{budget}fab*

it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas

Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by dara in penny pinchin'

It’s time to start Christmas shopping! If you haven’t already started…Christmas is 45 days away which translates into ~3 paychecks. This is the time of year when most people panic and wind up running up their credit cards instead of spending responsibly. Check out these {budget}fab* tips for Christmas shopping so you don’t break the bank.

Start early. I know you hear it every year, but it seriously helps & works. Start picking up gifts for people on your list early in the year and stash them away. That way you’re not hit with so many purchases at one time. Try setting a reminder in your cell phone for early next year to remind you to start putting money away.

Shop the sales; use your frequent buyer programs and coupons. Sign up for discount cards and offers in stores that you plan to shop in. They will likely send you emails, so create an email account just for sale offers and promotions if you don’t want them in your regular email. Stores will often sent out coupons and special offers via email and this can be helpful for shopping as well. Be sure to pay attention to your emails and the sale papers, even though it does take time out of your schedule you can often save a lot of money by reading through offers and shopping the sales.

Save, save, save. I set up a Christmas Club account at my credit union and I’m so happy when it’s time to shop, and the money is there for me. I transfer a predetermined amount to the account at a predetermined interval and the money is automatically transferred to my regular account in November. Just in time for all the sales! Check with your bank or credit union to see if they have similar accounts. If you don’t have access to this type of account, transfer money on your own to a separate savings account each payday in order to prepare yourself for Christmas. Small amounts add up, so just start somewhere.

Utilize the internet. I have said this before and I’ll say it again…I love Amazon.com! They ARE the online marketplace when it comes to steals and deals. Before you head to the store, check out Amazon to see if you can score the same items for cheaper. Free shipping is offered on order over $25 (just allow adequate time) and they often have special offers as well. Also Wal-Mart offers free site to store shipping, so while you may not want to deal with the hassle of scouring the store, buy it online, have it shipped to your local store (for free) and just pick it up. Also check out eBay for great deals on holiday items, especially if you’re looking for something very specific. The internet is also a great place to compare prices and features before heading out to the store so you can determine where to best spend your dollars.

It’s not too late this year to make Christmas shopping still work, make some sacrifices for the next few paychecks and put the money away in a separate account. This will at least give you a small fortune (depending on how much you can sacrifice) to spend on gift shopping.

Get creative with your shopping, instead of spending a lot of money, try to think of gifts that will mean a lot to the people on your list. This may help you cut down on some of your spending and although the gifts won’t cost as much, they’ll be worth more to the recipient.

At all costs, avoid using your credit card for holiday shopping because when it’s all said and done it will likely bring you grief instead of holiday joy.

What other holiday shopping tips and tricks do you have that are {budget}fab*?

Image courtesy of versacreations.net

Tags: christmas shopping, holiday shopping, holiday shopping tips, shopping tips and tricks