Doing Christmas On A Budget This Year? 4 Clever Ideas For Saving Money At Christmas

If the expenses of the holiday season are starting to feel like a heavy burden, then you’ll appreciate these cost-saving tips to take the sting of the season out of your wallet.

#1 – Shop At Thrift Stores

While there once was a stigma about giving “gently used” presents (aka re-gifting), gift recipients are becoming more open to receiving a used gift these days.

Some great items to re-gift are CDs, video games, books, and movies – all of which make perfect gifts for both young and old.

You could also take your consignment shopping online and buy from one of the many online auction houses.

I love thrift stores — because I can buy inexpensive items and repurpose them into new personalized gifts. I gather ideas on Pinterest or when I’m out window shopping. Then I hit the thrift shop to find all the materials to make the gifts.

Often these consignment items are in such fabulous condition you can’t tell they were previously used!

Here are 5 great online consignment stores worth checking out.

 

#2 – Reduce The Wrap

The high cost of gift wrap can be a budget-breaker this holiday season.

I remember Christmas when I was a kid — there were dozens of garbage bags full of wrapping paper after hours of unwrapping. What a huge waste of money!

Some tips to save on wrapping paper:

• Buy gift wrap at the dollar or discount stores. 
• Don’t buy gift bags unless they’re absolutely necessary for large and bulky items. 
• Buy a couple of rolls of discount wrapping paper during the off-season months.
• Maximize the life of your wrapping supplies by wrapping multiple gifts together.

Bundle together a couple of the CDs or books you purchased on consignment, and wrap them together. Or wrap a couple of items of clothing together in a single box.

This may seem like a small savings, but if you have many gifts to wrap, it can end up saving you a significant amount of money on extra wrapping supplies.

There are lots of great ways to save on gift wrapping. Check out these 7 ways to spend the least money on holiday wrapping.

 

#3 – Attend Potluck Parties

Whether it’s your big holiday feast or a simple neighborhood get-together, don’t shy away from asking your guests to bring a dish or some drinks to your holiday party.

Otherwise, you could easily spend several hundred dollars feeding your party guests when you buy all of the food and drinks.

But if you ask each guest to bring a dish, you will drastically reduce the cost of your holiday get-together — and save yourself a lot of time in the kitchen!

When friends and family get together around the holidays, they inevitably want to eat, eat, eat!

Another cost-saving option is to host a holiday cookie exchange or candy party instead of your traditional annual holiday party.

With these potluck, cookie, and candy parties, each guest brings a dish, cookie, or candy platter — with guests sampling the goodies and taking samples of each treat home with them as they leave. 

Here’s how to host a potluck dinner at your house.

 

#4 – Make Your Own Holiday Cards

Believe it or not, you can actually save money by creating inexpensive Christmas cards yourself.

You could spend a fortune on software and fancy paper making your own greeting cards.

But you’ll save money on your custom greeting cards if you skip the expensive software and fancy paper when you design your own holiday cards this year. Here’s how:

1. Use the programs already installed on your computer to design a great card. Or buy older card making software at a yard sale.
2. Download free holiday graphics online, rather than using pre-printed graphics on expensive paper.
3. Then insert your personalized holiday message.