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How to Turn Unwanted Christmas Gifts into Cash

January 13, 2017 By Thomas Bawdy 1 Comment

The stress has come and gone and Christmas is over. As you go through your gifts you might see some that aren’t your style, don’t fit, are duplicates of something you already have or something you just don’t need. You don’t need to have them sitting around your house collecting dust in the back of your closet. Christmas is also a financially difficult time of year, and you might need to get some cash in your hand along with another type of assistance such as a car title loan to use toward your debt. Consider turning your unwanted Christmas gifts into cash and use it for something that you really want or need through one of these five ways.

Return them to the Store

One of the most common things to do is to return the item you received back to the store where it was purchased. It helps to have a receipt when returning something to avoid receiving a lower price than what was paid or being limited to store credit for the amount of the return. Stores tend to have more lax return policies around the Christmas holiday and take items back for longer time periods than usual. Don’t take too long to return the item or you might get stuck with it if you end up trying to return the item after the specified time frame. If you do end up with a gift card and don’t anticipate using it, read on to see how you can turn them into quick cash.

Trade Them

Trade your gift online through one of the many trading websites and services available. Sites such as Cardpool, allow you to trade or sell gift cards to others. Trade your gift card for one to a business that you’ll patronize, or sell it for cash. Depending on where your original gift card is for, you can typically get back up to 90 percent of its value. You get rid of the gift card and the recipient gets a small discount on their purchase. It’s a win-win for everyone. PaperBackSwap is a book lover’s dream. You list your unwanted books and earn credits to get books others are looking to get rid of. Gamers benefit from Game Trading Zone to swap games and accessories with others interested in gaming.

Sell Them

It makes sense that selling your items can give you cash quickly, but it helps to understand where your item will sell quickest and give you the most money. Don’t expect to get the full value of the item, because buyers want to find a good deal, but you can still get some cash from the item. Craigslist is a quick way to sell items without needing to pay listing fees or worry about shipping costs. Always meet people you meet from Craigslist in a public location for safety reasons. Other sites, such as Poshmark, allow you to list accessories and clothing that you don’t want. You’ll appeal to a large pool of buyers looking for your items, but keep in mind that you’ll be required to pay small fees in exchange for listing your product on their website.

eBay is another site with millions of users. You can sell pretty much anything and everything on eBay, but keep in mind you have to pay a listing fee along with a seller’s fee, which is a percentage of the sale price of your item. OfferUp is an app only service that allows people to buy and sell items to individuals in their local area. It requires parties to meet in person to exchange items, which saves on shipping costs but stay safe by always meeting up in a public location.

Give them as a Gift

Indirectly get cash by saving the item and giving it to a friend, family member or coworker who you feel would benefit from it. Clothing you got might be too small or large for you but would probably fit someone you know perfectly. Keep in mind who gave you the gift so you don’t embarrass yourself by trying to give it back to them or someone you mutually know.

There’s no reason to leave unwanted Christmas gifts lying around when you can turn them into cash while helping someone else get something they want at the same time.

Filed Under: budget, Giving Tagged With: christmas, frugal, frugaler, gifts, trade

4 Ways to Make Money for Christmas Presents this Year

December 18, 2016 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

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?

 

Filed Under: budget, Giving, ShareMe Tagged With: budget, christmas, frugal, Giving

How I Plan to Have a Low-Cost Christmas

November 29, 2016 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

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?

Filed Under: Frugality, Saving, ShareMe Tagged With: christmas, gift giving, Giving, holidays

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