I am starting up a new feature here on Frugal Fun and Fortune! I am going to help you plan ahead for a frugal Christmas! The Holidays should not be stressful, and they definitely should not break your budget. Christmas should be about celebrating the birth of Jesus, spending time with your loved ones, giving meaningful gifts, helping those in need, and cherishing simplicity.
With that being said, I feel that it is definitely possible to celebrate Christmas time without breaking the bank. All it takes is a little bit of strategic planning. Follow along as I help you over the next couple of months. You might think I’m starting this way too early, but I can assure you that starting EARLY is the one of the biggest keys to saving money on Christmas expenses. I started my Christmas shopping the day after Christmas LAST year.
I will be offering frugal advice, gift-giving ideas, and more over the next few months leading up to Christmas. I will be placing the banner that you see above in the sidebar of this site. So if you want to see all of the posts related to this topic, you can simply click on the picture to find what you need!
I’m going to kick this off by explaining just a few simple things you can do to help plan ahead for a frugal Christmas:
1. Sign up for Swag Bucks RIGHT NOW. If you haven’t signed up for this program yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. This program practically paid for all of my Christmas gifts last year. It is a simple Search Engine that rewards you for searching the Internet. You earn swag bucks and trade them in for gift cards! You can earn Amazon gift cards quite easily. GREAT place to buy Christmas gifts!!! But it does take a little time and patience, so you need to get started right away!
2. Don’t underestimate the power of coins! Do you have a bottle, box, or tin can that you throw all of your extra change into? If so, you might not realize just how much money you already have stashed away! Last year we headed up to the Coin Star machine at Food Lion, and traded in all of our coins for $90! We chose to get our money in Amazon gift cards (for my Christmas gifts) to avoid the processing fee. Start gathering all your loose change together – it could really make or break your Christmas budget!
3. Think homemade gifts. Drink mixes in jars, candle-making, soaps, baked goods, ornaments, hand-knitted scarves…the possibilities are endless! Homemade gifts are often the most cherished gifts that people receive, plus they usually cost a fraction of what retail gifts do! Last year, I made some ornaments and baked some puppy chow for many people in my family. It was a hit, and it cost me about $1 per person.
4. Don’t neglect the online deals. Some of the hottest deals will be available on the Internet. Amazon has become a competitor with Target and Walmart. Yankee Candle Store will have huge blowouts. Barnes and Noble will have online sales. Taste of Home often puts their $25 cookbooks on sale for $5! Last year I snagged a Burt’s Bees gift pack for $20 that normally would have cost $55. Opportunities like this come up all the time. I will keep my eyes peeled and be sure to keep you updated on these over the next few months.
5. Sign up for Shop At Home and Ebates. Going along with the online deals, you definitely want to take advantage of cashback programs. Shop At Home and Ebates are GREAT ways to get additional discounts! You simply go through them when you shop your favorite stores online, and you’ll get credited back a certain percentage of what you pay. I LOVE these 2 programs!!
6. Plan ahead. Last minute shopping just won’t work, if you’re wanting to get through the Christmas season on a budget. Make a list of who you want to buy for. Be thinking about it ahead of time. As deals pop up, grab them at a really low price! Again, I will be highlighting all kinds of great deals, and tagging them with the “Plan Ahead For A Frugal Christmas” label, so that you know just where to find gift ideas!
7. Keep it simple. Focus on spending TIME rather than buying THINGS. Plan fun and frugal activities for the family. As far as decorating goes, utilize what you already have in storage and around the house. Bake yummy goodies that fall within your weekly grocery budget. ENJOY Christmas this year, rather than giving into the stressful, commercialized season that it has become.
8. Freely give to others in need. This is the most important part of Christmas – showing love to others. We are so fortunate, and there is no bigger blessing than giving to somebody else during Christmas time. We all know how easy it is to give to others by using coupons, even if we’re living off of a very small income. Use your gift of couponing to bless others!
That should get you started, or at least give you some ideas to start rolling around in your head. In the meantime, stay tuned for gift-giving ideas, online steals, posts on how to keep things simple, ways to give to others, and more!
What About You: How are you planning ahead for a frugal Christmas?
This post is linked to Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom.
Thanks for sharing your great ideas! I’ve started shopping for my daughter already. I’ve been hitting clearance racks, free shipping sales online, won a CSN Stores gift cert and ordered 2 gifts, and now I am saving my swagbucks. I am dreading making a list but really should do it soon! Thanks for the reminder!
visiting from Frugal Friday!
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Meagan Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 7:32 am
@Alison, Cool! Looks like you’re got everything in order!
Thanks for visiting!
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VistaPrint is awesome as well I knocked out 3 gifts just the other day…. And for 3 personalized gifts w/pictures it cost me 6.07 for shipping… U can do the slow shipping because Christmas still far enough away
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Meagan Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 8:32 am
@Erica Terry, Definitely! Vista Print is great!
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I bought some reusable gift bags at Winn Dixie today for Christmas gifts for my friends. They have a place to insert a picture and are decorated with baby stuff. My idea is to put a picture of each friends baby in the bag and put a bag or 2 of their favorite candy or snack inside (which of course I will get on sale and with my coupons). If I get motivated, I might bake some cookies and put in too. I like it because you can make it a “family” gift or a personal one. Another thing I do is make fudge. I have a reciepe that is AWESOME and super easy and cheap. It is very yummy. I buy tins and cookie containers after Christmas for the next year. I store them with my Christmas stuff so they are not in the way. Gifts don’t have to be expensive, just personalized to mean a lot!
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Meagan Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
@Callie, LOVE your idea! Would you maybe want to share that fudge recipe with the rest of us? If so – e-mail me about it! Thanks!
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I keep forgetting that I can Leave You a comment, and sometimes you seem very blue. However I know you are a very positive person I feel it, and you bounce back like some serious 1940 elastic. Get to the point, the whole swag buck thing is a mystery to me and how many people have time to search the web for clues and whatever there offering. No disrespect. FYI…I just want you to know you have helped me in the past… Thank you. I take courage from blogs like Nobility in Poverty.
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Meagan Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
@Michele L., Thanks. As far as Swag Bucks – the main way to earn swag bucks is just to use it as a search engine, just like you would Google. The clues and codes, etc. that you are talking about are just bonus swag bucks. Swag Bucks is very easy to use – you just set it as your home page and search the internet like you usually do.
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The Prudent Homemaker Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 12:24 am
@Michele L.,
I haven’t heard of that blog. I tried looking for it and I can’t find it. Care to share a link?
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Thanks for the tips. I know I am always tempted to go overboard at Christmas. But especially thank you for the reminder to give. We can always help another. When it was cheaper, I used to get the Brachs bulk candy and tie it on a rounded coat hanger to make a wreath. Any ideas for cheap hard candy that has the ends for tying?
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Meagan Reply:
August 31st, 2010 at 6:52 pm
@Sharon, Definitely.
And what a GREAT idea about the candy wreaths! I’m sure deals will start popping up for hard candy left and right, with the Holidays fast approaching.
Would you care to do a guest post about how to make the candy wreath? I think the rest of the readers would LOVE that! E-mail me if so, and we’ll talk about it!
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I love getting Christmas gifts bought and wrapped ahead of time. With over 30 people to buy for it is the only way to stay sane! I look forward to the rest of this series.
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Meagan Reply:
August 31st, 2010 at 6:52 pm
@Christy, Definitely good to think and plan ahead!!
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Thanks for linking up!
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