The holiday season is upon us! Time to panic if you haven’t started shopping yet, right? Eh, with Amazon Prime you’ve got plenty of time.
This happens every year but just like winter weather and daylight savings time, we never feel prepared. And my email inbox is filled with so many sale and promotional emails I can’t even keep up with them.
My family celebrates Hanukkah with Andrew’s family and Christmas with mine, so we are busy during the holiday season. With large families the shopping list is long. We always try to start earlier in the fall but with Ben this year, we still have a few things to pick up in the coming weeks.
I want to share how we do some things to get ahead and save some money as we shop.
Holiday Shopping Tips
Have a budget.
Yes, this one applies to everyday life as well as holiday spending. With large families, the list of gifts to buy is long. However we set a budget for how much we are going to spend on each category of people (i.e. sisters, parents, grandparents). That keeps it simple so we both know what the limit is if we see something that we love for a certain person.
Make a list early.
Make that list of what you want to buy for each person and keep an eye on sales for the items. There are lots of price watching tools online that you can use to keep an eye out for the lowest price on things. There are also tools that automatically add coupons to your order on certain sites. You just have to be willing to do the work.
We also look for sales on certain items. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed (check out Douglas’ post about Black Friday) but sales are still out there so watch for them on things you know you want to buy. Also starting early can allow you to spread the bills over multiple months to ease cash flow.
Cash in credit card rewards.
We save up credit card rewards for the end of the year and then redeem them for gift cards to places we know we need to shop. We use them either for gifts at the store or even to supplement regular bills this time of year. For instance, instead of putting that $100 Target purchase on the credit card, we use a gift card for it. (And yes, you can’t spend less than that at Target.)
Set limits.
We are trying to limit what we buy for baby Ben because we know our families love to shop. He will get plenty of clothes and things for the holidays, so we are only buying things we know we will need soon anyway. For him it is baby spoons and bowls because we will start trying solids for him in the new year. It takes a lot of restraint to not shop for baby things though because they are so cute!
For Jeter, we are going to get him some treats and a new toy or two to put in his stocking but that’s about it. Our families always get dog toys, so he will have plenty. We also will pull out some of his old toys to put in there. We do a toy rotation game with him where each month we put away 2-3 in the basement and then bring them out a few months later. He loves it and is curious about the fact that they seem new but smell familiar. Pro tip for dog owners: don’t buy new toys just rotate out old ones and they have no idea!
Communicate with your partner.
For Andrew and me, we usually discuss in advance if there are any larger items we want/need. If there are, we take care of those and then usually have a few surprises for each other. This year Andrew wanted golf lessons so come spring he will get a package for lessons, but I won’t do any other big gifts for him.
This year I wanted a robot vacuum for the holidays. There is no way I can vacuum enough in our house to keep it as clean as I would like. Between Andrew and I, Ben and Jeter there is dirt and fur everywhere. Golden retrievers shed everywhere! I figured with Ben going to be crawling at some point next year, I would rather not have him covered in dog hair constantly.
However, Andrew refused to get me a vacuum for the holidays. Something about not wanting to buy his wife an appliance as a gift… Eh, I told him it’s something I really want and will make me happy, but he said no and would give the idea to other family members and see if someone does it.
This communication also applies to setting the budget in step 1. Having a solid budget will make managing holiday shopping so much easier. If you are looking for some tips on budgets, check out the Budget Worksheet on the Get #FinLit page or this blog post.
Be thoughtful.
It is easy to get bogged down in budgets and lists, but sometimes the best gifts are things that you just stumble upon somewhere. If you are out shopping you see something that would be perfect gift then just buy it. This time of year is supposed to feel joyful and warm so don’t let the stress get to you. And don’t be afraid to go the homemade route. If you are crafty or have a wonderful idea, people will appreciate the thought and work you put into the gift even more.
Give back.
This is the season of giving after all. I encourage you to find a way to give back to your community. Find an angel tree to sponsor a gift for a child, make a donation to a charity or volunteer somewhere. Doing good for others benefits everyone especially at this time of year.