6 Tips & Tricks for Christmas on a Budget
Christmas is a holiday that can take a massive hit to your budget. If you are looking to have a Christmas on a budget, let me help share some essential tips to help keep your finances in check through the holiday season. Below are my top tips for learning how to make a budget for Christmas, and stick with it. This way you can enjoy the season, and not stress because you are over budget and going broke.
I love decorating for Christmas, buying gifts for loved ones, going to holiday parties and just enjoying the season. But, when our budget is small, and we can’t afford much, I don’t want that to ruin the holiday. I utilize every dime I spend so I make sure to make the most of what we have, and in that, I can walk away from Christmas feeling content and happy with what we spent.
Tips and Tricks for Christmas On A Budget
Limit Gifts
Create a budget that works for you and your family on buying gifts. Maybe you can only afford a select amount of money for each child, then make the most of the price point. Christmas should not be about gifts, and it is great to teach your children that at a young age. Maybe you might consider only buying 3-4 gifts for each child. One gift being something practical, another perhaps is a need, and then lastly maybe a want item. This is a great rule to follow that you can still create a nice budget around.
Sell Items
Consider looking through your home for items you no longer need or want and selling them to make extra money for Christmas. Maybe kids have outgrown clothes or even toys. Or you have some home decoration pieces collecting dust in a closet. Get rid of clutter to cushion your budget and clean your home a bit. Buy Sell Trade groups on Facebook are a great place to sell for free.
Shop Deals
I am a huge fan of deals. I follow deal bloggers who share deals all through the year. You can find Christmas trees for like 80% off after the season, as well as decorations and more. Deal bloggers also share great deals on clothing, toys, etc. If you shop for the holidays through the year, you can find great items at nice low prices, and not sacrifice giving the gifts you want. Look for the clearance sections in stores for deep discounts on gifts.
Cash Back
Use sites like Ebates to earn cash back for shopping and Retailmenot.ca for finding discount codes to save even more money. You can find discount codes for free shipping, specific percentages of the price off and more.
Holiday Decorations
If you generally like to buy holiday decorations or new Christmas ornaments each year, consider skipping it. Save that money to put towards food and gifts instead. Swap ornaments with a friend or household decorations so it feels like you have new items to decorate with but really you are swapping decor items for free. Then once the holiday is over, give their items back and get yours.
Plan Ahead
One tip I always recommend is planning ahead. Start saving money for your Christmas expenses early in the year, so you don’t feel like two months of your income are out the window. You can also shop through the year as I said above to help lessen the all at once expenses in a few months time span. Take what you spent last year and divided it by 12. Then try to save back that amount of money each month so that by the time December rolls around you have that money ready.
Do you generally do Christmas on a budget? How do you stay on track?
Looking for more money saving tips? Check out our post on 11 Ways to Save Money and Get Out of Debt or 6 Reasons Why Your Budget Isn’t Working!
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17 Comments
kathy downey
These are great tips,I thinking making a plan is important because we get caught up in buying more than we really need !
kristen visser
yes i have to do Christmas on a budget or else I lose control and there is no stopping me lol. I get a little carried away so I always have to make sure to create a budget and make a list and STICK to the list
Lynda Cook
We set a budget, plus the beginning of the year we keep all of our change and it all goes into a jar till the 1st of Dec. be surprised how much change you will have, and plus everytime I use my debit card I have so much come off and go into savings that also helps big time, and lastly I don’t wait till the end of the year to buy everything, if I see something on sale and a good price I will buy it and put it away
Anne Taylor
I won prizes for almost everyone for a few years but since my grandson’s birth I haven’t had a lot of time and its getting difficult to win, for me anyways lol Everything we do in our house is frugal for the most part. You made some great points
Treen Goodwin
Awesome tips , we really need to budget a bit more than we do , thanks for sharing these great tips !!
Janet M
Thanks for the tips. I try to shop deals and limit gifts to help out.
Linda H
These are all tips. I like to plan ahead, shop early and limit the amounts on gifts.
Marina M.
Thanks! I am just trying to limit the budget.
Shirley OFlynn
Great tips! It’s so easy for spending to get out of hand this time of the year. I like to plan ahead and to limit the amount of gifts.
Rosanne Robinson
Thanks very much for the great tips reminder.
My Hubby and I stopped buying presents for each other and cut back on the other gifts that we purchase.
Yes, we do try to stick to a budget.
HEIDI C.
I definitely try to shop throughout the year. If I spot a great deal, then I jump on it.
Jennifer Wilson
I think having a plan and a list when buying Christmas gifts is the key.
Sarah Letendre
We like to use reward points for christmas , shoppers optimum for gifts or groceries , reward points from credit cards , air miles , these are all ways to help a lil at christmas time 🙂
Silvia D
Great tips! we try to keepwithin our budget we set. I try to pick up things on sale or through the year and hide away also!
Leeanne C
I like to stay on budget when it comes to the holidays. Sometimes it can be easy to over spend.
Julie F
I check out the clearance sections in stores throughout the year and get a lot of my gifts that way!
Kristy
I try to stick to a budget. I buy gifts all year long when things are on sale. I use points to save money. I often buy stuff on clearance after the holidays and put it away until the next year. One gift going under the tree this year I bought last October! DD1 wasn’t really old enough to appreciate it last year so I held on to it. I also enter a lot of contests because winning a present or two really helps stretch the budget! Christmas shouldn’t put you in debt.