Saturday’s Something Good: How to Save Money During the Holidays

For a lot of people, the holidays can be a big money spending time. Between holiday parties, gifts, and all of the sales, it’s pretty easy to see your money disappear in a flash. But I don’t have to tell you this, you’ve probably witnessed it happen before. Instead, I have a few suggestions of things you can do to help save money during the holidays.

For a lot of people, planning doesn’t come naturally. Well, I’m sorry, but now is the time to make a little extra effort. Take a few minutes to make two lists. The first is a list of everyone you want to buy a gift for and what you think you want to buy them (I have some suggestions for gifts under $25 and gifts under $50). The second list is a  list of what events you may attend this holiday season, what you’ll need to wear for the occasion, and if you’ll need to bring a hostess gift. This sounds a bit tedious, but you can make it enjoyable. Eat some dessert or drink a glass of wine while you make the list and then reward yourself with your favorite TV show when you’re done!

Now that you’ve planned out what you’ll be doing, put a limit on your spending. You can do this gift by gift, or just make a total that you want to spend. Either way, you now know what gifts you want to buy and how much you want to spend. This makes it easy to watch prices and buy the pieces when you see them go on sale. If you’re an online shopper like me, I would suggest putting Shoptagr alerts on your gifts so you can buy them as soon as they’re marked down. Once you’re ready to buy, use a site like Wynk, Ebates or Giving Assistant to earn some cash back when you shop.

Since this is also a style blog, I’d regret if I didn’t talk about clothing a little in this article. It can be hard to resist the temptation to not buy a new dress for every event you’re going to….but why not restyle the dresses you already have and love? Plus, if every party you’re going to has different people, no one will know if you reuse a piece or even a full outfit!

If you insist on a new dress, now might be the time to look around ThredUp for some heavily discounted dresses, sign up for a month of Le Tote and get a few pieces to rotate though, or rent something from Rent the Runway!

If you’re really strapped for cash, why not bake or make your present? I personally love baking, so one of my favorite gifts to give to someone is making a batch of cookies or one of my favorite breads. I plan to post a few more of my favorite recipes in upcoming posts if you need some inspiration. But in the mean time, why not try some of the cookie recipes I’ve posted on here? If you’re crafty, you can always make a gift, or create one of these do it yourself cookie mixes! Get creative! Honestly, some of the best gifts I’ve gotten were ones that people actually took the time to put together themselves.

Finally, why not put one of my favorite pieces of advice to work? Instead of focusing more on saving, why not focus more on increasing your income? In other words, if you don’t have a side hustle, the holidays are actually a pretty good time to pick up a temporary one and bring in some extra cash. A LOT of retailers are looking to hire seasonal workers right now to help carry them through the holidays. Plus, why not try to get a temporary job at the store where you’ll be buying your gifts so you can get a nice discount in addition to that extra cash.