10 Ways Thrifty People Shop For Christmas
Buying gifts for those you love at Christmas time doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might think. Here are ten ways our family keeps our Christmas budget within our means.
10 Ways Thrifty People Shop For Christmas Gifts
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1. Shop Clearance
When my kids were little I got most of their gifts on clearance after Christmas, but now that they are older and have specific requests, clearance finds work best for stocking stuffers—for instance I will buy clearance found headbands for my daughter’s stocking.
2. Use Coupons
I love finding great coupons in free magazines . For years I used a Halmark coupon for $5 of $5 or more to purchase chocolate for my children’s stockings.
3. Discount Gift Cards
If I know I am going to be buying gifts at a certain store I will check sites like Cardpool for discounted gift cards first.
4. Swagbucks
For 300 SB points over at Swagbucks you can cash in on a $3 Amazon gift card code to help with your online shopping. With 24 ways to earn it doesn’t take long to earn 300 SB points in fact I have some readers reporting earnings of up to $100 a month from Swagbucks.
5. Hand Crafted Items
I love to knit, locker hook, and make my daughter items I know she will enjoy. I often have a bookcase full of completed crafts when Fall arrives. I sell some, but I give more as gifts.
6. Homemade baking items
Some of my favorite recipes to give as gifts are my Caramel Crunch, my simple 3 minutes fudge and my chocolate bark.
7. Dollar Stores
I love dollar stores for stocking stuffers or gift basket fillers.
8. Save up and cash in your reward points
There are more reward companies out there than just Swagbucks .
3 point reward programs I have like
- Mypoints (I have used Mypoints for years and like how many different ways they have to earn points)
- InstaGC (The Insta in InstaGC stands for instant cash outs for gift cards –no waiting for your reward)
- Prize Rebel (Prize Rebel has low cash outs meaning it isn’t going to take you forever to earn a gift card)
3 cashback apps I like
- ibotta ( ibotta is a rebate app for groceries, clothing stores, pet stores and more)
- Receipt Hog (Receipt Hog is so simple to use )
2 programs I use for earning magazines & books
- My Reader Rewards Program (a point program that pays you with books! a book lovers dream)
If you like filling out surveys I have tried and liked..
9. Saving money on Christmas Cards
My family has approached saving money on the family Christmas card list in various ways.
Some years we do clearance found Christmas cards stuffed with a family letter and coupon bought prints of our latest family picture. (psst… here is where I find all my free photo codes)
Other years we have had our daughter make everyone their own piece of art to enjoy.
In extremely lean years we have sent out e-cards with a picture and letter attached and saved money on cards, prints and postage. (Its also a green alternative)
10. Choosing an experience over a gift
It might not seem frugal to some,but my husband and I prefer to plan a early January getaway rather than give gifts to each other.
What makes it frugal is we search out deals for the accommodation, and use coupons for our food and entertainment, and we of course pay cash.