Everyone who’s even the slightest bit in the loop with life is aware that everything has gone up in price.
Gas.
Groceries.
Everything.
And as this holiday season is in full swing (can’t believe this!), it can become stressful thinking about buying gifts for a seemingly never ending list of loved ones.
I personally LOVE buying gifts and it’s easy to go overboard because that’s just my personality & I love making people happy!
So, I thought I’d share some tips for you on how to make it not as stressful and maybe save a few bucks too.
1. START SHOPPING EARLY
Spreading out your money over a couple of months is an easy way to not feel like you’re dropping hundreds of dollars all at once, because you wouldn’t be. If you have enough space to store the gifts, you can easily buy Christmas gifts throughout the year and just have a designated space in your house (like a closet) to store the gifts.
2. DO AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE FOR GIVING
On my mom’s side of the family (extended), we realized a handful of years ago that giving was getting out of control. Every year everyone would say we were going to cut back but then no one ever did and the giving actually increased somehow. So, we’ve done a couple of things to help cut back in this area as the years have gone by.
- Pick names. On Thanksgiving, we would draw names and everyone would buy for that one person and only that one person. And they’d keep it a secret who they got. We would set a gift limit & then on Christmas, everyone has 1 gift to open.
- Saran ball or rolling dice. We’ve also done no “gifts” but prizes through a game. The last couple years we’ve done a saran ball where everyone sits in a circle and you have mittens on. When it’s your turn you try to unwrap the very large saran ball filled with candy, prizes, money & gift cards while the next person is rolling dice and when they get a double, you switch and your turn is up. This is a lot harder than it sounds & everyone ends up winning gift cards and it’s a fun family time. We’ve also done it where we set a ton of prizes in the middle of a circle and we simply all roll dice and get to pick a prize when we get a double. Everyone simply brings a couple prizes to contribute to the pile. This is definitely the less physically taxing way to go haha. And it’s fun for kids too!
3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ONLINE DEALS
Black Friday isn’t the only day there are deals on stuff. It seems that the entire month of November has deals. You can find so many things on sale, especially on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Be watching the things you need to buy and take advantage of a sale when it happens.
4. DON’T GO OVERBOARD
Just simply don’t buy more than you need to. Talk to your spouse and set a budget for giving and don’t go over it. And within your extended family, set limits so everyone is on the same page. Everyone loves to save money how/when they’re able.
5. EXPERIENCES OVER MATERIALS
My friend, Kat, gave me this idea. Gifts don’t always have to be material things. A gift can be an experience. And depending on people’s personalities, some people would actually prefer this! Then, you’re also being financially wise because you don’t need to spend the money right away (example: give a gift of a trip to the mall with a $x budget for that person to spend). Then, you get quality time with that person doing something they love & you don’t need to “buy” the gift until the experience happens. You just need to make sure it actually does happen.
What tips do you have for saving money this season? I’d love to know them!
Tia Marie
tia marie 