When the holiday season comes around, there are often two main emotions you feel:
The excitement to get together with our friends and family for dinner parties and other festivities.
And, the stress of how you’re going to pay for it.
While Christmas and the other holidays of the winter season can be a time for joy, it can also result in stress and anxiety.
You shouldn’t feel like you can’t participate in that joy because you don’t have enough money.
The frugal Christmas tips below are here to help you spend less money this holiday season.
1. Create a Budget for the Holiday Season
Hopefully, you have a budget for all of the money that you’re earning. If not, click here to Set Up a Simple Budget.
In addition to your main budget, you can also have budgets for specific activities…like a Christmas budget!
When you create a budget for Christmas or the holiday season, it gives you a chance to lay out all of the different expenses.
It’s easy to forget about all of the different little holiday expenses if we don’t write them down.
You’ll want to start with a list of the Christmas expenses you’ll have for the season.
Once you have the list, you should set reasonable amounts for each expense.
After you know the total you are going to spend, you can adjust the different amounts up or down.
2. Host Bring a Dish or Drink Christmas Dinners and Parties
There are usually three categories of spending that are the highest when it comes to the holidays.
Gifts, travel, and food/alcohol.
Food and alcohol expenses can quickly add up during the Christmas season when we tend to splurge on higher-priced meats, several-course meals, and plenty of desserts.
You can spend less money this Christmas by still having big dinners and events, but asking your guests to bring a dish or beverage to the party.
This helps to distribute the costs among all of the party guests and not just the host.
It’s also a good reason to have your friends and family over and spend some quality time having fun!
3. Take Advantage of Cash Back Rewards when Shopping
There are all kinds of ways to save money when you are Christmas shopping.
Rakuten Ebates offers cash back on all kinds of purchases.
You’ll receive a percentage of the price you pay in the form of cash in your Ebates account when you make a purchase.
Ebates works at both online retailers and in-store at your favorite companies.
You can use it on everything from gifts to travel accommodations.
When it comes to purchasing food, use Ibotta to save on groceries for your Christmas dinners.
You simply upload your receipts to the app and receive cash back for specific items purchased.
Finally, you can use a cashback or rewards credit or debit card that pays you cash, points, or miles for your purchases.
All of these rewards programs will help you to save some money.
You can even use these programs throughout the year and then used the points or cash earned on your Christmas purchases.
4. Cut Back on Other Purchases
With all of the different reasons to spend money during the holidays, cutting back on expenses in other areas is important.
If you’re going to dinner parties and events, there is no reason to dine out.
Look at all of your non-essential expenses and find expenses to cut back for the winter months. Find out how to look at your non-essential expenses here.
This will put extra money in your pocket to spend on those holiday expenses.
5. Take Advantage of Sales and Discounts
Black Friday has become quite the event every year, distracting us from Thanksgiving.
But, there are all kinds of shopping events that you can take advantage of to spend less money.
Cyber Monday has become popular as online shopping has become more popular.
Additionally, many specific stores offer discounts and coupons to help you save money.
Again, we’ll mention Rakuten Ebates because it has coupons and discounts for all of your favorite stores so you can spend less money on your gifts and other purchases.
Still, it is important to have your shopping or gift list before you start buying so that you don’t overspend.
6. Save Money and Have Fun with DIY Christmas Activities
There are all kinds of things you can make yourself during the Yuletide season to save money.
But, you can also turn it into a fun activity to do with other people.
Create decorations with your kids or friends and family.
Do
We know it’s easier to just pay money for a gift, but Christmas shouldn’t be all about spending money.
Figure out ways to make holiday stuff as activities to get together with friends and family.
7. Create a Gift List with Dollar Limits
Similar to creating a budget, you should create a list of everyone you want to give a gift and the amount of money you want to spend.
This will help you lay out how much you are going to actually spend on gifts.
When we don’t write it all out, it’s easy for us to overspend because we don’t really know how much we’re spending.
Additionally, if you don’t have specific gifts for certain people, consider buying one item in bulk to save money.
You’ll be able to quickly mark off a lot of people on your list and likely get a great deal.
Bottles of wine are great gift ideas that can usually be bought in bulk.
Final Thoughts
Christmas and the holidays are a time for joy, fun, and spending time with your friends and family.
Still, it can be stressful if you’re on a budget and don’t know how you’re going to pay for everything.
But, if you plan out your budget, your gift list and your activities you’ll be able to save some money along the way!
That way you can focus more on your friends and family and less on the stress of your finances.
Before you go, sign up to our email list to receive tons of finance printable freebies! If you’re looking to save money, there is an AWESOME 4 week challenge in there that will change your life. Seriously.
