Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

4 Ways to Make Money for Christmas Presents this Year

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You may have started with the best intentions.  You didn’t want to go in debt to pay for Christmas presents, so this year you resolved it would be different.  This year you’d set aside money every month, so when November came, you’d be able to buy Christmas presents with cash on hand.

But then, you’re car broke down and the repair was more expensive than you thought, so you had to dip into your Christmas savings.

It happens.  Sometimes Christmas is only weeks away, and you don’t have money to pay for the presents.

Don’t worry.  There are still ways you can make money to buy presents for Christmas.

Consignment Shops

4 ways to make money for christmas this year
Make Money for Christmas Presents

Do your kids have clothes they’ve outgrown?  Do you or your spouse have clothes in the closet that you don’t wear anymore?  Why not take them to a consignment shop?  When the shop sells your clothes, they’ll give you a portion of the sales price.  Or, they may just offer you a flat fee upfront.  Either way, it’s money in your pocket for items you weren’t using anyway.

Pantry Challenge

Take a minute to go look in your freezer, refrigerator, and cupboard.  Chances are you have a lot of food there, probably more food than your family will eat in a week.  Why not have a pantry challenge?

There are several ways you can do this.  One idea is to just take a week off completely from grocery shopping and just eat up what you have in the house.  If you normally spend $150 a week for groceries, that’s $150 you now have for Christmas gifts.

Another idea is to do a pantry challenge for a month.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t buy any groceries for a month.  Instead, it means that if you normally spend $600 a month for groceries, try to mostly eat up what you have in the house.  Give yourself an allowance, say $200 for the month to buy perishable essentials like fruit, veggies, milk, etc.  At the end of the month, you’ve saved $400, which you can use for Christmas presents.

Credit Card Rewards

If your credit card offers cash back rewards, start saving that money now.  You won’t make a lot this way, but you can use that money to help supplement your Christmas fund.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is an online search engine.  You use it just like other search engines, but you’re sometimes rewarded with Swagbucks.  Earn 2,200 Swagbucks, and you can get a $25 Amazon gift card.  With diligent effort, using Swagbucks every day and doing other activities as well as meeting your Swagbucks daily goal, you should be able to earn enough points for the $25 Amazon gift card in a month.

If you need money for holiday presents, a pantry challenge will give you the most reward for your effort.  However, the other three strategies will help you make additional money.  By combining all four strategies, you may have enough money to purchase your gifts in cash.  Take some effort now, and you won’t have to go in debt this holiday season.

What other strategies do you use to raise money for Christmas presents?

 

How I Plan to Have a Low-Cost Christmas

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Every year, more Christmas expenses seem to crop up than I have budgeted for.  Typically, our budget can handle the extra strain, but this year is different.  This year, our central air conditioner unit needed to be replaced, and we’re on a mission to pay off the loan as soon as possible.  That means this Christmas I have to be smarter with my spending, and I have to spend less than I usually do.

I have a plan to reduce my Christmas expenses without skimping on my kids’ gifts, but to be successful, I have already started my holiday shopping even though Christmas is months away.  Here’s my plan:

low-cost Christmas
Plan a low-cost Christmas

Take advantage of coupons.  I am on several e-mail lists for different stores.  This weekend, Michael’s sent out a coupon for 70% off one regular price item.  I will be going to Michael’s and using this coupon to purchase a Christmas gift that I’ll tuck away.  Any time from now until Christmas that I see high value coupons, I’ll take advantage of them to buy a Christmas present at a fraction of the cost.

I’m making some gifts.  Last year, when fleece was on clearance after Christmas, I bought some to make blankets for each of my kids.  I have made one blanket, and I’ll be making two more in the next few weeks.  These will be one of their presents.  I also plan to make some doll accessories for my daughters with fabric I already have in the closet.

I’m saving credit card rewards.  Starting in August, I let my credit card rewards accrue.  Right now, I have enough for $50 cash.  By the end of next month, I will have enough for $100 cash.  By Christmas, I hope to have $150 cash.  I’ll save that money and use it in December, especially close to Christmas when retailers discount products that they’d like to sell for the holiday.

Entering giveaways.  When I have time, I’m entering giveaways for prizes my kids would like for Christmas.  I’m not really banking on this strategy, but if I do win, that helps me round out my Christmas stash.  Last year I won a game for one of my children, and a craft set for another.

Using Swagbucks.  If you are a member of Swagbucks and you sign up for all of the different programs and offers, you can accumulate Swagbucks quickly.  However, I just use Swagbucks for Internet searches and answering the daily poll and getting secret codes, so I earn a bit more slowly.  Still, I expect to have enough Swagbucks to redeem for $50 in Amazon gift cards by Christmas.

If you plan to use this strategy, you’ll need to strategize because you can only get one gift card per month.  You’ll have to plan ahead and cash out month-by-month so you’ll be able to access your points.

What strategies do you use to save money on holiday gifts?  Do you also start buying Christmas presents in the fall to save money?

7 Ways to Save on Your Thanksgiving Celebration

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Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to celebrate, spend time with family and friends, and eat delicious food.  After all, on this holiday, food is front and center.  Yet, preparing for a Thanksgiving dinner can create quite a strain on the wallet.  The average family spent approximately $50.11 on Thanksgiving dinner in 2015 (WGN).  That’s quite a bit of money to spend on one meal.

However, there are ways to trim corners without sacrificing quality.

Have a potluck

7 ways to save on thanksgiving
Have a frugal Thanksgiving

If you’re inviting family and friends, consider having a potluck meal.  Ask your guests to bring a dessert, side dish, or drinks.  You’ll have a lavish spread with a lot of variety, but you won’t be the only one paying for all of the food.

Don’t make an abundance of food

At most Thanksgiving meals, the table overflows with food.  Leftovers are abundant.  Yet, many people don’t like leftovers, or, even if they do, they struggle to finish all of the Thanksgiving leftovers before they go bad.  Save money by cutting back on the quantity of food that you make.  You’ll want to have enough to feed your family but not enough that you have leftovers for days. . .and days. . .and days.

Limit your selection of foods

Every family has at least one Thanksgiving dish that no one really likes.  In our family, it’s corn casserole.  Instead of making many different side dishes, decide on just a few that are well loved.

Buy foods on sale

Beginning about three to four weeks before Thanksgiving, start shopping the ads.  Buy the non-perishables that you’ll need as they go on sale.  Each week, allot a certain amount of your grocery budget for Thanksgiving food purchases.  If you decide to spend $10 to $15 per week on Thanksgiving meal foods for the three weeks before Thanksgiving, you won’t feel as much pain at the check out compared to doing all of your Thanksgiving shopping in one week.

Shop around for the turkey

Shop around for the best deal on turkey.  Many grocery stores offer steep discounts on turkeys if you spend a certain amount on your other groceries, say $25 or $30.  Do your regular grocery shopping when you buy a turkey so it’s not hard to find foods to buy for the amount you’re required to spend to get the deal price.

Use a warehouse store

If you don’t have time to shop around, consider buying many of your Thanksgiving meal foods at a warehouse store.  This is especially useful if you’re cooking for a crowd and will need a lot of Thanksgiving foods anyway.

Buy some food for next year

If you have money in your budget, consider buying food for NEXT Thanksgiving after this Thanksgiving is over.  You may find turkeys and other non-perishables like cranberries, stuffing mix, and other Thanksgiving food items on steep discount.  If you put the turkey in the deep freezer, it will be fine to use for next year.  If the non-perishables have a long shelf life, you can keep those in your pantry until next Thanksgiving.

Following these tips, Thanksgiving can be an enjoyable holiday that doesn’t break the bank.

How do you save on your Thanksgiving meal?