: Give Gifts of Experiences
Some experience gifts definitely cost a lot of money. But others can be VERY inexpensive! Give the gift of a date night once a month to your husband – with ideas like a coffee shop date, playing mini-golf, going shopping just the two of you, etc. for him to choose from! Each date won’t cost much and I’m sure you’ll both appreciate the time away together throughout the year! Or give your kids the gift of building that model plane they’ve been wanting – dedicated time with Mom or Dad every Saturday with a month will mean so much to them!
Be creative – find things that are inexpensive but perfect for those you love most… and then add to that the gift of time spent together! I guarantee they’ll love it, and so will you!!
8: Track Your Expenses as you Shop
I really like the idea of only spending cash for the holidays. The reason for this is that it can make it a lot easier to see how much money you have left and stop spending when the cash runs out! My recommendation would be to make an envelope for each person you need to buy gifts for, another envelope for Christmas dinner, and others for any other dedicated holiday expenses. Then spend cash out of those envelopes and track your expenses by writing down what you bought on the outside of the envelopes. Another great thing about using the envelope system is that you can move money around easily. If you got the perfect gift for your child on a great sale and saved $20, you can leave that in their envelope to buy them another gift OR move that over to your spouse’s envelope so you can buy them that perfect gift that you wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise!
9: Gather Up Old Gift Cards
You know those gift cards you have somewhere with $5.63, $7.02, $18.12 left on them? Get them all together, make a list of how much they have left on them, and then… USE THEM!! If they’re for restaurants, only eat out at restaurants that you have gift cards for this month. If they’re for stores, head over to those stores and get your gifts there! Using those gift cards is like finding and using free money!
10: Always get Free Shipping
If you’re ordering something online as a gift, make sure that you meet the Free Shipping requirements. If the gift you’re purchasing doesn’t meet the requirements, see if another gift you were looking for can be found on that site too. Make sure you don’t overspend on something you could get way cheaper elsewhere and that you’re not buying things that weren’t on your Christmas Shopping List at all… but if at all possible, aim for Free Shipping on every online order!
Also, a lot of brick and mortar stores offer Free Site-to-Store Shipping or Free Pickup from your local store! So if you are just getting one thing and it doesn’t meet the requirements for Free Shipping, have it sent to the store for Free and pick it up there. It’s a tiny extra errand but it could end up saving you a pretty penny!
11: Get a Side Hustle
There are tons of online companies or delivery companies that you can sign up for and make some extra cash! You could sign up in the Fall and save all that money towards Christmas or work the side gig year-round to save extra money towards Christmas and vacations or fun outings with your family!
12: Say no to Extra Gift Exchanges
This one is REALLY hard for me because I hate turning down an invitation or going to a party and not participating in a gift exchange. BUT, if a gift exchange party is not included in my budget, I just have to say no. It can be difficult, but all those White Elephant, Christmas Mug Exchange, and Secret Santa parties can really start to add up quickly! Just tell the host that you’re trying to stick to a budget this year and hopefully, they’ll completely understand!
Saving Extra Money for Christmas
Well, there you have it! 12 ways to save extra money for Christmas! The list, of course, isn’t exhaustive, but I genuinely do hope it helps!! Budgeting, saving money, and getting out of debt are all things I’m passionate about and LOVE sharing about!
If you have any other ideas you’d like to share, post them in the comments! I’d love to hear how you save money when shopping for Christmas!
