My Christmas Savings Plan
Now that Thanksgiving is safely over with everyone fat and sassy, it is time to turn my attentions to Christmas--especially since December is already here! I love to give good gifts but I, like everyone it seems, am on a budget. So here is my financial game plan for Christmas (it has already begun).
1. Make Stuff
2. Use gifts I've collected over the year (enjoy the great deals that you've happened upon or couponed) (Examples: cheap new books, chocolate bars, mugs, paper pads, etc.)
3. Cash in all of my rewards--credit card cash back, Swagbuck earnings, Recycle Bank earnings, BigCrumbs, etc.
4. Use the gift cards / refund cards / etc. + coupons where possible.
5. Find the best sales possible--gifts for kids can often be fudged
6. If I do have to buy something, I look for items with kickbacks (ex. buy $25 gift card, get a $5 bonus gift card)
My Christmas Gift Break-down:
Parents & Inlaws: mostly gift cards purchased with credit card earnings and kickback deals from earlier, also discounted gifts purchased earlier in the year, also a living social deal to make a photobook--will be a big hit.
Hubby: He would love if I would do something around the house, plan a romantic date, or make a painting for him--he doesn't care much for stuff. (possibly free)
Kids: Gifts purchased with gift cards I already had, Gifts purchased on great sales with kickbacks (joined the ToysRUs membership and got free $5 to spend--yay!), Gifts purchased on Amazon using credit card cash back and my free prime trial membership for free shipping, I also got a few free gifts for my baby at a consignment shop (sold them my old baby stuff for credit).
My siblings: My siblings are all artists so we do an art-swap for one other person in our family. This year I have my sister in the Netherlands so shipping is going to be a doozie. Therefore I am going to make 3 small ceramic dishes to put tea lights on and send those. I also made a photo book for her of our family reunion (free promo code but $8.50 shipping). Final cost, about $13.50 + $15? shipping? I'll probably also make some kind of jewelry for my sisters and sister-in-laws with my giant stash of beads.
Hubby's Siblings: Gift cards (I know I'm not too imaginative but that way they can get what they want). These are Amazon and I haven't found a good way to get them discounted. For now I'll get them on my credit card (earn cash) and buy them from the grocery store to get fuel points. At least then I feel I'm getting something. Luckily my hubby only has 2 siblings. I hope to chance upon something else that their families might like that can make the gifts more personal.
Gift Exchange: Every year a friend of mine has a party with a gift exchange--bring a gift worth $15. I have a set of 6 different Lindt chocolate bars that I got for free after coupons and I'll find something else to add. Hmm what goes well with chocolate...
Gifts for Friends: I think I might do bracelets this year. I have a ginormous stash of beads (that I mentioned earlier) and I make cool ceramic jewelry components, so this could be fun and unique.
Gifts for Teachers: I hit this amazing Michael's sale earlier in the year and ended up getting some paper pads and mugs for rediculously low prices. That'll work.
Mailman: I know it's weird but I really like my mail man. It'll probably be a $10 gift card for him too.
That wraps it up for me. All in all I hope to spend under $300 out of pocket for gifts this year. We'll see if that works out. Finally, what I don't spend of my budget, I intend to put into our retirement Roth IRAs. Any gift cards that I might get from others for Christmas I intend to use only when necessary (and yes, sometimes it is necessary to have a new clothes shopping trip) so that it can help me save money for next years expenses--food, clothing, gifts, etc. It's like rolling coupons, except rolling gifts. Yay.
How much do you spend on Christmas gifts? Are you able to keep costs low by creative cost-cutting?
Happy Saving!
--Kathy
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