Holiday shopping season doesn’t have to be a stressful time! Use these tips and tricks to beat the stress and have a joyous holiday season!
Psst! Want access to all the HOTTEST deals this holiday season? Be sure to sign up for our Hot Deals Newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any of the hottest Black Friday and holiday deals!
If you find the holiday shopping season to be stressful, this post is for you! Eliminate mental, emotional, and financial stress with this Holiday Shopping Survival Guide!
Simplify holiday shopping and have a more peaceful Christmas season with these 5 quick & easy tips that will keep you organized and help you save more money:
1. Make your shopping list ahead of time.
If you wait until the last minute to make your shopping list, you’re sure to add stress to your life and extra expense to your gift budget!
Not only will making a list ahead of time help you feel more organized and have a more peaceful holiday season, but it will also give you more time to find the best price for each product on your list!
(And we’re here to help you find the best deals all season long. Follow along on Facebook or Instagram, join our Facebook group, or sign up for our hot deals newsletter to be sure to you don’t miss any of the hottest deals!)
Psst! Struggling to come up with gift ideas? Be sure to check out all the different holiday gift guides we’re putting together this year! We already have several live, and we’ll be rolling out more over the next week or two!
2. Figure out a realistic gift budget.
Once you have your shopping list created, be sure to set a realistic gift budget. Keyword — realistic.
That means examining your current monthly budget and setting aside an amount of money you can actually afford without going into debt.
If you’re having a difficult time coming up with the money you need to buy all the gifts on your list, consider:
- Going with simpler gifts
- Limiting gifts to just a few per child (I love this creative idea!)
- Hand-making your gifts as an inexpensive yet meaningful option
- Giving homemade snacks (like this Christmas Trail Mix or this Homemade Christmas Candy)
- Discussing with family and friends the possibility of not exchanging gifts this year and just enjoying being together
- Having a gift exchange with your family or set of friends where you only have to buy one gift
- Coming up with creative ways to fund your gift budget (more on this below)
- Replacing gift giving with fun and frugal family traditions
- Choosing experiences over gifts
3. Shop early.
One of the biggest secrets to having a less stressful, more peaceful Christmas season is to get everything done earlier!
A lot of the best deals you’ll find are during the month of November, anyway! So why not shop early, get everything checked off your list, and take the month of December to just BE and enjoy!?
You’ll also avoid the last-minute rush of holiday crowds by shopping earlier.
Did you see Black Friday Ads are already rolling out? Also, be sure to sign up for our Hot Deals newsletter to get notified of the best deals each day!
4. Don’t forget about coupon codes and cash back.
If you do most of your shopping online, don’t forget to check for coupon codes and cash back!
You can stretch your holiday gift budget so much further by combing coupon savings and getting cash back on your purchases.
Before making a purchase, check RetailMeNot or do a quick Google search for a coupon code. It can’t hurt, and more often than not, you’ll find a coupon code to use!
We especially love and recommend Rakuten for cash back on your online purchases.
5. Use Shopkick to earn extra holiday cash.
Want a really easy way to earn extra holiday cash pretty quickly? Sign up for Shopkick!
Shopkick is perfect for the holiday season, because while you’re already out and about doing holiday shopping, you can get “kicks” for walking into stores and scanning products. It’s not that much extra work, and it adds up really fast!
Also, you can Shopkick inside grocery stores. So if you’re getting some early grocery shopping done for holiday meals, be sure to open your Shopkick app and scan some products for some extra kicks!
Once you hit 1250 kicks, you can trade it in for a $5 gift card of your choice. And the gift card is available for immediate use! It’s so easy!! Choose from Amazon, TJMaxx, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Ulta, and so much more.
This is such an easy way to earn extra cash towards your Christmas gift budget.
Psst! Go here to learn how to easily earn a $5 gift card just for signing up!
Related:
- How to Fund Your Christmas Budget — In Just 15 Minutes Per Day!
- Stretch Your Holiday Shopping Budget With Online Cash Back Sites!
- 10 Easy Ways to Earn Free Christmas Gifts for Next Year
- 10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Kids
- 12 Ways to Save for Next Christmas
- How to Give at Christmas When You Don’t Have Enough Money
- 5 Ideas to Simplify Christmas and Save Your Budget
- How We Bought Christmas Gifts on a $0 Budget
- How We Lowered Our Christmas Budget, Reduced Our Clutter, and Created More Family Time
Thank you for all the great tips.
You’re so welcome! -Meg, MSM Team