It’s time to start thinking about Christm– wait, don’t leave!
Look, I know it’s depressing. But like it or not, stores are getting the ball rolling for the winter holidays. That ball is a big ole ornament headed straight for us.
I guess their logic goes like this: It’s October, which is practically November and that’s practically December right?
But it’s not just the stores that should be preparing. We frugal folk need to start socking away for the holiday — be that money or actual presents.
Some people are super prepared and buy presents throughout the year. To which I say:
(I knew I’d find a use for that picture eventually.)
As for the rest of us… We gotta get out in front of this thing. That means it’s time to:
- Make sure you have a rewards credit card.
- Pump up your Swagbucks activity. (Not a member? Sign up and check out my Swagbucks for beginners post.)
- Make sure you’re set up with at least one cash back site (Mr. Rebates, Ebates and Extrabux are my top three.)
All you bloggers out there really need to make sure you’re signed up for Swabucks and cash back sites. You can get referral bonuses, which will also help with those Christmas bills.
You also need to be signed up for sites that leak Black Friday ads. I prefer BFads.net since it gives away some nice prizes each year. But really any site will do.
What’s important is that you get alerts when ads get posted. (And be sure to check them fast. Sometimes the sites get cease and desist orders, meaning they have to remove the information.) You’ll be able to compare prices well ahead of time, rather than in and around Uncle Bernie’s endless requests to pull his finger.
The sites aren’t just about finding the best prices, though. They also let you know what kinds of items are on sale. That helps you decide what’s okay to buy now, rather than putting off all your purchases til the big day.
The one side note about BF ad sites and other deal/coupon sites: Don’t click their links! At least, not if you also want cash back — or Swagbucks back or whatever reward you’re going for.
All of those sites make money as affiliates. They get a cut when you make purchases. Cash back/rewards sites pass some of that on to you. Coupon/deal sites won’t. So you can’t click a link on the latter and still get rewarded by the former.
Are you guys signed up with the necessary sites and credit cards? What’s your frugal holiday shopping plan?
Flickr image by IgKnition
My plan= 2 plane tickets for Better Half and I to spend a non-holiday sometime in the beginning of December with my side of the family since it’s cheaper and easier than the week of Christmas, $50 for baking supplies plus whatever a decent-sized tree cost.
It’s not even Halloween and I am already over the buying season. The fact that literally the day after we are supposed to gather and give thanks for what we have in our lives with the ones we love is mandated for ACQUIRING MOARRRRRR CRAP is such B.S. as far as I’m concerned.
/end rant
//totally not judging anyone buying holiday gifts, just sick of seeing Christmas stuff in stores when I am still wearing tank tops.
///no, I am not green and fuzzy and live in a cave, why do you ask?
Teehee! Yeah, it was upsetting to see Cracker Barrel’s tree in late August. It kind of makes you want to go hide in a cave ’til it’s over. So are you sure you don’t live in one? Because I might need to move in.
I gave up the whole gifts thing years ago, because I don’t need more stuff, and my sisters and I were just exchanging gift cards. My family has been drawing names, so I may need to buy one present, though we may even end that this year since more members have moved out of state. Sometimes I do stockings for friends, and sometimes I bake, but it depends on how the spirit strikes me.
What I would really like to do (and I never get around to) is to send a nice, chatty letter to all my friends to catch up, in the hopes that some will write me back. Maybe I’ll come up with a Facebook Xmas letter.
Maybe that’s why we all blog: to avoid the holiday letter. And yeah, I can understand getting disenchanted with gift-giving. I do miss holiday baking with my mom. And not just because of the peanut butter blossoms.
I’m so not ready for Christmas, but then again I am a scrooge, so there’s that. I’m not really a fan of Christmas but I think the beans will be more excited this year since they’ll have a better idea of what’s going on.
Cat@BudgetBlonde recently posted…4 Ways to Avoid Being a Workaholic
The whole idea of Christmas is overwhelming, isn’t it? And yeah, I’m not big on spending a bunch at holidays. At least, in theory. Then I start thinking about all the stuff I could get my loved ones and… the battle between altruistic me and frugal me starts. It’s epic each year.
I bet it’ll be more and more exciting for you as the kiddos start to really get into the holiday. Or more stressful. Probably both.
I’d REALLY like to stop gifting since we’re not doing anything really except exchanging near equivalent value things we’d normally just get for ourselves later on anyway so what’s the point of that? *grump grump* I’d rather save my money and cook a nice meal to share. That’s more memorable anyway.
Revanche recently posted…Just a little (link) love: Wee Corgi edition
Haha, yeah that’s one way to look at it. Tim has a similar opinion. That is, he hates trying to figure out what I want. And if I give him a list, he just sort of wonders why I don’t get it myself. Even though he likes getting stuff himself. Silly boys.
We don’t really do holiday shopping in any meaningful way. I may do stockings for our boys, but now that they’re adults, our main present will probably consist of cash or helping them make a major purchase. We *might* exchange gifts with a couple of our friends, but haven’t discussed it with them yet, and it will just be little trinkets if we do, because they’re as strapped as we are. Maybe some holiday treats for the folks at MrH’s office. We usually buy a couple of craft kits for Toys for Tots every year.
Don’t get me wrong – we love the holidays! We’ll put up the tree, if we can shoehorn it into the living room, and I’d love to do some baking. I’ll send cards (already purchased) to family and friends. We’ll have a nice holiday dinner together. It’ll be great! Shopping just won’t be a major part of our celebration.
(I don’t mind if anyone else shops! If holiday shopping is your thing, work it! It’s just not something we do a lot of any more.)
Yeah, we try to avoid even suggesting gift exchanges with friends. It just seems exhausting and could quickly become either expensive or time-consuming. Or both.
Hopefully, this year I get the tree out again. It always cheers me up.
Christmas… Nope. Not ready, but I do have a plan and it’s about to go into action. This year has flown though so I’m a bit behind schedule.
I haven’t really looked at Swagbucks (assumed it’s a North American thing) so thanks, off to take a look at your post now and get some facts.
🙂
diane @smartmoneysimplelife recently posted…Buy Nothing New Month – The perfect challenge for October
Always happy to welcome a new convert. (Join us. JOIN US!) And yeah, despite time dragging on constantly, it also manages to fly by. It’s a tricky thing.
Definitely join! I use Swagbucks to earn Amazon gift cards, which help me pay for birthday and holiday gifts. Occasionally I order something nice for my household, generally food-related like quinoa or flax seed.
Recently I saw that quinoa in an Anchorage grocery store for $10.29 per bag. My gift cards let me get half a dozen bags for free.
When I go to visit Abby and Tim I cash in for Red Robin and Cracker Barrel gift cards so we can all go out to eat. It’s great fun to know that the first $20 or $30 worth of food is covered.
Donna Freedman recently posted…Money haters gonna hate.
“…something nice for my household… like quinoa or flax seed.” No one ever wonders where I got my frugal/weird sensibilities.
I can’t shop for gifts all year. it would just be another thing on my to-do list. I also can’t think about Christmas in October. I have to approach one big holiday at a time. Right now it’s Halloween and getting a costume together for my kids!
To keep Christmas frugal, we really cut down our gift exchange list. Only kids in the family get gifts now. I already bought my own birthday/christmas present. I do love the spirit of Christmas, decorating (a little) and holiday music.
middle class recently posted…Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow
Yeah, none of us need more things on our to-do list. Plus, if I start to buy too early I’m afraid I’ll forget about them. Or give up and give them early.
We have a pretty small gift-giving group: me, Tim, Tim’s parents and my mom. So that keeps things simple at least.
I haven’t been good about using Swagbucks, but I need to get back into the habit. We do have our reward credit cards but we need to make a plan for which ones to use this holiday season.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted…7 Ways to Make Quick Money Online in Your Free Time
Yeah, we should probably branch out with at least one more rewards card. Then it’ll definitely be a debate about which one to use. And get on those Swagbucks, mister! What else are you going to do at work?
I refuse to be ready for Christmas, frugal or otherwise. We won’t be in town for Christmas day, so we’ve decided to once again forgo the Christmas tree and buy one on clearance. We will hang our nativity calendar though.
I’ve also decided that we will try to do at least three Christmasy things as a family this year, but those will take place in December. Also, one of those things will be drink hot chocolate and eat cookies.
Yeah, I remember your post about a pared-down holiday. (And yes, I’ve always bought a tree at the end of the holiday season. They’re too expensive otherwise.)
Hot chocolate and cookies sound awfully nice. Of course, right now anything sugary sounds wonderful to me.
I’m not remotely ready. Last year my family proposed a “homemade or thrifted” Christmas and I found & received great gifts from thrift stores. So I’m hoping we go with that theme again this year. I usually buy my kids used toys for Christmas anyway. They don’t know the difference.
Kalie recently posted…Terrific Trash Finds of Summer 2015
Hey, as long as they’re gently used toys, why not? Or depending on the kids’ ages, not so gently used. I like the idea of the thrifted gifts thing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for my relatives, but it sounds like fun. More of a fun hunt than stressed-out scanning of holiday ads.
I’ve always been pretty fortunate when it comes to Christmas, I really have no one to buy for and vice versa, which is I guess kind of sad when you look at it from another way. lol! But it’s the one time of year I do way better financially than my peers. I’ve never been a big fan of the holiday. I do think swagbucks is a great idea though for those that do!
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Shedding Your Skin
Eh, not that sad. You’re always describing an active life — at least some of which is a team sports. So it’s not like you’re isolated. Just relieved of the gift-buying process. Which means you can enjoy the season rather than the stress.
I’m going to be with my family to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday next week. And I’m going to try and convince them to skip exchanging gifts this year. Why? Every year we go overboard when all we really want to do is spend some quality time together.
Kate @ Cashville Skyline recently posted…10 North American Bucket List Train Trips
It’s just so easy to go overboard! Especially with all the things Tim likes/wants. So yeah, I think agreeing to keep it minimal is important. If Tim has his hearing before Christmas, we may need to pare waaay down on gifts. (Though by then I’ll probably have bought all his, we can at least put a limit on the remaining ones.)
I’m boring. Our plan is to use cash and follow our budget. We’ve been putting aside a christmas expense since january. So when the time comes, we’ll withdraw the total amount and use it.
Now…for any online shopping we do, I’m def going to need to get onto some swagbucks or something. I have to be the only PF blogger that doesnt currently do any of those! :0
Luke Fitzgerald @ FinanciallyFitz recently posted…Why Obama Should Smoke More and You Should Follow A Budget
Not the ONLY one. I’m sure there’s at least… two others. But seriously, it’s pretty awesome when you get your gift cards (or PayPal payments so you can still do the cash thing). And it becomes this fun challenge. So definitely do it. Preferably through my link, riiiight?
… I’ll be over here with my bats and pumpkins.
With Christmas, we actually started saving for it in January with a new, fairly passive, idea. We bought a piggy bank, which sits on the table in our entry way. When you come in, you put your keys down, and empty out your pockets. Any change goes in the pig. The pig happens to be a design that makes it fairly hard to open, and it is impossible to open quietly- which means it doesn’t get raided for quarters. We’ve opened it up and rolled the change twice so far, and we’ll do it again around early November. Since most of the people we know simply get baked goods, it is more than enough. The exceptions outside of family and a few very close friends are a group I’ve known since high school- they each get one of the small snowflake or star ornaments from the Met catalogue (I’m a member, which means I get a discount, and I shop when they have a sale).
I actually thought about you as I wrote this. I thought, “Kat’s going to be too interested in Halloween (and birthday) stuff to engage in this kind of stuff.” See how well I know you?
Love the piggy bank idea! We have a Spiderman one that’s pretty substantial. But Tim got sick of rooting around for quarters — especially when we were filling the water ourselves — so now only pennies go in there. Quarters go in an empty prescription bottle and nickels/dimes go in another one. Because those are the containers we have the most of. They’re getting pretty full, though. Maybe it’s time to do some coin rolls…
I’ve never seen the Met catalogue, but an ornament always sounds like a treat.
I’m definitely a Halloween kind of girl. Then again, it does mean an investment- not too much of one, but it’s still there. Between the food, drink, and pop up trash cans (nonnegotiable, they make cleanup so dang easy) I’m looking at an expense that I do have to account for. This generally means I cut back what we put into the vacation and car funds. The car fund is actually something we may consider lowering our contributions to anyway, since my car was replaced after the accident, and the fiancĂ© managed to score a relatively new used car after he helped out a friend.
The birthday isn’t so much of a thing- I figure the Halloween party is close enough, so it would be Thanksgiving stuff. I do think it is important to celebrate Thanksgiving- especially before Christmas madness. I like the idea of a holiday where you reflect on everything you have, including the non-material. Taking a minute to do that can sometimes put Christmas in a different perspective, and that lets you enjoy the holiday in a different way; your mind can enjoy the traditions and joy without focusing so much on the gift wrapped parts.
Thanksgiving was never a big thing in my family, so it’s always mystified me a bit. I mean, Mom cooked up a storm, but we ate a late lunch because there was a big basketball tournament that my dad had to cover every year. Combine that with being thousands of miles from extended family, and the traditional T-day is a little alien. To me, it’s a day to enjoy turkey, pumpkin pie and the accompanying drowsiness. But I’m glad that some people are able to make it into something actually meaningful.
Admittedly, we do a lot of food for Thanksgiving, but that’s just our family. We cook. However, we also do try and stick to the spirit, as well as the general traditions, of the holiday. We go around the table, talk about what each person is grateful for, and it’s a great way to start a conversation. It also doesn’t need to be something that occurs with a lot of people- our average Thanksgiving is four people. It’s whatever you choose to make of it.
For a great read when it comes to Thanksgiving, the New York Times ran a Thanksgivng toast some years ago..
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/opinion/26thur1.html?_r=0
I’m all ready!
Ever since I was about 7 years-old I’ve set aside a little $ every payday (or allowance) so I have cash to Christmas shop. I’ve never charged gifts. My 2015 budget is about $415. That covers everything: gifts, photo cards + postage, wrapping supplies, stocking stuffers, etc.
My preferred cash back site is ebates.
I have enough for a $25 gift card from Swagbucks. I’ll likely use it for ebay since there’s a specific gift I want from that site.
My favorite rewards CC is my Southwest card. Between mine & the BF’s we have enough for 4-6 RT flights.
Hey, that’s a pretty great budget. I always forget that you can get eBay GCs from rewards programs. It’s good to remember, though I rarely use the site anymore. I hate that so little of it is actual auctions these days.