Top 10 Ways to Save Money on Christmas Shopping
Christmas is just around the corner! Most people aren’t done their Christmas shopping and end up rushing to the department stores on Christmas Eve trying to finish their shopping. If you want to save money this Christmas, especially with the economy being so horrible, you need to start now! Here are my top 10 ways to save money on Christmas shopping.
Tip #1: Plan and Know the Exact Budget for Each Present
Most people don’t even know what they’re looking for when they’re shopping for Christmas presents. And I can see why, it’s really hard to find the perfect present for different people with different tastes. Part of the reason why gift cards and certificates are so popular nowadays, but they aren’t very thoughtful unless your best friend is a die-hard Starbucks fan.
First, make a list of every person you want to give a gift to. Then for each person, set a budget that you cannot go over. If you have an overall budget for Christmas shopping, write that down first and that decide who gets how much. Once that’s done, decide on what possible gifts are for each person. If you know exactly what you’re getting, great! You can start looking everywhere for the best deal!
Tip #2: Start Shopping Early
When I say early, I mean very early. I’m writing this in November and it definitely isn’t too late but not early. If you compiled a list from tip #1 early, you could take advantage of great deals when they come throughout the year. You could save hundreds and maybe thousands if you start shopping early and keep your eyes peeled for sales, deals, and coupons.
Tip #3: Be Creative and Create your Own Gifts
If you can craft anything from artwork to beaded jewellery, you’ve just saved a lot of money for gifts! Of course, you don’t want to be giving crafted items to the same people every year so mix it up.
Here are some ideas for crafted items:
- Christmas Cards
- Gift Baskets
- Cookies and Cakes
- Jewellery
Family Fun Go has a great section with an awesome collection of hand crafted gift ideas, even your kids can help you craft some!
Tip #4: Keep an Eye out on “Boxing Day” sales before Christmas
Boxing Day isn’t what it used to be. You see Boxing Day like savings before Christmas Day because most consumers have a very tight wallet. You might see a Boxing Week before Christmas and if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping at this point, you could do your last minute shopping here.
Tip #5: Buy Online – eBay and Amazon
If you know that you nephew Jason wants Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Christmas, then eBay and Amazon are great places to start. You might want to check Amazon first and see what the retail price is. Amazon usually sells items below retail and you will get free shipping! Ebay is great too and if you can find a steal you’ll save even more money, just be careful of the shipping and handling fees as some sellers tend to overcharge and you might better off buying from Amazon.
Tip #6: Do Next Year’s Christmas Shopping this Year
There are a lot of things you can buy this year that you can still use and give next year. Christmas cards and gift-wrapping is a great place to start. You’ll easily find 70-90% off deals in most department stores so stock up for next year because you’ll be repeating this whole process again next year.
If you’re shopping for next year, make sure you stay away from trendy items. Clothing, video games, DVDs will not be a great Christmas gift next year as they’ll be out of trend. Stick to items that won’t be out of date when next Christmas comes around.
Tip #7: Use Both Online and Offline Coupons
You’ll find coupons all over the place on a regular basis. For local stores, check newspapers for inserts and ads. Free newspapers will often have great coupons as well. Groupon are great too as they will provide you with great local deals everyday! You might find a great Christmas present idea through them. Be sure to sign up for free.
If you’re shopping online, you should check online coupon sites that will most likely save you a few dollars off your next purchase. Try a few different coupon sites since some have really old coupons. Retail-Me-Not is a great place to start.
For Canadians, I recommend visiting Red Flag Deals and take a look at their deals, coupons, and freebies sections regularly, you’re bound to find something you like.
Tip #8: Give a gift that you were given from someone else
Recycling gifts that were given to you but you have no use for, are a great way to save money. It was very nice of Aunt Jessica to get you that retro coffee maker but the problem is, you already have two coffee makers and as much as you love coffee, enough is enough! You can wrap the wonderful retro coffee maker and give it someone that will need it! Just make sure whomever you’re giving to doesn’t know Aunt Jessica, or you might be in for an earful!
Tip #9: Visit Outlet Malls
Outlet malls are a great place to do Christmas shopping. You’ll find items anywhere from 30-70% off retail for awesome brand names. I like visiting the Premium Outlet Malls in Seattle when I can as they have Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Coach, Juicy Couture, Levi’s among others. You can pretty much do all of your shopping in this one spot if you’re desperate to get Christmas shopping done quickly.
If you’re visiting a Premium Outlet Mall, be sure to check the Premium Outlet online website and sign up to get free coupons. You could get an addition 10-20% off depending on what coupons are available for each brand.
Tip #10: Wrap Your Own Gifts
Unless they tell you that there’s free gift-wrapping, wrap your own gifts. The $5 you spend on having each gift wrapped, could have been better spent on an extra gift. It might take an hour to wrap all your gifts but instead of paying $50 to have your gifts wrapped, pay yourself $50 for the hour to wrap your own gifts. Sure it can be tedious and you might go through more tape that you did the entire year, but you can get it done! Remember, practice makes perfect.
Hopefully this top 10 list helped you in some way, if you have other ways of saving money this Christmas please leave a comment to share your thoughts! Tomorrow I’ll be talking about how you should use credit cards for your Christmas shopping. I see a lot of people to use cash, but I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t use cash.
Christmas Tree photo by Tom Gill on Flickr.
