Who hasn’t thought, when the kids sit in the lap of the red-suited guy, that what you REALLY want for Christmas is more money? One way to do it: find ways to spend less. Every penny you don’t spend is another one to pay for this year’s presents – and with new credit card payment structures and less equity than last year, you definitely don’t want to go into debt to pay for your holiday!
So what can you do to save money and keep yourself in a holly-jolly mood?
Start early. I don’t just mean Christmas shopping, though hitting the early bird specials there pre-Thanksgiving is a good idea. I mean pull out all the Christmas stuff before it gets too cold, go through everything, clean it up, and make a list of everything you have and everything you need. How much money do you spend each year buying stuff that you already had in storage? Besides, you can often find some pretty good deals if you hit the Christmas stuff just as it comes out. I know, it feels weird buying Halloween candy and Christmas wreaths in the same shopping trip, but it helps. Also, buy up any Halloween candy you can use for Christmas on November 1, when it all goes half-price; candy will keep for seven or eight weeks.
Watch your electricity expenses. Start by putting all your Christmas lights on a timer, and only keep them on when you want people to be looking at them. If you’re going with a big display, you can save a ton of money by using LED lights instead of incandescents for the strings, and you can replace the incandescents inside some Christmas displays with LEDs too, with no obvious exterior change. Go back and look at last year’s electric bill, then figure up what you’d pay this year with rate hikes before you start changing things. It will give you a good place to start planning.
Save money on food. This doesn’t mean going all mac-and-cheese; it means doing holiday pot lucks instead of hostessing the big party, and only having ham OR turkey, instead of both. A side benefit: you don’t spend Christmas Eve on pre-prep and cooking.
Keep it close to home. This year’s biggest expense is probably going to be holiday travel. Stay close to home, or consider renting a large vehicle and carpooling with family if you must travel for Christmas.
Think personal: create your own calendars to give those not-so-close relatives and friends. This isn’t as tacky as it may sound; you can get some great software to create photo-quality paper products to give your closest friends. Great-aunt Hilda may appreciate having a calendar of all your cats calendar. Iron-on transfers create great personalized T-shirts that cost you all of about five bucks each, or you can make custom CDs of family photo collections, from tin-types to Gramma’s wedding to the newest additions. Get creative.
Use more email. How much did you spend last year on postage and Christmas cards? Keep it simpler this year, and send out some of the great greeting-card emails to friends, with a personal note. Or create a family Christmas blog with all the details of the year.
Just a few simple tips can really add up to 100′s of dollars in your pocket this Holiday season. Consider it a challenge to arrive in January having had a wonderful Christmas without dreading the arrival of the VISA bill.
Shellie Gardner, owner of Christmas Light Source, has a passion for Christmas Lights and enjoys helping her customers make every occasion special with lights. Check out the new Christmas Lights Electricity Cost Calculator. It’s a great tool for calculating how much electricity your Christmas lights will actually use this season.
Tags: Christmas, saving money, saving money at Christmas