The holiday season is upon us, and the economic impact of the last few years may mean you need to save money on gifts this year. If you have been impacted, here are some great ideas to save money on gifts so you can keep the holiday spirit without breaking the bank.
Take smaller closer-to-home holidays The holiday season will likely be much more streamlined and smaller than in most years. Embrace this, and use it to your advantage. Many friends and family members may not be expecting gifts at all, or will certainly understand if they do not receive one. You should not feel bad about minimising the number of gifts you give and the number of people to whom you give gifts. You could substitute the gift you would normally give with a simple card or phone call, which will probably mean more to some loved ones, especially those you have not gotten to see very much because of the pandemic. Invest in time together (even if being together can only happen virtually), rather than presents, whenever possible. Repurpose Other Budget Items This budgeting trick might help you have enough money for gifts without taking on any debt to do so. Compare this holiday season to a normal holiday season, and write down the expenses you are not paying for this year. Do you normally cook a large meal for guests, but they aren’t coming this year? That may mean significant savings on your grocery bill. Or, do you normally travel out of town? That may mean saving on plane tickets or other transportation costs. You get the idea. The point is that you might be saving some money compared to last year. You could put some of these savings toward your gift budget. This doesn’t mean your gift budget needs to be bigger than usual, but this might give you some extra cushion. Check Discount Sites and a Multitude of Retailers Before you purchase anything be sure to shop around. Thankfully, this can be done from the comfort of home online. Simply look for what you plan to purchase and compare the price across multiple stores. Include brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers in your search, unless waiting for an item to ship is not an option. If you are still looking for gift ideas and want to find good deals, the Slick deal is a great resource, and most of the sites it links to offer fast shipping. Consider Giving Gifts after the Holidays Australia is famous for its after-Christmas sales, like Boxing Day. Huge savings can be achieved by simply waiting pot Christmas to do your shopping. In fact, there are a growing number of Australians doing just that, Christmas is set aside for lunch and the ‘Christmas’ celebration is a set date after Boxing Day. You don’t even have to delay your Christmas, gifts are purchased on the Boxing Day sales and then mailed to relatives. Buy or Give Second-hand Gifts Second-hand gifts have three benefits. First, they are cheap or free. Second, you can put them together in a hurry. And third, they can be very thoughtful. These gifts include hand-me-downs and family heirlooms or second-hand items you purchase used from storage. This has gotten much easier in recent years with the popularity of sites like Facebook Marketplace. You can shop for all ages and should be able to pick up gifts quickly, maybe even on the same day. Go Handmade Everyone loves a thoughtful handmade gift. These aren’t entirely free, since you need to get materials, but they are typically much cheaper than store-bought gifts. You can make gifts in a time crunch, too. There are some great guides to help you generate ideas. From bath bombs to painted coasters, this guide for last-minute handmade gifts covers a lot of options for virtually any gift recipient. If that list doesn’t cover it, here is another list of great gift ideas. Happy Holidays! Remember, don’t go into debt buying gifts, it could take years to pay off. This article is bought to you by Credit Mediation Services.
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