Five Ways to Save Money While Shopping for Holiday Gifts
November 30, 2009 by Katelyn
Filed under Frugal Mom
I used to overspend on holiday gifts. I would spend several hundred dollars per person, which really adds up when you have a big family. It started out as $50. Then, I realized I spent $60 on this person or $75 on that person and I wanted to spend the same amount on everyone. Eventually, it occurred to me that it didn’t matter if I spent $43.01 on one person’s gift because there was an awesome sale and spent $57.45 on another person’s gift because it was the only thing he or she asked for and it wasn’t on sale. That was the day I began my frugal gift giving journey. Today, I don’t even spend $50 a person because I have learned to stockpile gifts ahead of time.
This leads me to my top five ways to save money while shopping for holiday gifts.
- Make a list and stick to it. If you hear yourself saying, “Oh, this would be perfect for…,” walk away.
- Don’t worry about being fair or spending the same amount on everyone. It will stress you out and it isn’t what Christmas is all about anyway. Close is okay.
- Add up material costs before deciding to make presents. DIY isn’t always cheaper, especially if the first few projects don’t turn out right.
- Shop summer sales. I get almost all of my toys well before Christmas. In fact, this year, I only bought two things for Christmas since November 1st, because all the rest of the gifts are already neatly stowed in the cabinet awaiting their turn on the wrapping table.
- Choose a store with the best sales, shop and go home. If you jump from store to store and aren’t incredibly disciplined, you’ll add a few extra things to your cart at each location and end up spending a lot more than if you paid three dollars more for item one and seven dollars more for item two at the first store and called it a day.
Do you like to blog about saving money over the holidays? If so, you, too, can enter for a chance to win a Staples gift card in the TwitterMoms and Staples blogging contest. Just want to start shopping for deals? Check out the Staples holiday savings page.
