Christmas Budgeting Christmas is coming and you’re wondering what to do. You have lots of people you want to give gifts to and lots more to feed, but only so much money to spend. Here are some tips on how to budget this holiday season.
Coupons- These are good because they give you more than a week to decide if you want to buy that item. Sometimes stores will let you combine them with sales and other discounts. Another nice thing about coupons is that you can try and find ones for items you want instead of waiting for the item to go on sale. Try looking for coupons in flyers, online or in store. If your favourite store has a mailing list they may send you coupons for products.
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| Ahh...the Christmas Sweater. One of many optional seasonal purchases. |
Buy used- Look at classifieds in the newspaper or online. Sometimes items are barely used and can be bought at a great price! The only downside is that you can’t return or exchange them. You can also go to places like the Salvation Army, Value Village or Goodwill to find some gently used items.
Price
match- groceries, toys, electronics or clothing are
just a few examples of what you can price match. Try looking through all the
flyers for things you know you’ll need or want. Places like Target, Wal-Mart,
No Frills, Fresh Co. and Food Basics will match the price of an item you find
in the flyer. Usually the items have to be the exact same product before they
are willing to lower the price. Price matching is a good idea if there is a product
that is only at one store, but you don’t want to travel everywhere to buy the
other items at a cheaper price. Price matching lets you shop in one place. It’s
also good for if the store that’s having the sale ran out of an item because
you can go buy that item at the sale price at another store.
Shopping Online-Shopping during the holiday season can be crazy! Why not stay home in your PJs and shop online? Some stores offer even better discounts if you order online. Sometimes there are discounts that are only offered if you buy online. If you spend a certain amount, sometimes they’ll offer free shipping. Shopping online also lets you compare prices between more stores.
Compare Prices and products- This is very important if you’re buying a very expensive item. Don’t feel like you have to buy something right away. Look at different flyers and websites to see if there are others places that offer a better price for the same item. You can even compare items that are similar. Some brands are cheaper than others, but that doesn’t mean that they are worse. If you’re unsure you can read product reviews online.
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| Homemade ornaments. Photo credit: The House that Lars Built |
Offering
your services- So maybe you’re not very crafty and
can’t make anything, but you can still offer your help. Make coupons that offer
your services. For example, you can make a coupon that’s good for one foot rub
or another one that says you’ll clean the house. The idea is to give coupons
that say you’ll do things that the person you’re giving them to would like you
to do.
Chipping
in for a large present- maybe you want to buy
someone something that’s expensive, but you don’t have enough money. Instead of
that person getting many cheap presents, you could ask everyone to pitch in for
a large gift. If you have 6 people giving gifts that are $10 each, then you
could buy a present that costs $60. If you have 6 people giving $20 each then
you can buy a gift that’s $120.
Start
buying ahead of time- Maybe Christmas shopping is
harder for you because you have to drop a load of cash all at once. If that’s a
problem for you, then maybe you should start shopping throughout the year.
Throughout the year keep in mind gift ideas that you think your friends and
family would like and then buy them when they are on sale. This way you can
spread your spending throughout the year.
Keep
track of item prices- This trick works better for
food and household items. Sometimes there are foods that you know you will
always buy or items that don’t expire and you know you will use (like toilet
paper). For items you buy often you can write down their prices in a book. When
something goes on sale you’ll know if it’s is a really good deal. If it is you
can stock up. This would help you buy your Christmas dinner.
Regifting-If you’ve ever been given a present for your birthday or other
holiday and you don’t like it, regifting it is a good way to get rid of it. If
you never used it or opened it then it will look new. Just make sure you don’t
give it to the person who gave it to you and make sure you took off any tag
that says it was originally for you.
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| Setting a limit with our grocery shopping is extra important. After all, how long does food stay fresh? |
Changing
your expectations- Do you feel pressure to make the
perfect Christmas? Do believe that Christmas is about giant feasts and lots of
presents? Do you think that gifts should be big name items? Maybe if you change
your expectation of what Christmas is you won’t feel the need to spend as much.
Picking
up another job- if you still can’t get over the
urge to spend lots of money this Christmas, then you might want to get a second
job. Many retailers have seasonal positions because there are so many extra
shoppers in their stores.
Giving up things- Find ways that you can give up or cut down on something in your life, to save you some extra money. Walk to work instead of taking the bus or switch to a cheaper brand of toilet paper. Start packing a lunch instead of buying one, stop buying unhealthy foods or buy fewer smokes than you usually would and put that money towards presents or Christmas dinner.
The above post was written by Barbara Baird, Action Read Volunteer and 2014 summer student extraordinaire!
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