Welcome to my Stress Free Holidays series, I will be sharing some tips to reduce the amount of stress this time of year puts on all of us. Some are ones I have used, some are ones I will be instituting this year, and some I will be using in the future. If you have any great ways to reduce the amount of stress please feel free to share them with us!
Everyone knows that this month is one of the most expensive of the year (other than tax season and big vacations or weddings), and we are all trying to find ways to try to lessen the blow on our bank accounts. I have heard of many methods, and tried several. There is of course saving money throughout the year either by stashing every $5 bill you have, or by setting up a temporary Christmas savings account at your bank (my bank doesn't offer this but check with yours), or compounding the money saved each week (week 1 = $1, week 2 = $2, etc).
The one I keep coming back to is gift cards. It might be a little late for you to try it this year but keep it in mind for next year. What I do is starting about June or July, each time or so that I am at a store I pick up a gift card for anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on the funds available that week. I pick gift cards from the stores I am most likely to shop at for Christmas like Target, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. You can pick them up in that store specifically when you are there or the drug stores have a huge selection of gift cards to choose from. I then save those in a special place until about November, it is easier to save them because they are to specific stores so you aren't as likely to dig into the stash when you want extra spending money. I then use them to do all my holiday shopping when the sales are best. This spreads out the funds over a several month period. You tend to spend less because of how much are available on the gift cards (leave the credit card at home and only take the gift cards you have). And if you don't have time to shop or can't find the right gift they can also be given as a gift.
So how do you lighten the blow to your wallet during the holiday season?
Have you tried gift card zen? You get gift cards at a discount. I love it! I use for things all the time, mostly my dog.
ReplyDeleteOh, I have never heard of that, I am definitely going to have to look into that for the future! Thanks Kami!
DeleteI love this idea! Especially the running out of time but you still have a gift to give part.
ReplyDeleteThat is my favorite part, I can't always anticipate all the gifts that need to be purchase for outside of the family so it is great to have those ready to go.
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