Saving Time & Money During the Holidays

We all want the holidays to be really special but most of us also have a limited income. So, how do we make the holidays special without blowing the budget. Here are my top 5 tips.

1. Plan ahead. Hopefully, you have been doing this. If not, implement for next year. I have a line item in my monthly budget for gifts. This not only includes Christmas gifts, but birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. Total how much you think you need for each of the occassions divide by 12 and make it a monthly item in your budget. You can even put this in a seperate bank account just for this purpose. If you plan to open a seperate account, watch for incentives. There are often bank promotions for opening new accounts both online or brick & mortar.

2. Loyalty programs. Join every loyalty program you can whether you shop at that store frequently or not. These loyalty programs often will have coupons or even cash back offers and these offers are more frequent during the holiday season. For example, I am a member of the Staples Rewards program, they had a Back-to-school backpack promotion where you would get the entire amount spent on the backpack in Staples Rewards. Plus, you can earn Staples Rewards for returning used print cartridges. I then used my Staples Rewards & Staples Easy Rebates prepaid Visa cards to purchase a Christmas gift that was one of the Staples doorbusters on Black Friday. Go here to check out more Staples holiday deals that you can use your Staples Rewards

3. Keep meals simple. Save yourself time by keeping mealtimes simple on the days leading up to the holiday.

4. Involve your kids in the holiday preparations. Sealing the Christmas cards & putting stamps on them, wrapping presents, etc. This saves you from doing these things and also helps to keep them entertained. When they are entertained they are less likely to get into trouble.

5. Use coupons especially on groceries. Again, get the kids to help cut & organize coupons.


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