Money Saving Mom®

By being intentional and planning ahead, you can save a lot of money (and headache!) on Christmas. Follow these steps and you may save as much as $100 on Christmas this year, if not more:

1. Create a Budget

Yes, it’s kind of a no-brainer, but you can’t stick with your Christmas budget if you don’t have a budget in the first place. Sit down this weekend, if at all possible and look at your current expenditures and your income and decide what is a realistic budget amount to set aside for Christmas.

2. Start Saving

The sooner you can start setting aside money for Christmas, the better. Even if all you can manage to squeeze out of your budget is $3 to $5 each paycheck, start setting that aside in a separate fund. Do not allow yourself to touch it for any reason, except to purchase Christmas gifts.

We typically start planning for Christmas spending halfway through the year. Since we use a cash envelope system, we just start socking away most of our gift cash for Christmas. In addition, we also save up our Swagbucks Amazon gift cards to use for Christmas presents. And I keep my eyes open for other ways to earn free gift cards or products that would be good for gifting.

By the time December rolls around, I usually have a nice stash of gift cash plus gift cards to use for gifts and this becomes our Christmas budget. By doing it this way, we don’t have to dip into any of our regular savings or other money to pay for Christmas–we just have to plan ahead and then look for deals to stretch that money as far as possible.

Feeling strapped for cash this Christmas? Be sure to check out my 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas series for lots of ideas to help shore up your Christmas gift budget over the next few weeks.

3. Make a Plan

After you get your Christmas budget created and you’ve begun setting money aside, it’s time to start planning your gift list! Again, if you can do this early, you’ll have a huge advantage.

Why? Because when you see some amazing rock-bottom bargain deal that would be perfect for someone on your Christmas list, you can snatch it up then and there and cross that person off your list! Not only will you save a lot of money by starting your shopping early, but you’ll also feel so much more organized and relaxed going into December!

There’s a free printable Master Christmas Gift list here you can use to keep track of everyone you plan to buy for and what you’re planning to buy. If you prefer to keep a running total on a spreadsheet, you can download the Excel Christmas Budgeting Worksheet here to help you stay organized and stick with your budget.

4. Use Cash

If you’re at all tempted to go over your written Christmas budget, I highly recommend that you have a cash-only Christmas. Take the money you’ve allotted for your Christmas budget out of the bank in cash and then only use that money to pay for your Christmas gifts. This will force you to carefully evaluate each purchase to make sure it is the best use of your money and it will guarantee you don’t go over-budget.

Since many of the best deals are online, I suggest that you either use Paypal and refund the money to your bank account immediately from your cash envelope or take money from your cash envelopes and purchase gift cards for your online purchases. This is a bit more of a hassle, but it means you don’t have to worry about any staggering credit card bills come January!

5. Keep It Simple

Christmas should not be about impressing people with expensive gifts. If you’re going to give someone a gift, do it to bless them. Meaningful gifts don’t have to be extravagant and costly.

Consider giving experience gifts or handmade gifts as opposed to high-dollar items. Sometimes, the most remembered gifts are those that took time and thought, not money.

How do you save money on Christmas while still making it memorable?

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It might sound ridiculously simple — and it is! But it’s true: being organized will save you money. In fact, it could save you at least a few hundred dollars (or more!) per year. Here are 7 ways being organized saves you money:

1. You can plan a weekly menu.

By planning a menu, you won’t be scrambling to figure out something for dinner at the last minute. This saves you time, sanity and countless unnecessary trips through the drive-thru lane.

2. You can buy gifts ahead of time.

When you find a great deal online or in-store, you’ll be able to take advantage of it for an upcoming birthday or holiday, instead of waiting until crunch time and having to buy something at full price. As an added benefit, you’ll likely be able to put more time and thought into a meaningful gift rather than just throwing something together at the last minute.

3. You’ll have the time to clip and organize coupons.

When you plan ahead, you’ll have time to print coupons for things you’re already planning to buy. Or even to match coupons to items that are already at rock-bottom prices at your local store.

4. You can buy in bulk.

If you’re organized, you’ll be able to take the time and effort to buy extras of items when they are free or at rock-bottom prices. You’ll also know what you have on hand already and how much you regularly use of items you buy.

5. You’ll avoid late fees.

When you have your life in order, you’re much more likely to pay bills on time, return books to the library before they are due. It’s amazing how much this can save in late fees and library fines!

6. You can find what you own.

Having a place for everything and keeping everything in their place saves you a lot of time looking for lost items, plus it prevents you from spending money to replace items you can’t find.

7. You’ll remember to call and ask for discounts.

When you’re organized, you’ll have time to call and try to re-negotiate fixed rate bills annually. Things like internet and phone packages are often negotiable — and we’ve saved hundreds of dollars over the years by calling once a year to ask if they have a better rate they can give us.

How does (or would) being organized save you money?

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