How to Save on Christmas Shopping

Even though Christmas is still a few months away, it's never too early to start thinking about what you are going to buy everyone on that ever growing list. Here are a few tips on how to stretch your Christmas dollar.

Saving

First of all if you really want your Christmas budget to be as large as possible then you really need to start saving starting in January. This may sound silly to some but it is quite easy to do. Make a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for. Determine how much you will be spending per person. Total everything up and then divide by twelve. This will tell you exactly how much money you need to save or make every month. You could of course divide by fifty two instead to determine how much money you need to save/make each week. Of course mathematically it will all end up being the same but some people feel better when the numbers look a little smaller.

You should put the money that you need to save into a separate account (checking or savings) instead of incorporating it into your normal account. This way you won't be tempted to use dip into your Christmas fund. Some banks actually have Christmas savings accounts that will not let you withdrawal money until November or December.

Sales

The nice thing about sales is that they happen year round. There is no reason that you have to wait for the weather to turn cold before you start shopping for your Christmas gifts. If you see something someone on your list might like and it is on sale buy it. Even if it's a summer item and will not be able to be used for a few months after Christmas. It doesn't really matter when the person will use your gift; it only matters that they will use it.

Many people wait to shop until the day after Thanksgiving. While I understand that there can be some great savings found on that day I absolutely never shop on the day after Thanksgiving. I don't want to get up as early as needed to get the real discounts and I don't want to fight all the other shoppers to get what I want. But if competitive shopping is your thing then this may be the perfect shopping day for you.

EBay is also a great place where you can get top of the line items for less. For example I bought my husband a brand new top of the line golf driver one year for $150. This club was brand new and retailed for close to $600. I saved $450 and was able to buy him even more gifts.

Homemade gifts

They say that everyone likes homemade gifts. I don't believe that this is true but if you know someone who does then this may be a great way for you to save money. Some great gifts you can make by hand are: Christmas ornaments, decorative jars filled with items to make cookies or muffins, photo albums filled with photos (of course!).

I hope that these tips will save you some money on your Christmas shopping. The truly best way to get the biggest bang for your buck is to start saving as early as possible in the year and hit as many sales as you can. Happy shopping.